Hey... :(

Hey... :(

How do you deal with criticism online? Sorry you had to go through that...

hi anon 🫂 i'm so so sorry that i have only seen this now 😭 not very good at scrolling past new notifications 😭😭 i'm going to answer this ask whilst assuming that you mean criticism as mean/hate.

to be perfectly honest: i don't handle it well. I've gotten some here and there, yet it seems like i still haven't developed 'resistance' towards it. but i guess for me, i take a step back and think about whether it might be a 'valid' attack or not. so for example, are they attacking my work because they just don't like it (which in that case, don't read it), or are they attacking my work because i forgot to put certain warnings?

i guess the latter isn't really an attack (but i perceive it in that way because i panic at that fact that i probably hurt someone when i had every chance not to). if it's the latter case, i usually just tell myself over and over again to learn from it and make sure to take extra care for my future works and edit old ones. this is a long process.

if it's the former, i usually think about it for a while and then remind myself that i don't write for other people. plus, people can just click away and the fact that they haven't and decided to even send a mean comment tells me that they have quite spare time in their hands imo (and they just decided to spend it on me because well, they're reading my work and i'm the most available to them at that moment to receive such a mean ask)

another one is just making sure that i have supportive friends as well around me. after that, i turn off asks for a while (which seems like i'm running away but you just gotta do what you have to do), and slowly turn it back on with anon off, then back to 'normal' with anon on.

i'm assuming that you're sending this because you're going through something similar. if so, i'm so sorry that it's happening to you. don't let their words get to you (WAY easier said than done) because it's your page and your writing style, and you should keep that close to you. if you change it, it's no longer yours. and when it's no longer yours, there's a big chance that you no longer will find joy in your works either. don't do that to yourself as it's very unfair (and ofc, the person is also very unfair to you).

block the account/anon! no shame in that! you're just creating a safe space for yourself! that's what matters most!

and now as the night slowly turns into morning and my to-do list isn't completely finished, i wonder who will win: anxiety or adhd

“The mind is beautiful because of the paradox. It uses itself to understand itself.”

— Adam Elenbaas

“Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off being excellent.”

— Unknown

“I wish I didn’t care all the time.”

— Unknown