Why I Respond to Criticism
One of the things that I'm criticized for is making videos responding to criticism.
Some of it comes from people who want to encourage me and tell me to ignore the trolls. And of course, some of it comes from actual trolls, but those aren't the people that I make videos for.
I know I'm not going to change the trolls mind, and that their comments have a lot more to do with their issues than they do with me. But there are people out there who are nurturing the tiniest glimmer of a dream, and when they see how critical people can be, they worry that one mean comment is all it'll take to snuff out their little flame.
So they wait for the day they'll be brave enough to share that dream with the world despite what any trolls might have to say. I know because I have been, and I sometimes still am, that person. And the voices of other people responding with grace to the criticism I've worried about receiving myself eventually replaced the talks of those hypothetical trolls that held me back from getting started for so long.
So, this is me paying it forward to other budding troll conquerors out there, whether they lurk in your comments, or in your head.