as a writer and observer of what’s going on around me when it comes to art and media, i aspire to be kinder and more graceful with my use of language because i know just how harsh a person can be when they react or respond to something so viscerally without warrant, and i know how much it can hurt when, at your most vulnerable moments, such vicious critique comes from strangers. i know because i’ve been those strangers before; irrationally angry because i suddenly saw something i didn’t like. and it’s so easy to share your thoughts with a few simple taps of your fingers. nowadays i always save my thoughts to the drafts and take a few minutes or hours to think it over because of that part of me that hesitates. i’m glad that i do, because the next day comes and it no longer matters in the way i thought it did. the waves have calmed into light ripples and the water eventually stilled. everything is clearer, you can see the courser grains of sand among the millions that could pass through a sieve. greater care and humility needs to be taken when it comes to how we talk about artists and their art. initial thoughts and first impressions and gut reactions aren’t always indicative of the truth.
