New Post. A Blank Page. The blinking cursor. The first few letters of a word appear from thought, hit the fingers and flash across the screen. Somewhere within my head a voice shouts, “Nope.” Word construction turn to destruction.
More words appear on the screen. The cursor summons the voices in my head: “What will they think about this? I don’t have enough tools. The lighting isn’t good enough. My phone is 3 generations old. I need better equipment. How much is that retreat?”
It’s easier to smash a glass against a wall than it is to forge it into creation.
And it’s easy to be a troll, but it’s difficult to be a creator.
How easy it is to slander someone’s art, to criticize an artist, mock a film, or denigrate a friend’s dietary choices.
How many of us talk about doing, or make slanderous statements about others’ doing? And when we are engaging in the talk about doing, we are doing nothing. It’s wasteful. It’s not helpful. It’s lazy.
An artist loves a troll. In anything I have ever created I only feel validation once a troll enters the picture. That’s when I know I’m on to something. It’s when a person feels threatened by my work so much that they took time from their existence to criticize.
Remember, the troll loves being recognized. And sometimes they hate it.
Keep slaying the cursor without fear. When you rise like the sun, the trolls will find you. And when they do, that’s when you know your art has made it.
Hit Publish. You made it.