Harry Marks over at Curious Rat writes about rejection letters. It is a good article (Harry’s blog is full of thoughtful and well argued posts like this, and I check it out regularly – I do not necessarily always agree with him, but I can never dispute that he is presenting his point well) and this little sentence struck me:
Rejection takes all forms, but the message is clear: Do better.
Yes.
I think this is applicable to much more than writing. Rejection is a part of life, and the fear of being rejected can be paralysing. And even if you overcome that fear, and open yourself up to another person, and show them a part of you – be it a poem, a novel, a piece of art, or maybe just your heart – being rejected can feel almost like being killed. It is like being told that the best of you was not good enough.
And yet – this is not what is being said. The message of rejection is not that you are not good enough. It is that you should do better. And being a human being, with an endless potential for development, you can always do better.
As the man once said: “There is no failure – only feedback.”