Looking in the Wong Mirrors

"But we aren't always careful of our mirrors.  I'm not.  I made the mistake of thinking that I 'ought' not to write because I wasn't making money, and therefore in the eyes of many people around me I had no business to spend hours every day at the typewriter.  I felt a failure not only because my books weren't being published but because I couldn't emulate our neighboring New England housewives.  I was looking in the wrong mirrors.  I still do, and far too often.  I catch myself at it, but usually afterwards.  If I have not consciously thought, 'What will the neighbors think?' I've acted as though I had."-Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet