Face your Fears
I have a cup of tangerine green tea and a backlog of things I desperately need to ramble about.
So, short intro; I like to draw things and call them art every once in a while. Visual art is nice and digestable and as such (surely this must be the only reason?) I've been fortunate enough to have gathered a tidy audience. Now, recently--instead of releasing depressing music to deal with relationship woes--I've drawn ponies. Lots and lots of ponies. So much ponies that I've barely drawn anything else. What can I say? It works and is reliable in making me at least feel productive.
Now, ponies are quite popular, so you'd think this is a sound development. Actually reality for me lies more on the opposite end. Only when you're good enough to make people eat your ideas regardless of their preferences in medium or what-have-you do you escape the necessity of producing 'show-accurate' renderings. In addition to that most of the people I've been lucky enough to have watching actually are disappointed if anything that I'm not drawing the subject matter I have been previously.
This might sound a little business-like. But there's only one reason for me to draw ponies, and that's because I need to for my sanity to stay in its current position at the cliffside overlooking the volcanic geysers of further dramatic metaphors. It's important in life to simply do what you want to and never apologise for your creations. Stick by your desires, whether they are deemed 'cool' or not. Play football or video games, drive cars or make muffins - it really doesn't matter. I know that this is not necessarily easy. Society has always functioned in part by telling the individual what is expected of them and to never think about it for more than a minute or two.
Growing up I've always been surrounded by people who did not want me to succeed, and always looked the other way when I did. In English there's no word for this form of jealousy, but we may borrow from German (we'll escape Dutch that way) and introduce missgunst. It's the phenomenon of not granting others status, respect, and success for no real reason at all outside of perhaps one's own narcissistic sense of entitlement. If you notice your 'friends' or family fit this line of behaviour it's time for an upgrade. Start with the guy that's just sort of there. You know, that guy. The more positive encouragement you have in your surroundings the more comfortable you'll be and the less inclined you are to exaggerate the negativity from the insignificants who lurk in the background. Remember that they're in the background for a reason - and it's not because they're such a lovely shade of pink.
Whenever someone overreacts to any opinion it's a good idea to keep in mind that, quite likely, they've been consistently forced to defend themself growing up and in a way haven't quite escaped that mode. If you're required to feel guilty about your quiet dissent you'll be that much extra likely to grow up shouting your rebellious slogans down the streets years later. By extension we can get sidetracked by things we feel we should protest and be indignant about. It doesn't matter how nuanced we can be if we lose track of the truly important aspects of our lives. The truth is that unless you're a rapaciously racist rapist it really doesn't matter what anyone is or is not into.
This is not at all an elegant way of saying that, yes, by all means, focus on the positive impulses in life. Fuck the haters, yo. Pursue the things that make you happy and reserve your attention for the people who fit into that. You might be surprised at how much more motivated and satisfied you can become.