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Feedback Thoughts

The two articles I read this week were Make Good Art: Neil Gaman's Advice on the Creative Life by Maria Popova and Rewire Your Self-Critical Brain by Joel Alemida. Popova's article was essentially a reiteration of Gaman's book which encorages reader to make good mistakes. Making mistakes means trying something you haven't done before, doing things and pushing yourself. I was really encouraged by his notion of turning mistakes into art. Everything we do has the potential to be turned into something wonderful and artistic if we can approach it with the correct mindset. Mistakes only mean that we are growing, the day we stop making mistakes is the day we stop trying anything new.

Popova's article addressed how to comeback from setbacks in the pursuit to achieve a goal. She practices what she calls REBS, reality based self-congratulations. Rather than seeing mistakes as a reason to be self-critical, the normal everyday habits should be considered small victories. By doing this, we can live in the present and find meaning in the smallest step. I personally find this more difficult to put into practice in my own life than the techniques suggested by Gaman. The articles address two opposite perspectives; one celebrates mistakes, one celebrates victories. I am generally a pessimistic and realistic person, and I would rather spend time celebrating my mistakes and making art out of them rather than congratulating myself for things I know I should be doing anyways.

I don't think anybody starts out accepting feeback or constructive criticism without feeling hurt on some level. After all, we write what we do because we believe it is good and want to share it with the world. But just as these two articles have their differences even though they address the same issue, every person interprets things differently and through their own lenses. It is up to the author not just to entertain them, but to leave the impact they intend to. If someone doesn't aggree with something I wrote, it is up to me to revise it and change their mind. I am looking forward to the feedback that will be given and received among my classmates this semester.

Image details: Feeback cats; source: Paula Nimigean


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