The Power in Rejection

NO!!!

YOU HAVE NO TALENT. YOUR PRESENCE IS NOT NEEDED. SOMEONE IS BETTER THAN YOU. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME. YOUR DREAMS ARE NEVER GOING TO BE A REALITY. STOP BEING DELUSIONAL. I AM THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN VALIDATE YOU, AS YOU HAVE NO REAL PURPOSE!!!!

This is what I have been hearing from the world over the last few days, weeks, months. I have been rejected by more poetry publishers than I care to count, I seem to suck at Spoken Word, and my blog audience has shriveled rapidly. The world is poking holes in my dreams, and it is waiting for me to sink… But I refuse!

It is easy to lay down and wave your white flag until the world stops beating you down. It seems more realistic for me to tuck away my dreams, and live a mundane life because random strangers have failed to acknowledge my work, or have stated that my word is bulldust (for lack of a better phrase). Everyday I find myself nagging about how hard it is to continue, to push against a force that seems stronger than me, to prove that I am worth the space I occupy on earth. I look in the mirror and I can see defeat looming behind me like an underdeveloped shadow, waiting to cast my life into darkness.

But I wont allow failure to win. Neither will I allow the words of others validate a talent they never gave me. History has repeatedly shown me that the most successful people don’t receive society’s approval. There was a time Einstein could not find a job, the artistry in Vincent van Gogh‘s work was only seen after his death, and many thought Leonardo da Vinci crazy.

No I’m not a bestselling author right now, but I will be in the future. The continuous rejection is a reminder that I need to work harder, and push further than I thought necessary. The “no” reminds me that I need to escape my comfort zone, and explore new boundaries. The rejection I face everyday tells me that there is more to me that I have yet to discover. I’m an artist, and that is something no one can take away from me.