insecurity

Posted by admin | January 15, 2021

The post-holiday blues is threatening me. I’m doing my best not to let negativity touch me, but it is hard. Too much going on in the world that I find ridiculous (be kind to one another, people!) is part of the issue. Another are the negative comments, however unjustified, I get about my writing.

Being in a critique group, let alone two, means that you must develop a thick skin. Most of the time, people are trying to help, but there are people that don’t get what I’m doing, don’t know what they’re doing, or are jealous. These people are quick to judge me.

Take for example a short story I submitted to a group about an accident. I tell the story of the accident from two point of views; both think they are right. The people that got this, enjoyed the hell out of my story and enjoyed the structure of it, even. The people that wanted to judge me based on this story were appalled. They even went as far to say that I didn’t have a story. Others said that it was redundant to repeat from the other point of view. I would say that for the most part, these people just didn’t take the time to think about the story and its underlying meaning. It’s like the story was just too complex for them. There were more people who saw the complexity and helped me improve the story. Now, what to do about the people who didn’t get the story?

Fuck ‘em. I can’t please everyone, and it would ruin the story to explain everything to them in the story. If they really want to know what was going on in the story, then they needed to think about and maybe even reread it. Some stories I leave ambiguous, and this is one of them. I mean, if there are two different points of view, which is right? (I think that can be applied to a lot of issues in the world.)

One of the comments my wife and I get about our animals are concerns about their weight. For some people, our cat is too fat. Others think all our animals are too skinny. I think they are the way they are meant to be. I’m concerned for their health, don’t get me wrong. Just not body weight. Yes, I get annoyed that Zailey gets in more white hair in the summer as I like her with her winter, darker coat. I also realize that I wouldn’t appreciate her darker look as much without that disparity.

Thank goodness that cats and dogs don’t care what other people think about them. It might be the language barrier, but I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that someone loves them, and that’s all that matters to them.

One human showing affection is all the animals need to become secure. I think I can learn something from that. I also try to abide by the quote: “The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday.” – David Schlosser