Cheerleader or critic

The cheerleader puts other people above themselves.

Takes the risk.

Physically and psychologically.

They practice in order to be able to hold someone above their head.

And gets ready to catch them if they fall.

Even to get to the stage of being able to hold someone above your head requires many falls, requires trust between two people, requires taking a leap, requires careful monitoring for a slight deviation in movement.

On the other hand, a critic doesn’t need to practice.

It’s easy to tear something down.

Imagine a critic walking up to a cheerleader practicing holding someone above their head for the first time.

You could push the people over with a finger.

Tear down the structure trying to be built.

A good cheerleader isn’t just someone shouting from the stands.

The active cheerleader participates, practices, gets stronger, puts others above themselves, reflects on how to do it better next time.

The critic rarely offers feedback for the future and instead kicks the shins of something in its current state.

And any artist knows, the current state of a creation is often the worst it’s ever going to be.

Perhaps the work is finished.

After all, a large part of art is knowing when something is done.

In many situations in life, there’s the chance to be the cheerleader or the critic.

Do I want to cheer this person on? Find a way to put them above myself, practice being stronger together. Am I prepared to catch them if they fall?

Or do I want to tear this person down? Find holes in their creation, ask why they’d be doing something in the first place (real artists know there doesn’t need to be a reason) or point out all the ways it won’t work (like the person hasn’t already considered them).

One takes effort, consideration, a dedication to practice and improve to get stronger, the audacity to say, you’ve got this, let’s do it and then following up.

The other gets to feel smart in the moment. Applauding themselves for pointing out the obvious.

One gets to improve and have fun together.

The other has fun at the expense of another.

I know which one I’d rather be.

Tell me your dreams and I’ll say it and I’ll say it again.

You’ve got this.

Haha!

Oh yes, you’ve got this!

Go and make magic!

And yes, there’s a time to be a critic and tear someone down for doing actions which are plain wrong.

But these are easy to critique.

I’m not talking about these things, I’m talking about the fragile nature of creating of making art of taking a risk of tip toeing into the unknown. To that, I clap you on.