my first bad review

Got my first bad review. I'm sharing because I don't believe in the curated life that people tend to share online. And because I'm inspired by other artists who are honest about living with harsh critiques.

And while I don't believe in giving energy to people who don't appreciate what I create, I don't want to be oblivious to the existence of them. 

In this case, the harsh review also provided some meaningful validation. So, I'm not hiding its existence.

What might be most interesting is that my initial reaction, upon reading this harsh review, is probably not what you'd expect: I laughed.

Seriously. I laughed, out loud, all alone.

If you know the validation, maybe the laughter will make sense.

What's meaningful is that the harsh review validates my creative process. I was (and am) very intentional, with both my writing process and the ways I got feedback.

So, I was ready.

Of course, it would be great if it took AGES to get a mean review. So it's kind of a bummer that it was so quick. But [shrug] that's ok.

The laughter was also further validation. I'm not saying I'd laugh at a bad review every day. But I got through the first one, and that feels like an artistic milestone.

I think the existence of Still Moving shows my self-trust. Self-publishing means that no one else has validated your work, in the way that having an agent, an editor, a publisher, and all those folks do.

I'm glad I published this book, and I've lost track of how many readers have thanked me. That means more than bad reviews ever will.

So, if you're afraid of bad reviews, or you're not doing something because you're afraid of bad reviews – I get it. But I also hope you don't stop yourself from showing up in the world because of them.

They are inevitable. And sometimes you can find the humor, and trust yourself a little more.


Cheers,
S.

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skyeris.art
she / they
IG

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