Back in my high school years I would get upset quite easily if someone commented on my performance using a word that could be interpreted as slightly negative. (I was such a Ravenclaw back then.) I remember a time my friend and I were supposed to check each other's English homework and leave a written comment and she had written "almost perfect grammar."
Almost perfect? Almost perfect? What the hell?! (Naturally I never spoke to her againshe was right, actually, I had made a mistake.)
I have come a long way since then. A few years back, in an attempt to brainwash myself, I told an aquaintance who worked as an Amnesty fundraiser that it's better to tell your team members what they're doing wrong and how they can get better instead of giving them constant positive feedback. I thought the money would be enough encouragement. She disagreed. Quite aggressively.
Then today I noticed I had got a review on Amazon on one of poetry my books with only four stars and a written part that said that most of the poems were really good and some were not. This time I did hear the echo of the now dead Ravenclaw within me, but the new voice was much, much louder: I am SO eager to make the next one SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY! That might sound like an exaggeration, but considering people who buy my books don't usually leave any sort of feedback, it was quite literally how I felt.
Lizard brain ain't got nothing on me!
RK
