Taking negativity in stride

It is my habit to post poems online. Whenever I find a track that I write a poem to I stick it in the comment box that you-tube provides. Sometimes I can get a few good nods and someone will thumbs me up. Recently as of today, I have see negative feedback as the form of thumbs down.

Now it does not bother me one way or the other, I post work that usually gets no feedback. So to see work that gets a negative feedback is not that much different, other than the fact that someone was compelled enough to let me and others know they didn’t like what they read.

What I do note is the subject manner of the poetry. It was one of the few times I wrote outside of the theme of love. In one poem I talked about blacks and the struggle of being black and the other I talked about my childhood growing up. Now I don’t suspect that the people actually had problem with the actual quality of the poem, but more like the message.

Of course even if they didn’t like the poem at all, I don’t expect everyone to like everything that I do. I am learning to not take rejection of my work as rejection of myself as a human being. Besides rejection is good, and I welcome harsh words. It seems like soft and kind words do little for me anyway. Stiff words are more of a reason to fight back and prove that you are better than what you are seen as. If people praise you then what have you to prove or stand up for?

I would rather be treated harshly and unfairly. Its how I grew up.