Greetings:

First a little about me to provide context for my question:

I've been playing guitar for about 15 years...mostly as accompaniment to my own lyrically dense songs...I'm a songwriter in the vein of Cohen-Dylan-The Two Gallants...but I listen to EVERYTHING...from Grant Green and Albert King to FZ and Shawn Lane. I'm COMPLETELY self-taught (never had a lesson)...and I'm a more-than-decent rhythm player (not high-level, intricate Metal rhythm)...but I've never pursued detailed, DEEP study of the guitar...

...Slowly the fret board is revealing patterns to me, and I'm expanding to shorter leads to accent my rhythm playing. But I'm running into a Wall, namely a lack of foundation in the mathematics of theory, and the relationships of chords notes, etc. I'd like to progress to more sophisticated playing, but I can't seem to progress...I have accepted I will never be Shawn Lane, but I think I could at least progress to within the Galaxy of guitar Greats with the right approach...

OK...here's the problem I face in beginning formal study: I PLAY UPSIDE DOWN....strung right-handed, but played left-handed. All of my chord formations are my own constructions/fingerings, etc...

A lot of my friends have told me for years: PLAY CORRECTLY...start over.

But I've looked to several guitar greats who played like I do as motivation to keep plugging along...and ALSO...something tells me that if the formal structure of actual playing takes a back seat ultimately to artistry and feeling, then I don't HAVE to "play correctly."
I feel like I can form my own advanced "relationship" with my instrument...and even attain unique sounds and tonalities.

But again, I run up against the problem that on an advanced level, a lot of the fingerings for everything are just going to be totally different...I don't have any models to follow. I have to figure it out on my own. Chord formations, everything. There are even some chord formations that I CAN'T make because of the fingering...it has nothing to do with strength, or practice or dexterity. And that's frustrating.

So my question is: WHAT THE HECK SHOULD I DO? How do I approach this?

I fear the answer from this forum of esteemed players will be: "PLAY CORRECTLY."

But is that the only answer?

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.