Dear All,
The work of a critic is in several ways , very easy. He thinks , and says, and opines, and thinks again.
Now you may
be wondering about how exactly being thoughtful and providing insights can be
as simple as I say it is. Well you’re right, it is not; But being in a
perpetual state of negative surely is. Have we ever wondered , how difficult it
is to actually appreciate someone’s creation without pointing out the flaws in
it? Or, how when we read a classmate’s self written poem, instantly point out
words that seem unnecessary, just to escape the fact of actually having to mark
it as excellent?
A person may
write well above average, a person may qualify in performing arts with more
merit that his/her peers, but we choose to ignore. We choose , or rather we
train ourselves to see and to appreciate things we think is worth having a positive opinion about. Take social
media for example; you find thousands of people with more
followers/friends/likes who will get a thousand more of the same with
meaningless entries. And then you look at those who despite having the talent
for expressing and inspiring exceptionally well are reduced to swatting flies
with the meagre optimism they are offered. Why? Because people think them to be
unworthy of their precious encouragement or in more popular terms, ‘methodically
boring’. Who would risk being friends with the nerd when they could worship the
popstar?
We are
always told that one learns to survive as they hang onto a cliff for dear life , trying not to
fall. Fact is, a survival such as this, often brings a shell of disdain and
impassiveness. No one was paid to have their emotions burnt at stake, hence it
is best to shut out completely and deny the deserving of all that was denied to
you. Such is the story to a stone
hearted beginning, the way a critic is born.
Although we
would like to revel in a halo of self righteousness, like it or not we all are
the same in the end. All self centered,
insecure critics who balm our burning
ire by saying a miserable word about someone else , although it is very seldom
that we truly mean what we say.
Being a
critic is a way of life, a never ending circle whose tangent can lead to
heartbreak and ‘weakness’. The exact reason why when we see a person being kind
to another, we immediately try to derive
the motive behind the act, completely forgetting that it is quite natural to
have kindness as a character trait. We would rather side with the popular
insight than understand the absolute truth, simply because we find it
intimidating.
We see , we
feel, we know, we observe. We are the ones who stand strong and simultaneously love
with all our hearts. Being a cynic is expensive, being sarcastic is
entertaining, but being human goes a long way. As we wait for the world to
change overnight, let us just for once love and live the way we are supposed
to. Things are beautiful the way they are. Let the critic inside you sleep a
moment and allow the happiness in you thrive. Who knows? You might not need the
negative again. It does not cost to be happy more than it does to be miserable.
A little
goes a long way....
Sincerely,
Someone just
like you.
