When you share your work publicly you will run across people that are simply inclined to knock you down. The seems to be especially true in the mid 2020s, but it’s always been the case. It’s just that getting your work, or your art, or a video, or whatever, in front of the public is much easier with the advent of these series of tubes known as the Internet.
One has to have a thick skin. As my friend Shirley was fond of saying, “toughen up cupcake”. Honestly, it’s the only way you’ll successfully be able to navigate this new version of U.S. society.
A lot of users on various forums, and I suspect a surprising number of them are originating from warehouses somewhere in the middle of third world countries, will drop “hit and run” comments on videos or writings on a blog or social media posts. There are a lot of bad actors out there that just want to tear people down. This is limited to the bots in box types, there’s plenty of miserable people out in real life who like to hide behind a perceived cloak of anonymity and say rude and unproductive things to folks they would never approach face-to-face, let alone utter a word of criticism. But as the idiocy of too many folks on the Internet, particularly in the social media space, invades real life, one is left to wonder if this is just the appetizer to an American society with a complete lack of respect for one another. It’s this type of mindset that has resulted in the current political chaos we have going on.
This is why I have been focused on trying to be positive in my videos and talk about inspiring one another. While it may seem like I’m dwelling on the cynical here, the truth of the matter is, there’s still a lot of good people to be found from “sea to shining sea”. I’m hopeful people will burn out on being nasty all the time, or the fabled rapture will happen, or something will change this tendency of nastiness we’re seeing online and, to an extent, in real life today.
We can’t all be Nellie Oleson.
I have been reading “The Obstacle Is The Way” by Ryan Holiday. I stumbled upon a video critiquing Ryan’s book as well as his general approach to Stoic philosophy. I’m not going to share a link to the video, but the main point seemed to be that Ryan is doing Stoicism wrong.
It seems to me that if someone has shared writing the inspires others and no harm is to be found in the practice, why waste the energy of being critical of it? Can anyone in the 21st century truly say exactly, and I mean to the letter, what the Stoics said and felt and meant in their teachings nearly 2000 years ago?
Cynicism sells in the 21st century. Clicks are important and so is getting a VPN connection from our latest sponsor.
Don’t worry, nothing I do in the way of writing or making videos or anything is sponsored.
The chaotic will be chaotic and the critics will be critical. We can choose to ignore, though some will ponder why others choose to be chaotic and critical.
I’m just determined to do my thing.