With the advent of affordable creative tools, abundance of DIY tutorials for you-name-it, free access to exposure to international audiences through platforms such as YouTube, and some newbies with inflated egos, constructive criticism has become a common word that definitely is as commonly accepted as common sense is found. The word ‘constructive’ is defined (by Dictionary.com) as “helping to improve; promoting further development or advancement (opposed to destructive)”. But then, if you know someone who is exhibiting their ‘skill’ and ‘talent’ (with the obvious beginner’s flaws, or even, master’s flaws), and if you’re trying to point out their (or whoever-the-fuck’s) mistakes in the piece, you might be in for serious destruction.
I mean, God forbid, if they have that HUGE mountain of an ego, your remark just might not land into their creative intellect, and instead hit the mountain, and (since it’s more like rubber, expandable and all) bounce back towards you with a momentum you never expected. Get the idea? Yep, that.
The purpose of creativity is to express what’s within you, nurture yourself and grow into a better individual. Now, if you want to tell someone something (anything, even telling your crush you like him/her), you’ve got to use the right words, the right tone, the right time and well, the right language in the first place. Imagine this: you’re saying ‘wo ai ni’ (Japanese for ‘I love you’) to a British girl. She doesn’t get you. I tell you to try saying that in English and you tell me to fuck off, because you ‘know what you’re doing’. What will happen? She will probably never get your message, and there goes a perfect love story down the drain! This is what’s happening to all the people who have those ego mountains.
If you want to be famous and all, you have to accept that you’re a fallible human being and even the masters made mistakes, so you’re not even close to exempt from that. Accept that you can make mistakes, and that it’s okay. If you don’t burn your hand in a flame, you’ll never learn not to touch a flame in the first place. Accept yourself with your flaws, and strive to eliminate them as you grow. It takes time and patience to produce quality art, no matter what your medium is.
Without making mistakes, we can never learn. However, sometimes we lack the perspective to see our own flaws. Try turning to look at your back. Can you see your back? No? Well that’s what happens in some cases. And that’s when other people come in. If you have a weird ink stain on the back of your shirt, you may not see it, and hence you may think your shirt is flawless. Someone else may see it, and point it out. This can lead to two consequences: first, you may tell them to oil their own machine instead of pointing your flaws. Second, you may listen to them, cross check with a mirror (I’d definitely do that), and get it washed (or do something to temporarily fix it till you get it washed). In the first case, you become the laughing stock of your peers, but in the second, you don’t. It’s just a matter of acceptance.
The problem with people who can’t swallow (forget digest) constructive criticism, is that when someone points out their mistakes, they think they’re saying their work is bad. We have to understand the difference between “that was nice but such-and-such needs improvement/could’ve been done better” and “that was totally worthless”. I think as youngsters, we need to stop being so middle-aged-uncle-ishly rigid in our approach to things. It’s okay to make mistakes if you can learn from them, and it’s okay to have your mistakes pointed out by others when you yourself can’t see them. You don’t have to make excuses to protect your ego and make yourself seem perfect, all you need to do is listen, and be brave enough to change. Nobody on this planet is, was, or will ever be perfect. It's only those who dared to change themselves for the better who went down in the pages of history, or art history, for that matter.
By the way, you’re welcome to let me know if you find any flaws in this little outrage of mine. :)
I mean, God forbid, if they have that HUGE mountain of an ego, your remark just might not land into their creative intellect, and instead hit the mountain, and (since it’s more like rubber, expandable and all) bounce back towards you with a momentum you never expected. Get the idea? Yep, that.
The purpose of creativity is to express what’s within you, nurture yourself and grow into a better individual. Now, if you want to tell someone something (anything, even telling your crush you like him/her), you’ve got to use the right words, the right tone, the right time and well, the right language in the first place. Imagine this: you’re saying ‘wo ai ni’ (Japanese for ‘I love you’) to a British girl. She doesn’t get you. I tell you to try saying that in English and you tell me to fuck off, because you ‘know what you’re doing’. What will happen? She will probably never get your message, and there goes a perfect love story down the drain! This is what’s happening to all the people who have those ego mountains.
If you want to be famous and all, you have to accept that you’re a fallible human being and even the masters made mistakes, so you’re not even close to exempt from that. Accept that you can make mistakes, and that it’s okay. If you don’t burn your hand in a flame, you’ll never learn not to touch a flame in the first place. Accept yourself with your flaws, and strive to eliminate them as you grow. It takes time and patience to produce quality art, no matter what your medium is.
Without making mistakes, we can never learn. However, sometimes we lack the perspective to see our own flaws. Try turning to look at your back. Can you see your back? No? Well that’s what happens in some cases. And that’s when other people come in. If you have a weird ink stain on the back of your shirt, you may not see it, and hence you may think your shirt is flawless. Someone else may see it, and point it out. This can lead to two consequences: first, you may tell them to oil their own machine instead of pointing your flaws. Second, you may listen to them, cross check with a mirror (I’d definitely do that), and get it washed (or do something to temporarily fix it till you get it washed). In the first case, you become the laughing stock of your peers, but in the second, you don’t. It’s just a matter of acceptance.
The problem with people who can’t swallow (forget digest) constructive criticism, is that when someone points out their mistakes, they think they’re saying their work is bad. We have to understand the difference between “that was nice but such-and-such needs improvement/could’ve been done better” and “that was totally worthless”. I think as youngsters, we need to stop being so middle-aged-uncle-ishly rigid in our approach to things. It’s okay to make mistakes if you can learn from them, and it’s okay to have your mistakes pointed out by others when you yourself can’t see them. You don’t have to make excuses to protect your ego and make yourself seem perfect, all you need to do is listen, and be brave enough to change. Nobody on this planet is, was, or will ever be perfect. It's only those who dared to change themselves for the better who went down in the pages of history, or art history, for that matter.
By the way, you’re welcome to let me know if you find any flaws in this little outrage of mine. :)
It 's worth sharing regarding ur outrage. Superbly written
ReplyDeleteThank you so much 😊
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