Tuesday, May 18, 2010

To post or not to post....


















That is the question.
We in the jewelry/glass beadmaking/metal/ fine arts are a small bunch. We all know people who know people. There are plenty of "famous" blogger artists, forum artist, Etsy artists , Ebay artist, those who make a small to medium living from making beautiful things.

We all know each other in some small way, and we all form opinions and cliques that may or may not be beneficial or true. I will be the first one to say I have fallen into the gossip and sometimes not so nice behavior pointed at certain people, and for that my apologies, truly.

But you know what I have found out as I have grown older and pulled away from it all...no one is perfect, absolutely not one person. We have all been mean, been forgiven and forgiven others. We at times are caring, have been taken advantage of, not been given credit, and not given credit. Been the focus of invalid criticism, and maybe valid criticism.

But we all need to take a closer look at how we interact with others, how we handle ourselves as adults. I am not perfect and I cannot hold others to a standard that I am not willing to hold myself to.

At one point I joined in the mocking of an artist. He/She was the snicker we had in the corner of the room. We reveled in our "coolness", thought we were all that. I slowly began to notice that the "cool kids" were not so supportive of me in ways I had been supportive of them. The give and take was very one sided. It began to hurt and I pulled away.

A couple of years later I taught with the artist we had made the butt of our jokes. He/She was a delight. Kind, thoughtful, funny and very talented. Then in a moment He/She supported me in a way that the "cool kids" never did..ever. Imagine my horror as I realized my arrogance. One of my big "ah ha " moments. Shame on me.

I will still be kind to the "cool kids". They have their paths to go down, and I have mine. I by no means am any better or worse. I am just trying to not get caught up in useless thoughts.

You know what is important, to look inward, decide what feels right, and what feels wrong. Graciousness, what a wonderful word. Let us all be gracious, strong, caring and thoughtful before we decide if being one of the "cool kids" is really worth it.

And before you decide to take someone on, look inward, be an adult, stand strong, but for goodness sakes, stand with graciousness.


8 comments:

  1. What an excellent post and message. I'm so happy you chose to write it.

    Kudos and a big hug~
    Juls

    ReplyDelete
  2. It can be difficult to realize that the people you have loved for whatever reasons do not actually love you back, or that they don't have your back. Best to stick with people you know will be there in a tough spot, not people who spend half of their time talking trash about other people or being mean just for a laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think that we have all been down that path. I know that I have been on both sides of that glass. I appreciate that you have learned much from that experience and moved on. That is true growth.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Enjoy the day!
    Erin

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really liked this post as I think these things are so relevant throughout our lives. Personally I have gone through some major turmoil with people who i thought were my friend etc and I think as you grow older you know who you really want to surround yourself with in life but I think i also need to remember that not everyone is perfect either, myself included. Now this week I have been watching my 7 year old son make some bad decisions at school as he has been faced with 'do I run with the crowd, or do I stand up for what I believe in', I hope that he works out these lessons quicker than I did in life but I guess at the end of the day it's ultimately up to him. Anyway thank you for that post as i found it very relevant for me at this time. Thank you for sharing :0)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for all the responses. It has been a post that I have wanted to write for awhile. Writing these thoughts is a way to release and grow. Even at 52 you can teach an old dog new ways to think.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Taking a few minutes to think and empathize before saying/doing is a skill that takes a lot of practice. :) I know I continue practicing everyday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not many are kind enough or smart enough to own their behavior. Congrats on the revelation and especially the honesty to be able to put it into print. Makes me want to take the class you and Pearson might co-facilitate.

    ReplyDelete