I'll never forget a tour I was on, the MC thanked the incredible audience at the end of the show by saying, "Applause is food for the performer, thank you for the banquet." 

Those words lingered for me and painted a picture of what the applause truly represents for us. 

Contrary to what many may believe, the applause is not to stroke our ego, our performance is a gift from us to you, and the applause tells us you enjoyed the gift. THAT is the gift the audience gives us. We did our job and we did it well, although that gift comes at a cost. 

In this episode, against all resistance I was feeling about sharing these deep inner thoughts, I know I'm not alone when I express this. So I bit the bullet and shared a poem I wrote last year that talks about this very topic. Enjoy!