What matters.

Validation comes in surprising places, from surprising people, at surprising times. I got mine from an infant.

To the three-month old on my lap I said excitedly, "let's sing". The excitement was one part last resort and three parts thrill of doing something for the first time.
For the last fifteen minutes I had been trying to make a one-sided conversation about about birthdays, growing up, her new dress, the cake, a bulb on one wall, a rotating fan on another. Eventually one is bound to run out of things to talk about, and so did I. The swinging of the swing and the systematic turning of the fan was clearly not interesting enough for her so I absolutely had to come up with something else for her to keep liking me.

I'm a big fan of singing to people, perhaps because my father sang to me when I was a child. There was one particular tune I've been told I loved, that I miraculously recognised as a teenager. Since I can't do what people normally do to keep babies occupied - act funny, play with them, dance, and the likes - I decided I would sing.

Just like you forget every book you've read when you're asked to name some of your favourite ones, I forgot every song I had learned or heard. When I did manage to think of a song, I forgot the lyrics. Two more failed songs later, I turned to a safer option - classical music.
While I hummed Yaman in my admittedly limited capacity, the little one's lips curved into something like a smile.
When I looked down to see her reaction, she wasn't looking at me. Her glassy eyes were fixed on the yellow bulb, occasionally expressing displeasure when I happened to block her view. For the next couple of minutes she seemed to be taking quite some effort to keep her eyes open. After a bit, she gave up. Resting her tiny head below my left shoulder, clutching my T-shirt with one hand, holding on to my back with the other, and the occasional opening and closing of her toothless mouth.
A baby who couldn't even locate the source of the sound yet had just given me the ultimate validation of my singing abilities.