Dear anonymous hateful blog commenter,

Dear anonymous hateful blog commenter,

Waking up to your hateful comments really didn't get my day off to a good start. I'm sorry you feel my writing is "boring" -  my work "uninspired" and "bland." But here's the thing...I don't really care about you anymore. I used to take all your comments to heart. They used to upset me all day. I worried about how to win you over. How to be less boring. More inspired. Less bland. But today, I am dumping your sorry ass for good because I am over it.

I was taught that if you can't say anything nice, that you shouldn't say anything at all. But I think the combination of sharing on the internet (and the anonymity that comes with being behind a computer) and the popularity of reality shows out there (where viciousness is laughed at and even celebrated) we now have a culture of cruelty. Anyone who volunteers up to others what they feel are their gifts - maybe by singing a song on Youtube, or by writing a blog post, or maybe by sharing a piece of art on social media - the haters crawl out of the woodwork and feel it is now their right to criticize, critique or worse - use hateful speech. It is really sad. People are getting attention or even become famous for being hate mongers and bullies. Look at me, sitting here, writing to you now, giving you my attention. No more.

See, here's what you don't know about me. After a year and a half of sharing my work with others, I have realized a lot about myself. I am not boring, even if you think I am. I am inspired by everything, everywhere - and I am the furthest thing from bland that there is. I am spicy. I am full of flavor - hell, you need a glass of milk on the side of me, just to calm your tastebuds down after all this spice. I am full of zest and a love of life that makes me feel so happy sometimes I think I could burst. Even better, I can now accept that to some folks like you, it will be boring to read about me digging in the garbage, painting this or that, and sharing the tidbits about my personal life. I get it - I am not for everyone. And that is ok! I bet there are things that you find fascinating that would bore me to tears. We are all different and that is a beautiful thing. At this point in my life, I can totally respect that I bore you. But this is my blog. It is by me and about me and my work. If you don't like it, just don't come back, for goodness sakes. Even if no one ever comes back, I will just keep on doing it, because I love it and it makes me happy.

It takes courage to wake up and live your dream in the face of adversity - I'm guessing that just like me and every other human being alive today, you have faced some adversity - and I wish you the courage to stop hiding behind mean, anonymous comments and to start living your dreams. I'm guessing that you've heard a lot of negative comments in your life that have made you feel so small that you need to surf the web and hate on others. But guess what? Today, I just feel like thanking you, and surely, if you were in front of me, I would have a big hug with your name on it. Because today, your hateful words inspired a lightbulb moment inside of  me where I realized my own worth on a deeper level than I have so far in my life. You upset me for about 2 seconds before a calm washed over that said I don't need validation from you. I am going go on with living my dream - and I hope you will too. Get off the computer, stop making hateful comments, and start doing whatever makes your heart sing.  If you have the time in the day to criticize others, you clearly are not busy enough pursuing whatever makes you happy. You should be working so hard at improving yourself that you have no time to hate on anyone. That's what I'm logging off to do today. I am going to put on some music, sing, dance, paint, love my babies, and live my life. So thanks for everything.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Love,

Jess