If you are an artist in any medium you have to be prepared to accept criticism of all kinds. It comes with the territory. Some will be subtle and encouraging. However, others will be nasty and sting you quite a bit. So, if you are going to put your shit out there (like I do), you'd better be prepared to hear all of it. In fact, it's essential that you do. The key is to get beyond the hurt and find if there is any real truth within - even those that bite.
It reminds me of a line in an obscure movie called Stay Hungry* starring Jeff Bridges and Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first serious film role. Bridges plays the rebellious son of a traditional, landed Southern family. He basically rejects that family and gravitates toward a group of so-called Odd Ball bodybuilders led by Schwarzenegger. In one scene, Bridges marvels at the intensity of one of Schwarzenegger's blistering workouts and asks how and why one would do that to one's self. Arnold answers with that wonderful Austrian accent:
Because you can't grow without burning.
Of course, Schwarzenegger is talking about the muscle pump one experiences after completing a rigorous physical workout. In other words, you are tearing your body up so that it compensates for the pain by eventually making you bigger and more powerful.
Of course, this should serve as a metaphor for life in general and artists in particular.
Into every life, a little rain must fall. We can't have a healthy garden when everything is all sunshine all of the time. We need it to create a balanced garden where every vegetable gets the appropriate mixture of both sun AND rain. This is a life in balance.
This is particularly true of artists. If we always take the safe route we may reach our final destination but will we have truly created something unique and special? This certainly is the goal of every artist that I know. We have to keep pushing the envelope and breaking the rules to create something worth remembering.
Vincent Van Gogh is one whom comes immediately to mind. He could not have achieved lasting greatness if he simply painted pretty pictures. Yes, his work is beautiful, but it is also unique. And, he suffered greatly at the hands of those who rejected his work as too different, too iconoclastic. Of course, he didn't know it at the time, but it made him immortal. Today he is lauded as a transcendent artist.
This is the pain of which I speak. It is easier to sail on known waters then it is to seek out uncharted ones. However, without someone taking on the risk of doing so, the world would still be living in ignorant isolation. The universe belongs to the bold.
Personally, I have been deeply hurt by some of the criticism of my work. And, none is more painful to me than saying; your work is just average. You don't have a large following because your stuff simply ain't that good. I think that I'd rather have someone say it sucks rather than it's average. Because if it sucks, I feel like at least I tried for something different - which is not for everyone anyway.
Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't.
And, artists have to be prepared to accept that.
Still, it hurts to be rejected. I am not made of stone. In fact, for as much of an asshole as some may see me, I am a very sensitive man. But, I can't let that stop me. I need to learn from it and to Stay Hungry - because you can't grow without burning. . .
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Hungry
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