Criticizing Is Easier Than Correcting – A Story
I love sharing stories with my readers. Stories are indeed the best ways of learning the lessons of life. I believe, we relate to each story in a way that is the most suitable for us at that point in time.
I heard this story recently and thought it was such an apt one for the age and time that we live in. At a time when pointing fingers, passing negative comments, trolling and criticizing everything and everyone has become the norm, I thought this story has a strong message. A strong message for those who troll and those get trolled.
Like with every story, this one too is supposed to have happened a long time ago. 🙂
The Story:
Once upon a time , there lived a very talented artist. His paintings were highly appreciated by many including his own teacher/guru. One day he decided to hang one of his best paintings outside on a tree near a busy town. He placed a pen and a note near the painting. The note read “ If you find a mistake in this painting, kindly circle it with this pen. Thank You.”
It was one of the artist’s favorite paintings and he was quite sure about the outcome. He went back the next day and was shocked to see the number of places where people had circled. The painting was filled with circles made with the pen.
The artist was heartbroken. He went to his guru and narrated the incident. The guru smiled and asked him to place a copy of the same painting at the same place with a different note near it.
The artist did exactly what was told and came back the next day. He was anxious to see the result. To his surprise, he found absolutely no pen markings on the painting. He took the painting and went back home.
The note read “ If you find a mistake in this painting, please correct it with this pen. Thank You.”
The End.
Comments
I love it!
Thank you Anneli …
As a book reviewer and beta reader, I always try to find the positives in anything I am reviewing. Most of the time the problem is not with the creator’s idea, but with the execution.
As an author, I want critiques which tell me if I’ve missed something obvious (i.e. spelling, grammar, sentence structure) and also if some part of the story is confusing. I have both ADD and bipolar disorder, both of which can cause me to run off on a myriad of subplots.
What is never helpful is the sort of critique which says things like “your story sucks” or “ick, I never read vampire stories,” things of that nature. This happened to me on one occasion where I shared my story for a writing challenge, and I had one person after the next saying “I don’t read vampire stories.” I finally asked: “then why are you reading this one?”
“Because I need to comment on all the stories if I want to win the prize.”
If that’s your reason, please go away.
I always say that if a post causes me to go on a tangent, it’s succeeded. Great post!
Thank you so much for your comment. I think with anything creative, there is always so much left to the imagination of the reader or the viewer. I have had people commenting and taking my writing on such different tangents. I so love that.
But then, like you said, if people come and comment just for the heck of it, it can get so annoying.