Teaching an old dog a new trick!

Question

Art, to me, is not ment to be perfect.
I instantly connected to Van Gogh's work from my school days as a young boy, a misfit like me. His struggle always hit a nerve as I felt like most things in life, we only see the value when it is gone. 
Back in 1999, when I was 22 years old, my first job was working as a creative—Jr designer for an Ad agency. The start of the digital boom meant that using Adobe Photoshop was a must, and I loved using it. 
The Creative Director I was working under insisted that I use his cubical to explore upcoming projects. His computer was a lot more advanced ( Not Mac), so using Adobe Photoshop was a cakewalk. I was browsing through reference books for ideas when I came across Van Gogh's self-portrait, and my impulse was to draw him, and I did. There was no reason other than tribute. 
Fast forward to 2022, I recently found my old art collection, and it was like going back in time. I still loved how it looked, so I decided to recreate my old work. Strangely I still like the older version as the only purpose of re-doing it was "Nothing", but as I was illustrating it, I felt a slight influence of social media approval or disapproval which made it hard to focus. I have to stop for a few mins and remind myself to go back in time ( 1999) and connect the way I did. The stokes that I was not confident with just made sense, I can feel the result, and yes, it wasn't entirely how I visioned it. Just like the person I was when I did the first version 20+ years ago. Then I had my whole life ahead, now realising that I have to value the time I have left.Thank - you, Van-Gogh, for being part of my life!

P.S: Apologies in case of spelling or grammar mistake.