I often tell people the intangible rewards, the friendships made, the occasional comment received about how much something I wrote helped a reader, are priceless. For context, most of my writing on Medium for over 3 years now, even when I was posting every day, averaged about $60 per month. Lately it's been better while also publishing much less frequently but nothing material and I doubt it ever will be. Money does have energy though, so it's part of the formula as to why I'm here. Energy received vs energy expended. As long as that's a net positive, I'm here.