Dear Prudence,
I am a member of the music faculty of a small liberal arts college, where I coordinate our opera workshop. From time to time, I compose a one-act original opera for the students—and they have all been well received by students and the public alike. After my most recent premiere, not a single faculty colleague attended either of the performances nor even asked me about it. On a scale of 1 through 10 for confrontation aversion, I’m a 12, so I really don’t want to say anything. I need some advice on how to process these feelings of hurt and resentment. (I pride myself on being an exceptionally supportive colleague.) By the way, I suspect that part of my sensitivity about this is that I’m the only full-time member of our faculty without a doctorate. Perhaps I am fearful that my colleagues don’t fully respect or appreciate me. At any rate, I really hate feeling like this.
—Bottled Up Hurt