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Oh Sweet Criticism
There is a fine line between valid, constructive criticism and hurtful negativity. Learning to discern the two is an important life skill to master.
“Every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought.”
~Margaret Chase Smith
The musical jingle of my iPhone’s marimba ringtone cheerfully clangs in my pocket. As usual these days, I sigh a little and roll my eyes, then fish for the phone in my pocket. From my caller ID, I see that it’s an older lesbian friend of mine — we’ll call her Tanya — who is also a writer. I had recently sent her my first Medium article, “Fundamentalism Kills”, and was looking forward to her response.
“Tanya! Hey…Yeah, I’d love to hear what you thought of my article!” I trilled cheerfully.
“What did I think? What did I think?” Tanya was clearly revved up and off to the races before I even had a chance to draw a breath. “Daniel, I don’t even know how to put this. Your writing is terrible,” she screeched. “Did you even try? Did you even put in any effort at all when you were writing this article?”
I took a deep breath. Count to ten. Don’t take what she’s saying personally. Remember she’s been through…
