Feedback Thoughts

I have always been scared of feedback, but I think this class will be a good start for me to embrace it. In school, I have not had many good experiences with feedback, especially from peers. Many times that I get feedback from peers, either I take it personally and just feel down about it or my fellow classmates only give feedback because they have to for a grade and it is worthless comments such as, "I really liked what you did here..." and "I agree with your point about..." The best feedback experiences I have had are usually in English or writing classes by getting notes from my teachers; the feedback I receive from them shows me what I am doing well and where I can improve. I think the most important thing to remember when I receive feedback is that no matter how much I focus on the negative, there will always still be some positives.

The first article I read was John Spencer's "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work." I particularly like the tips of "set goals that are within your control" and "trust yourself." I find myself often beating myself up for things that I feel I did wrong, but looking back at them, many times the circumstances were not under my control. I think in every situation, it is important that I truly consider if I was able to control the outcome or if it was something I simply could not control. I also think it will be important to trust myself both in school and in life. I often doubt myself, but I should always remember that as long as I am doing the best I can with what I have, that is all that can be asked of me.

I also really enjoyed the article "Make Good Art: Neil Gaiman's Advice on the Creative Life, Adapted by Design Legend Chip Kidd" by Maria Popova. I loved the advice in it, but also just loved the images of the book because it is so well designed. In Neil's speech, he advises people to make mistakes, because that is how they know they are trying new things and actually doing something. I think many times that I have had the opportunity to take a risk and make mistakes, I have been too scared to because I am afraid I will receive a low grade if it is a school setting or let someone else down if it is in organizations I am involved in. I appreciate that I have the opportunity to try new things without the risk of getting a bad grade or hurting someone else in this class.

Made with cheezburger. Source: Feedback Cats

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