I was reading comments on one of my favorite writing blogs, Janet Reid, Literary Agent (aka The Shark Query) and I came across a couple of gems. The first was written by Julie Weathers (I'm not sure if it's original to her, or if it's something she was quoting):
"Rejection is part of the journey. Dejection is a choice."
While she was speaking of the writing life, I think it applies to everyday life as well. It's just another way to say attitude matters.
A. J. Blythe, another commenter, said she keeps this statement posted on her computer, "The most painful thing to experience is not defeat, but regret."
How true. In psychological terms, Erik Erickson would say this is the work of one of the stages of adulthood.
A third commenter, John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur (playing homage to Janet's sometimes weekly Chumbucket column) likened the fear of rejection to an actors stage-fright. Even the Third Spear-Holder On The Left can experience stage fright if he goes on stage thinking, "What if someone sees me!?" A friend of the commenter, a fellow amateur, actor taught him to go on stage thinking, "I'm going to make them see me!" Presumably, even if his role was that of Third Spear-Holder On The Left. What a great attitude!
Similarly, the commenter relayed a story about Olivier reportedly arriving early to the theatre so he could walk out on stage, look over the empty audience chairs and announce, "Tonight you will see a better performance than you deserve!"
For me, that pushes self-confidence (an excellent quality) over the top to cockiness (a less than desirable quality) because everyone should receive our very best, whether we feel they deserve it or not. To give less than our best, because we don't think the recipient is worthy, cheats us out of doing our very best.
While the blog post (and comments) were specific to the writing/submitting/rejection (and ultimately hopefully publishing) process writers go through, it really applies to life in general--as well as other creative endeavours.
In life, and art, we must not allow the nay-sayers to intimidate us or rule over us. On that note, I've squeezed into another Painting With A Twist class (they always find a chair for me--love these ladies!). Results will be posted to my FB page.
Be uninhibited--just do it in a good way!
About Me
- Loulymar
- My bags are packed and I'm always ready to seek out an adventure with Bandit and Moggy in tow. Bandit is my thirteen year old Chinese Crested, who I frequently call The Bald One or The BaldOne Boy (like he was one of the Baldwin Brothers). Moggy’s full name is Pip-Moggy. He’s my two year old gansta-resuce kitty. I couldn’t decide between Pip (which are the spots on die and domino tiles) and Moggy (or Moggie when I mistakenly thought he was a she), so I combined the two. Moggy refers to the British term for "cat of unknown parentage .” So in essence, I have an almost bald dog, and I’ve named my cat “Spot.”
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