In two weeks, my YouTube channel will be one year old. The purpose of the channel is to document my journey as I learn and grow as a person. The purpose of the channel is not to teach anyone how to do anything. How could I?
I don’t know how to do anything in the videos (not really) that’s why I’m doing it.
I figure it out, I film the process, and then I do it. So far, I’ve restored a table saw and a vice to the best of my ability and I’ve begun the very interesting quest of learning how to blacksmith.
All in all, it is a ton of fun.
The Critics
Critics are something that I have been waiting for, and unfortunately, my stuff has just been either too unknown or too terrible to get any criticism. There haven’t been any thumbs down, zero trolls, and no negative comments. Until today.
Today, I got my very first negative comment. I didn’t understand exactly what he was trying to get across. But, I’m thankful that he posted it.
Maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to reach enough of an audience that I’m finding people who don’t like my work. That’s awesome. Finally! It’s working.
It’s not for Everybody
When we create something, when we have the courage to put it out into the world for everyone to see, not everybody is going to like it.
That’s okay! In fact, that’s awesome!
The gentleman who commented on my video doesn’t think that I did a good job. He doesn’t recommend that anyone else watch it.
Well, I think that is fantastic. I feel like he just gave me a compliment. My puny little YouTube channel with barely a year’s worth of videos got a negative comment. Now, all I need is a thumbs down and I will feel like I have arrived.
So my stuff isn’t for you. That’s fine. Don’t watch it. I don’t watch it, not after the first time. Most of my videos up until now are boring as hell and slow. 😉
But, I’m getting better. The videos help me get better because I can’t hide my mistakes. Creating something and looking at it from a third party’s perspective truly accelerates one’s learning curve.
The point is we can’t please everyone. We never can. We never will. The point is that through consistently doing your work and putting it out there (hopefully) you will find an audience who appreciates it and who wants to see more.
So, like yin complements yang, people who don’t like your work will complement the people who do. Just like the night’s sky compliments the day’s. They are inseparable.
That’s what yin and yang refer to if you didn’t know. Yin is dark and yang is light. Yang (or more commonly taiyang) means sun. But, that’s a post for another time.
Photo by William Iven on Unsplash
