I have a writer friend who recently uttered a question that, I think, is the beginning of a slippery slope, leading to a melty pile of slush.

A meltdown, if you will.

Her question was “What’s the point?”

I hear that phrase so often in one form or another.

“Why bother?”

“Who cares?”

“Is it worth it?”

Have you ever had a slippery-slope moment?

Just stop.

Don’t go there.

 

That way be dragons (to paraphrase medieval mapmakers).

Once you start sliding, it’s hard to stop yourself.

Some people create (paint, write, design, etc.) for themselves alone.

Others want recognition for their creative efforts—and that can be a l-o-n-g process.

It certainly is for writers.

We don’t write one draft of anything and then it’s perfect and we send it out and it’s a classic, and blue birds and sweet mice sing and dance and flail ribbons for us.

We aren’t Hemingway.

So for us mere mortals, when our work finally goes out to others, we hold our breath and A) hope someone reads it and B) hope someone likes it.

If neither A nor B happens to the degree we want, we might say, “What’s the point?”

Well, here’s the point—whether you’re a writer or anything else: You do what you do because you have some spark inside you that needs to get out or it will burn you up.

You do what you do because while you’re doing it, you enjoy it.

You do what you do because if you stop, there is zero chance of your work ever seeing the light of day.

You do what you do because if you don’t, who are you?

If none of those ideas enter your head, then maybe you should stop doing whatever it is that you’ve been doing.

Yup, there’s that option.

But if you choose to go forward, no matter what creative active you’re engaged in, it hurts to hear silence or comments that are the equivalent of “You cut your hair” with zero follow up.

People will say, I saw your artwork.

Or, I see you’ve been gardening.

Or, I read your story.

Without follow-up comments.

Do these people even know the blood you’ve lost creating these things?

In the words of life coach Mel Robbins (from her book, The Let Them Theory), “Let them.”

Let people discount your work.

Let them critique.

Let them offer unhelpful comments equivalent to “You cut your hair.”

Let them say the thoughtless things or nothing at all.

YOU keep doing the work that fulfills you.

YOU drown out the unhelpful critics (and the people who don’t know a thing about what you do) by getting better–or playing really loud music.

YOU let them say or don’t say what they want.

In the meantime, YOU keep creating.

Keep going until you’ve gone as far as you care to go.

Don’t stop because of someone’s comments—or lack of.

Stop on your terms.

You have no idea how close to “success” you may be.

In the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, “Victory belongs to the most persevering.”

Vincent Van Gogh famously sold just one of his many, many paintings in his lifetime but is one of the most celebrated artists in history.

Claude Monet met with a lot of rejection. But that didn’t stop him.

Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) faced financial ruin during his career due to critics, and Gertrude Jekyll (landscape designer) faced early setbacks but is now considered the mother of modern landscape design.

Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times; J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected 12 times; Agatha Christie and Beatrix Potter racked up lots of rejection slips.

Imagine if any of them had given up.

We would all be poorer for that.

So you keep going, too.

And here’s a tidbit of inspiration I got from my boss at a magazine publishing company when he was told he’d be so old when he finished law school—the assumption being, why should he bother even starting. (For the record, I think he would have been all of 35.)

He told the skeptics, I’ll be the same age when I finish as I would be anyway—might as well have the law degree to show for it. (Mike, if you’re reading this, I know this isn’t a direct quote. It’s what I remember.)

So get off that slippery slope and do what fulfills you.

Enjoy your week,

~ Gail

(Tick tock)

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