‘How many ‘likes’ will I get on this post?’
I have caught myself thinking that a number of times since I have actively joined this blogging world. I would probably still be considered a newbie to some, being just a month shy here on wordpress; however, this new notion of validating my writing by the number of likes I get, has made me self reflect on this matter. I will not lie, it is a great motivator, but I think it is time for me to step back and see things for what they are.
There once was a time not too long ago, before social media or blogging when I used to write my thoughts down in a diary, getting immense joy from pouring them on that paper not viewed by anyone but me. There was a time when pictures were just shown to close friends and family, for the mere joy of sharing the memories with each other. It did not matter about the number of people who saw the pictures but the closeness we felt from it. I am not suggesting that one cannot feel close via a ‘facebook like’. I myself have connected with childhood friends and that ‘like’ from them means a lot. I digress, coming back to writing… I think for myself, it is a little different than sharing pictures.
Writing has always been an outlet for my thoughts. It helps me unwind after a long battle of emotions, helps me lose myself in music, helps me draw pictures with words that I cherish, helps me hold nature to my heart, and it is often my love songs. It has never been about how much someone else has liked or disliked my work. How then did a ‘like’ on one post and not the other begin to affect me like this?
Now, I would be dishonest if I said I do not appreciate being appreciated. I think most writers will tell you they get high when their readers resonate with their writing and show appreciation; however, it cannot come with a cost of validation of my work. If I were getting paid to do a marketing job, where I had to get consumers liking my post, it would have been different; that one extra ‘like’ would mean by bread and butter. But this, this right here is different, it is simply my thoughts and my muses, my nights and days of emotions on paper, it is the abstract ladders to my thoughts and my concrete heart on the computer screen, and though I will always appreciate and like that ‘like’, my work can never be validated by the number of ‘likes’ I receive.
forgottenmeadows 