This is a tough one. I can see the point behind the Frost quote, but not sure I agree with it. On the other hand, if you are working towards a goal, and people you respect tell you you have reached it, I think it means a bit more then if you just tell yourself "okay, you're there."

but it depends on who it is, as well....I still have problems accepting compliments from my own family (I can't tell when they are honest and when they are just 'polite') - but when someone fights their way to me through a crowd of people to tell me "I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed hearing you sing" - and it is a person I have never seen before, nor likely to ever see again; THEN I KNOW "I done good" - when pro actors come up to me at faire and thank me for "playing" with them during the season, or compliment me on a bit shared with them, I'll admit, I walk on air.

On the other hand, the other night I was singing with three other people, and we all nailed one particular song and its harmonies under very difficult conditions...and as we finished I heard an audience member say "you'd think between the four of them they'd have one decent voice". @#$%^ you, buddy!

I guess what it boils down to, is that no matter what you CLAIM to be, or what others CALL you, you are what you are. A rose, is a rose, is a rose. And 2000 A.D. is the LAST year of the century and the millenium, no matter what the media says, and no matter how many people claim it is the start of the new.