From 2008 through 2009 I was part of a team that helped create a national health cost estimation tool.  This team worked very close together for almost two years. At times it felt like this project sucked the creative energy right out of our bodies. So when we finally finished the tool last summer, it was bitter sweet.  We were satisfied with the end result, but the journey was complicated, draining, and very painful. There was a mixed bag of emotions around what we accomplished. For some reason, that sense of pride and closure we were supposed to feel never quite materialized.

So the other night when my wife held a magazine advertisement up and asked "Didn't you help build this?", I found myself not only surprised but strangly satisfied as well.  Five months had passed since the completion of the project. I was not aware, but our company had taken out a full page add in "Parents" magazine centered on the health cost estimator we built. After reviewing the advertisement, I suddenly felt a real sense of accomplishment. It was like seeing your name in the credits of a movie. It was the creative satisfaction I needed, and the personal validation that what we built was a great achievment.