An Experiment In Worry ~ No One Is Keeping Score

Before I launch into my topic at hand, I want to tell you that Dralion was AMAZING!   If you get the opportunity to go see it, by all means do so.  Having the front row seats were so great.  You could see every detail of the costumes, the makeup...so wonderful.  So much inspiration.  I also got "petted" by one of the clowns.  It was funny and he was adorable.

Ok so on to the topic at hand...yesterday I decided to conduct a little Facebook experiment.  I made the following post:

"I am conducting a little experiment. So if you read this post, would you please hit the like button. I am going to do another post later and I am asking that you don't hit the like button on that one. I will explain after the fact what I was doing. Thanks!"

22 people hit the like button.  Considering I posted that at about 5:30 AM MST, I found that to be an impressive number.

About 6-7 hours later I posted the picture shown above without any explanation.  18 people hit the like button on that post.  A good number  of the people who hit the like button on the second post were the same ones who read the first post and hit the like button.  Now please understand I was in no way trying to embarrass anyone.  Had it been me, I probably would have done the same thing.  I was just curious to see how long people would retain what they read.

So why was I doing that?  Many of my posts are based on conversations I witness or participate in with other artists.  So this post is based on something some artists were discussing and worrying over.

I read a quote long ago that said 90% of all the things people worry about never come true.  I believe that to be fairly accurate.  All too often we worry over little things needlessly.  One of the main things I see artists worrying about are the things they say or that are said about them online.  There is a concern that it will be misconstrued or misinterpreted, and that people will remember what was said forever!  That somehow it will effect our business or how others view us.

I want you to think about the last few things you read and the pics you saw on Facebook, Twitter or a Blog?  Do you remember what they were?  I have an exceptional memory and I don't remember most of them.  I don't even remember everything I posted.  It's not that people are not interested in what we have to say, or in us.  It's just that people read it and then think about picking their kids up from school or what to make for dinner...they have their own lives that take precedent above what we are doing all the time.  That's the way it should be. While people do like our work and are curious about us sometimes, we don't have the kind of influence we may like to think we do.  That's a good thing!  I certainly don't think I am that big of an influence on anyone's life.  Too much pressure!  *grins*

When we post something, and then circumstances change...as they do once in a while in everyone's lives and we have to contradict what we had previously said, no one is keeping score unless we do it every single time, which most of us don't.

When we make some sort of faux pas, people usually look past it to see who we are as a whole, especially if they have been friends or loyal followers.  They may even think ill of us for a moment or two, but most of them are not keeping score.  Nor do they hold grudges forever when they realize that we are not inherently bad people.

When someone else posts something less than favorable about us, whether they name us by name or not...it can seem devastating at the time.  It seems as if everyone saw and they are judging us whether we did what we were accused of or not.  But the truth is, only a small handful of people ever see anything that is posted online.  They remember it about as long as they do reading something less than favorable about a movie star in a tabloid in the grocery store check out line.  No one is keeping score.  If they are, they may not want to throw stones at glass houses because we all do these things at some point.

We are human beings...we are flawed and fallible.  We will make mistakes, we will be sorry for them, we will try to learn from them, we will be forgiven by the people who like us and our work.  We will be talked about at times, like it or not.  It will not ruin our businesses, it will not ruin our reputations if we are good, honest, hard working people most of the time.

No one is going to think less of us for not being perfect or selling every single thing we make within five minutes of posting it.  Business doesn't always work that way.  It doesn't mean our work is bad, it just means that the right person for that bear hasn't found it yet.

So the next time this happens to you, and you are worrying or losing sleep over it...please don't.  Just be your sweet, lovable self and move on, let it go.  I promise you...hardly anyone saw it, and if they did...no one is keeping score!

Hugs, K. <3