How do I deal with resentment when my invisible work goes unseen?

You can run a whole research practice, and you carry a quiet resentment because the groundwork you do is invisible. That is a fair feeling. The best operational work disappears by design; when everything runs smoothly, no one sees the hours that made it so. But being unseen and being worthless are not the same thing, even though on a hard day they feel identical. Resentment usually grows in the gap between what you give and what gets noticed. You cannot force others to see the groundwork, but you can stop measuring your own worth by their attention. You know what you held together. The people who have tried to do it themselves know too. That quiet knowledge is a steadier ground than applause. Still, do not stay wholly silent. Once in a while, name the work plainly, not as a complaint but as fact: here is what it took to make that run smoothly. Let people see the machinery now and then. Being understood eases resentment more than being praised ever could.