It’s day 5 of the #AtoZchallenge2014, which means it’s time to write about something that starts with the letter E. I’m sure you’re all a-twitter, wondering whatever I picked to ramble on about. Is it “excellence”? As a matter of fact, no. Tho I could indeed discuss the fact that we should strive for it in all we do, that we should treat each other that way, that we should watch Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure…
It’s also not Erinyes, the monster my pal Chad Clark chose to write about for his “E” topic (which by the way, is making me quite envious of his vast knowledge of various monsters… and here I thought I was fairly well-read!). Nor is it efficiency, the topic chosen by the actual A to Z peeps to help those of us who have embarked on this journey…
Nope, my:
E is for Encouragement
Apparently, there is some sort of bruhaha going on in parts of the writing community where some writers / artists are bashing other writers / artists… And I’m know a similar phenomenon is happening in the cosplay and gaming communities, and for all I know, in accounting and underwater basket-weaving circles too.
And I just don’t understand it! Every single one of us is here on this planet for such a short while, why don’t we spend our time encouraging each other to pursue whatever dream the other person has, whether it’s climbing a mountain or swimming with eels or studying lemurs in Madagascar (go see the movie at Fernbank Museum if you’re in Atlanta… too cute) or writing a novel or creating book cover art? Why this need to bash each other instead of lifting each other up?
You truly never know what some tiny word of encouragment might blossom into. One story I’ll share with you, and hopefully she won’t mind, is about my sister-in-law. Sometime early in my dating life with her brother, she mentioned that she wanted to paint. And I responded: “Well, why don’t you?”
And guess what? She did! And she’s a marvelous painter! And the best part is I have absolutely zero recollection of that conversation. Just because I happen to paint too doesn’t mean I told her “No. All the paint is mine. You must not. I am the only one allowed to paint.” I gave her the teensiest bit of encouragement, and she ran with it. And although she’s 1,000x a better painter than I am, I’m so glad she did.
These are a few paintings she created to decorate the library where she works. Aren’t they marvelous?
(Blame the terrible perspective and the missing edges of the paintings on my iPhone camera, and the column smack in the way of my shot, not her ability to paint nor hang photos.)
And do you know why I’m a painter? I always wanted to, but I was scared s**tless to even try, even tho I’d been writing since I could hold a pencil (or crayon), even tho I’d been making jewelry for years, even tho I’d been crocheting since I was five years old…
I started painting because a friend of mine told me I could do it, and took me to the art store, and sat with me while I put my first tentative blobs of paint on a canvas.
So again, let’s all forget about the BS of competition and the evil spirit of bashing each other, and instead love and encourage each other.
The #AtoZchallenge2014 is kind enough to give us Sundays off, so you’ll just have to wait until sometime Monday to learn what I decide to write about for the letter F. And apparently my other partner in blogging, Paul Feeney, is still working on his “E”…
Amen. Enough of the chest thumping and people stepping on the backs of everyone around them to try and get ahead. I was just telling someone else within the last day or two that you get out of the world what you put into it and in the end, why would you want to use your abilities to create hostility and anger?
Amen, brother!
I’m glad you paint… My office would be dreary if you didn’t…
Indeed! Your walls would be rather bare, wouldn’t they?
I agree 100% with your sentiments here. Nothing should stop you doing what you want to do (creatively speaking). The fame and fortune will be decided by the audience…and no small measure of luck. There’s no need to compete because there’s no way to know what the fickle audience might want next. Before Harry Potter, wizard stories weren’t selling like hotcakes and now? Back to not selling like hotcakes. lol. Create for yourself, support those around you and, with any luck, the thing you do for fun will also bring you big buckets of money. 🙂
I am still waiting for my buckets of money… but I shan’t stop doing what I do because then I wouldn’t be me!
It amazes me how a word of encouragement means so much to another person. You might never know how those words affected someone. Thanks for sharing this blog.
xoxo
Don’t ever stop!
Thanks for stopping by! And I shall endeavor not to!
Thanks for stopping by! And I shall endeavor not to ever do so!
A-freakin-men! I see posts like these often and wonder why many seem unable to understand the message. No one needs to bring another down. And the world is a better place for art! So let’s create and get the world back to a place where appreciation is the name of the game!
High-five! Or fist bump! Or whatever the cool kids are doing these days!
sweet sentiment – would be awesome if we could all encourage each other! everyone has their own special qualities! celebrate that!
happy f day!
Thanks for stopping by! And happy f day to you too. 🙂
You Debbie have probably been responsible for encouraging many more people than you think! Me for certain! Thank you…you have been responsible for making me a better person and braver!!!!
Aaaw. *sniffs* Thank you! <3 <3 <3