To Err Is Human...
Newsletter + On This Day
Even though I was raised to be a perfectionist, I’ve worked hard to go easier on myself when I don’t meet my own high standards.
Mistakes happen. To err is human, right?
I make plenty of mistakes—several a day, in fact. And while I still get annoyed with myself for messing up, I’ve gotten better at letting it go.
What I haven’t learned to let go of, though, are the people lurking behind their keyboards, waiting to pounce on the first sign of imperfection.
Just yesterday, I misidentified the photo above in my Tab Hunter photomontage.
It was one photo out of over 250. Well within any reasonable “margin of error.” But keyboard warriors—who only seem to pop up when there’s a perceived “problem”—aren’t known for their reasonableness. So they swooped in like vultures, eager to correct and mansplain how I “got it wrong” yet again. Stupid, ugh-ly, zucking birds.
Here’s the thing: To err is human, but to point out errors is a choice.
We all make mistakes. It’s part of what makes us human.
While amateur critics focus on pointing out my every misstep and mistake, I’m doing my best to focus on creating work that spreads love and light.
I appreciate kind corrections, but “gotcha” comments and one-upmanship are just childish. I make content for adults—grown-ass adults. I don’t have the time nor the patience for negative ninnies who tear apart other people’s work instead of making their own work. So I usually delete their comments and block them.
I’d like to believe they mean well, but I know better. So zuck those folks.
While I’ve come to accept mistakes as part of the process, I’ve also come to see these keyboard critics as part of a bigger problem. Without asshats, I think more would feel free to create and experiment. Without naysayers, I think there would be more art and creativity….and less criticism and shame.
“EVERY CHILD IS AN ARTIST. THE PROBLEM IS HOW TO REMAIN AN ARTIST ONCE WE GROW UP.”
PABLO PICASSO
If you’re reading this, chances are good you’re a lover, not a hater. On behalf of myself and fellow creatives, thank YOU. Reasonable minds can differ, but only if everyone is reasonable and mindful.
Frankly, I don’t have the time or patience for unkind comments or corrections. I’m too busy doing what I love to worry (too much) about what others dislike or find fault with.
Civil discourse and constructive criticism may be relics of the past, but I’m holding out hope that they—along with common decency and sense—will come back in style.
Until then, I’m gonna do my best to be kind and carry on. I hope you do too.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
P.S. I’ve gotten a few requests to bring “Derek” back to narrate the newsletters, so I’ve added voiceovers to several recent editions. While AI—not human—”Derek” is also imperfect, mispronouncing and misspeaking my own bad grammar and typos. I’m okay with that. I hope you are too.
ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 15
BIRTHDAYS
1844 = Friedrich Nietzsche = German composer, poet, and philosopher
1858 = John L. Sullivan = American boxer, actor, and journalist
1938 = Fela Kuti = Nigerian musician and activist
1943 = Penny Marshall = American actor, director, and producer
EVENTS
1581 = Commissioned by Catherine de' Medici, the first ballet—Ballet Comique de la Reine—is staged in Paris
1951 = I Love Lucy premieres on CBS.
1952 = In Los Angeles, W. Dorr Legg and six friends, including Dale Jennings, all with ties to the Mattachine Society, discuss forming a group to promote education and research activities beneficial to gay men and lesbians. ONE, Inc., results from the meeting.
1940 = Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator is released.
1954 = Sabrina is released in theaters.
1955 = Country music radio show "Grand Ole Opry" is first broadcast on television in a live hour-long show by ABC.
1964 = Composer Cole Porter dies in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 73.
1970 = Jet Magazine features a lesbian couple, Edna Knowles and Peaches Stevens, in their publication under the headline “Two Women ‘Married’ In Chicago — To Each Other.” However, Jet noted that the Illinois marriage license bureau had no record of the union and the image caption refers to Stevens as the “bridegroom”.
1973 = Dr. Howard Brown announces the founding of the National Gay (“and lesbian” was added later) Task Force, considered the first gay or lesbian rights organization with a truly national scope. Dr. Bruce Voeller is named the first executive director.
1976 = Mob boss Carlo Gambino dies in Massapequa, New York, at the age of 74.
1977 = The school board of Santa Barbara, California, votes to ban discrimination against students based on sexual orientation.
1977 = Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" goes #1 & stays #1 for 10 weeks.
1983 = A Washington, DC, Superior Court judge dismisses a lawsuit brought by gay students against Georgetown University three years prior, ruling that the students cannot force the university to grant their organization recognition, because the federal government does not have an official national policy on homosexual rights.
1999 = Fight Club is released in theaters.
1999 = Washington Times reports claims George W. Bush ensured conservative supporters that he would not “knowingly” appoint any LGBTQ ambassadors or department heads in his administration if elected president.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“HE WHO WOULD LEARN TO FLY ONE DAY MUST FIRST LEARN TO STAND AND WALK AND RUN AND CLIMB AND DANCE; ONE CANNOT FLY INTO FLYING.”
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
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My sympathy. I know very well the difference between someone helpfully pointing something out and an a**hole. I've had enough of the latter as bosses.
I had a friend, now long since deceased, who had the gift of pointing out deficiencies at high-end hotel and restaurant service in such a way that they fell over themselves to THANK him! He got comped meals, rooms, and for all I know more. He was very welcome the next times they saw him, too. He understood my social deficiencies and found them amusing in a good way (hard to believe). I miss that rascal!
I've found that people who advise you to 'let it go' usually make two assumptions. One is that the thing you let go of stays where you left it. The other is that the damage caused by the thing mystically, magically undoes/repairs itself. More often than not, neither of those things is the case.
What I've found works pretty well is to let it go with the expectation it or the sequalae will reappear and that (more importantly) I don't have an obligation to respond no matter how many people say otherwise.