First thing ... Greg, you are one of the main people who inspired me to draw comics. Not nessicarily your style of art or story telling (which I enjoy quite a bit), but for the fact that you were just out there doing it, expressing yourself, and exploring the medium. To be blunt, your comic will just never be synidcated in a newspaper. It's just not their style. But that is not the point ... the point is to do it. Your site is a great forum for alternative and underground comics. That in itself should insire you to draw.
Second thing is the question: why are we doing this? For myself, my comic strip is not my career. I have dreams of one day selling my comic to a syndicate or some company that would want to publish it so that way I can quit my job and draw full time. However that is what it is in itself, a dream. I go to work everyday as a graphic designer. It is a passion of mine and I am lucky to be doing what I want to do for a living. My job requires me to layout advertising for automobles, science posters for presentations at a lecture series, package design for the newest gum, and various other projects for various different companies. There is some artistic creativity happening in these designs, however these designs are never my voice or expressions, but are the companies'.
The reason we do comics is not to make money. It is not to be the best artist. It is because we want to express ourselves in a way we can't in everyday activities. Greg, don't give up. Just draw, write, sketch, paint, or whatever you want ... just do it. Not for the audience who loves your work, but for your self (although, personaly I want to see one of my favorite cartoonist back to work).