Ah the dislike button. This is the first song from our challenge that received a thumbs down. ?? 2 to be exact, and that’s just at this moment in time. It’s not many in the scheme of things, but it still makes you flinch. We gathered our courage to put ourselves out there, knowing there would be mistakes and things to criticize (hell we are the first ones to criticize ourselves!), and then that innocent little emoji confirms it – people don’t like us. Or they don’t like the song. Or they don’t like our rendition of the song! It doesn’t matter really, it still stings a little. But here’s the thing, if we spend our time only making stuff that everyone will like, we will never make anything! Creativity requires risk. “You’ll get your feelings hurt. But critics are the price of being extraordinary.” This quote from Sally Hogshead sums it up to me. To do the great things we are intended to do in this life, our feelings will get hurt. There will be people that won’t like us, it is nearly a guarantee. And that is okay! It is okay to not be for everyone. But just imagine all the people that you ARE for. We can truly touch people with our music and creativity, but only if we risk sharing it. And whatever is your creative gift to give, you can too. So for every thumbs down or bad review you might get, train yourself to remember that is the price of being extraordinary. And keep making, keep going, because the world needs your voice. And it needs ours too.
But really, who doesn’t like this song? ? It has made me cry more than a few times in my life. And that is a sign of great art.
Lastly, just like last year, a friendly reminder from us to you, to flex that citizen muscle and vote! ???