Criticism of your work isn’t criticism of you. Separate those two and you’ll grow twice as fast.
CREATIVITY
WHAT THIS MEANS
Work made honestly carries a lot of you in it, so a note about the work lands in the same place a note about you would. Separating the two is a learned move, not a natural one. It is worth learning, because the alternative is either avoiding feedback or being flattened by it, and both stop you improving. A critique of a thing you made is information about the thing.
When a note stings, wait a day and read it again looking only for what is actionable. Ask what you would tell a friend who got the same comment. You are usually much fairer to other people than to yourself.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Did you hear criticism of your work as criticism of you?
MORE IN CREATIVITY & ORIGINALITY
- You don’t need a studio. A corner of your room and a decent lamp is where most studios started.
- Time spent making things is never fully wasted. It shows up later in how you solve every other problem.
- Creativity isn’t only paint and guitars. The kid who finds a faster way to do the chores is inventing too.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.