I was looking at my facebook page the other day and something caught my eye (but don’t get me wrong, I’m SUPER grateful for the way it has grown over the past year):
Do you know how many friends I have on Facebook? Over 2.5K. Granted, not everyone is a friend friend. Many are industry people I’m connected to through friends of friends, classes I’ve taken, common interests, etc, but still. Out of 2.5K only 212 took the time to click LIKE when I sent them an invite to like my page. That’s like 8%. This is ridiculous when you realize that it only takes you a second to like someone’s page. That’s depressing, and kinda insane.
This post isn’t about Facebook or pages, though, that was just something that got me thinking about something much more important: supporting other people’s efforts. SPECIALLY if they’re your friends or even just people you sorta like.
When I look around, the reality seems to be, more often than not, that most people have a “me, me, me” attitude and don’t bother showing any sort of support for other people’s endeavors. It is as if they think there is a limited amoutn of cake and if they help anyone else get a slice, they themsleves will end up with nothing.
This is SAD because it is very much NOT THE CASE.
On the contrary, you should not only be generous because it’s just the right thing to do, but because it helps YOU, yes, you.
You reap what you sew, and if you are kind and helpful to others, they will be more inclined to return the favour without you even asking. Yes, some people suck and they won’t, but they are a minority so you should not concern yourself with them as they’ll get their karma soon enough.
You attract what you are, so if you want more generosity, you need to be more generous. I don’t know how or why this works, but it just seems to be the way it is. Magic, perhaps? I haven’t got a single clue other than what I am able to observe myself with my own little two eyes.
Pettiness attracts pettiness, so do you really want to act that way? Specially when it costs you literally nothing to be kind and supportive of another human, another creative soul trying to thrive in this insane world?
Don’t forget the world tends to be specially soul-crushing for sensitive creatives:
- Sometimes they don’t have any sort of support system at home where everyone thinks they’re crazy for even trying to make it as an artist.
- Sometimes they have to take the shittiest jobs to make ends meet while their creative enterprises take off.
- Sometimes they have a hard time believing in themselves.
If you are a creative you probably know this first hand, so why would you add to those pain points? Would you like other creatives to make your life more difficult, or to help you in solidarity?
Next time you see an instagram of an artist you like, follow them! If they post a picture you enjoy, like it! If they have cool products, buy and share them! Rise up, and raise others!
Remember that no one has ever gone poor from giving and that there’s plenty for all of us!
Life is NOT a competition after all!
