Cringing at your art from two years ago means you’ve grown. Be worried if you don’t cringe.

That discomfort is a measurement, and it only becomes available once your taste has outrun what you were capable of back then. Someone who looks at old work and feels nothing has either stopped moving or is not looking closely. The feeling is unpleasant and it is also the clearest evidence you have.

When it happens, name the specific thing you would now do differently instead of only wincing. That names the skill you gained, and it turns an awkward moment into a record of distance covered.