It has been too long since our friend Andrew Jones of Checkered Owl appeared on the blog. Enjoy this new piece on haters, which was originally written in the wake of Andrew’s latest short film being released, and heed his advice. For fun, we’ve included the film as well.
Don’t read the comments. Don’t feed the trolls. Shake It Off.
The advice is all good, but in those moments when you encounter a genuine hater, it’s a remarkable thing. All your insecurities come rushing to the forefront. Every reason you are hesitant to create and to put art “out there” rings in your head. You can ignore them but it’s hard to ignore yourself.
But first slow down. Now stop.
You’ve already won. YOU took a risk, put yourself out there and YOU created art. They lost, because they spent their day pissing on your work instead of contributing to humanity.
To be honest, this is hitting me today, because I faced a hater.
I recently made a short film called “Finding Fairies“, it was my first time getting to direct my kids in a film and was a really fun project for us. The hater didn’t like it. Which is cool, it’s a family film celebrating childhood wonder, not everyone’s cuppa. That’s fine. However instead of just moving on with life, he decided to “call me out”. I don’t really know why people do that, or what impact they hope to have, but I know it wasn’t meant as a bit of encouragement or constructive criticism.
But here is the reality, his comments only made my supporters get behind the film more! More views, more shares. His comments only pushed me harder to let people see what we made! Is it a perfect film? No. But my crew and actors and actresses worked too hard to let anyone stop us, and we are proud of it.
Don’t let the grumblers win. Don’t let the haters decide what you contribute! Grab that negative energy and turn it around. Go do what you do best instead!
Whatever your artistic endeavour is, make it, TODAY. Write the song, post the video, create the pot, paint your door, write the next chapter of your book! Creating is an act of giving to the world, being rude isn’t. So take the high road and make something today!
P.s. If you would like to see the video it’s right below the post.
P.s.s. I hope you dig it, but if you don’t that’s fine too. Go make something better.
