Monday, March 21, 2011

Something Clever

The older I get, the more introverted I seem to become. When I was a small child, I wanted the whole world and I wasn’t afraid of it, but as I grew older I found reasons to be afraid. And I decided I want the whole world, but from a safe distance. It has taken courage for me to be a part of a community because of the way it requires of me to give of myself, which inherently means a certain amount of vulnerability. I tried the hermit thing, but the conclusion I finally came to is that my experiences don’t mean anything unless they’re shared. I am not here just for the sake of my own learning, but so that I can help others to learn and vice versa. After reaching this idea, I have made an effort to be very honest about myself and my experiences.

Now what does this have to do with airplanes criticism and feedback? I think that the reading did a good job of expressing how frightening it can be to allow people to look at your work, and not only that but allow them to look at it specifically with a critical eye. This kind of vulnerability terrifies me. Yet what I am finding as I am receiving feedback from my peers, is that most of them aren’t out to prove something. They really want to help me be my best self. And as I learn how to do that—as I increase my abilities and produce better work, my power to influence and help people will also increase.

So, as I seek feedback I hope that I can allow it to help shape me into a better artist. I seek clarity from it, and solutions to problems. And I hope that the influence of feedback will allow me to reach more people with my projects.

1 comment:

  1. Elisabeth, I love listening to your thoughts. I think that in spite of the fact that you may think you're introverted, I think that when you choose to impart your thoughts with us, your ideas say a lot. In fact, they usually impart more wisdom and thinking than most people who are a little more extroverted. It's obvious that you've taken other people's criticisms into account and that you've really honed in on the skills you have to make yourself as skilled as possible at the things you emphasize in. PS, I liked the airplane reference. Very cheeky.

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