Advocating for your work

My friend Sarah just defended her dissertation.
Charlotte Canning, one of the people on her committee, talked about the danger in ever saying "this is just my paper...this is just an article."

She said: never forget that it is your responsibility not only to MAKE the work, but to act as its advocate in the world.

You are creator and advocate.
To advocate is not to lack humility,
or to ignore flaws or opportunities to improve,
but to act as caretaker for your work.
And it's part of your job, as artist.