Why Do I Imagine My Followers Right Beside Me When I’m Writing
If you’d write just for yourself, you’d be your unique superfan, but you’re not.
Some criticisms hurt my gut, but as an indie writer, I have to read every comment, count to ten, and move on.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.- Winston Churchill.
I never respond to negative criticism. Especially if people are very offensive on words about my character or even about my thoughts about a particular topic.
I never respond, first because I’m a creator: I don’t have time to read and respond to everyone.
Second, because I’m not the kind of person that starts a fight, even if it’s in the digital world. What I write about is what I believe in. If people think otherwise, it’s okay. I’m not here to change their minds; I’m just writing to share my perspective about the world around me.
My goal is to be a better investigator, a better reader, a better student. Not a better politician. Usually, politicians try to change people’s opinions, but not me. So I just share my thoughts and what I learn by reading two books per month, that’s it.
But please, keep criticizing my work, dear follower. It’s so crucial for us to be criticized. Especially when our ego is so high, it surpasses the cloud level. Someone has to push us down to earth once in a while.
So, why, when I’m writing an article, I imagine my followers right beside me?
It often takes more courage to change one’s opinion than to keep it.
Clinging to that noise, there are a hundred criticisms, some more sympathetic than others, but which together represent part of your weak side. Often, someone from outside gives you a completely different perspective on the subject you just wrote. And although it is customary to resist criticism in the first moments, with time, you read that review again and agree with your follower who just wanted to share another perspective that is even better than yours.
That’s the moment you have to bring yourself into the humility level and swallow your pride.
I’ve done it several times, and I believe it will keep happening over and over. And that’s great, you know why? Because it means you’re alive, it means your followers are attentive to what you write about, and it means you’re not always right.
Usually, I write about finance, innovation, macroeconomics, technology, and cryptocurrencies. In these sectors, there are many pieces of research, data, and faith in the future.
If I’m talking about Tesla, Apple, or Microsoft, I’m talking about the future that is to be drawn. Some parts of what I write about are genuine, but others are futurism.
The same about Bitcoin, Ethereum, or the blockchain. These ones with an extra flavor because it’s about money. And believe me, writing about money make people get crazy. I’ve been receiving very emotional responses from my followers. Some of them calling me not very nice names. But I get it; this is too emotional. Talking about the future and money, it’s a time bomb about to go off.
Yet, I read all my comments, respond to those I think to deserve my time and attention, and move on.
However, some of my followers are very bright and intelligent people. Some of them write extensive arguments against my opinions, and I love them. Even when they are criticizing all my articles.
Sometimes, after reading all the reviews, I can see the other side and even agree with it. Other times, I read everything to the end, and I get the more concise idea that what I’ve written is precisely what I believe.
The constancy of the wise is only the art of keeping disquietude one’s self.
I spend years and years trying to find the right word for some kind of people who I would come across in life. These people had a character all their own. They looked like happy people, but it felt like they had something inside that bothered them at certain times.
One day, reading a book by a Portuguese writer, I found the perfect description, and better than that, I found the word.
My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.- Fernando Pessoa
The word is disquietude, a state of uneasiness or anxiety.
When I read some of the comments to my articles, I feel disquietude in many people. They write their criticism not to fight my own ideas; it’s to try to hurt my feelings.
I wonder how much disquietude these people feel in life. Usually, they are just readers. They don’t write, don’t have one article on their profile. It means they just criticize everyone but are not courageous enough to put their thoughts under judgment.
The only feeling I have about these kinds of people is being sorry for them.
Sometimes, even the criticism is made in a way that I can’t understand. It’s a mix of loose thoughts wrapped in words of hate and despair. When I’ve just read this kind of comment, I think there are many people not feeling well with themselves. So many people are unresolved with their own lives, taking out all their frustration on others.
It can’t be easy to live with so much hatred towards others every day of the year.
Final Thoughts
When I was a child and I was with my parents in a restaurant, or walking in the street, and I found another child, I immediately ran towards them and hugged them.
The other children were often at a loss for what to do when they saw a stranger in diapers and nursing nipples grabbing them in a full happiness mode.
The reality is that I always loved a good hug.
In this time of the pandemic, what has cost me the most is not being able to hug my friends and family.
My parents filled me with love and affection. I was always taught to see life on the positive side, appreciate Mother Nature, and see other people’s good.
So, to my fiercest critics, I’m sorry, but I can’t be angry with you. Maybe I could give you a compassionate hug.
To those super fans who write beautiful things and encourage me, a gigantic thank you.
I also appreciate commenting on articles I love. I have no problem saying I loved the writing, congratulating the author, writing some friendly and encouraging words, and moving on to the next reading.
The world needs more love, not hate.
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.- William Shakespeare
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