Thread by @TheOperaGeek

Interact with people's joy as much as you do with their anger.

Uplift their work when they create, just as much as you tell them its OK to not create due to mental health.

It seems to be a trend here, that sadness, anger, & struggle seem to be what people like interacting with.

But more often than not, actual joy, art, content - those get far fewer reactions or interactions than pain, anger, and mental health struggles.

Celebrate others' joy as much as you feel the need to interact with their pain.

Because as someone who - especially in the past 18 months - finds it a struggle to create many times, seeing things I've worked hard on get little interaction can be so counterproductive to continued creation.

Especially when posts of angry rants, hurts, or sadness get hundreds.

And it definitely isn't just me. I see it happening to friends, or to wonderful creators I'm acquainted with here (whether or not I 'know' them IRL).

So many of my friends and the creators in our space are BRILLIANT. Seriously brilliant. Celebrate their brilliance.

Mind you, I say all this knowing how much of my life is taken up by anger. I admit to anger being one of my most prominent and quick emotions. I don't like that about myself, though.

Just admitting to fault on my end, too.

(because I'll be honest with you. when anger is what you've become so used to defaulting to, you can feel very, very empty when your times of joy feel trivialized.)

And now, I return to your regularly scheduled deflection and ridiculous shitposting.

After a possible nap.