A young couple move into a new neighborhood. The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hang the wash outside.
“That laundry is not very clean”, she said, “She doesn’t know how to wash properly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap”.
Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: “Look! She has learned how to wash properly. I wonder who taught her this.”
The husband said: “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!”
And so it is with life: “What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge.”
This is very much true in the art field also especially Photography which am mainly associated with. Off late i have seen a lot of people (negative) critique other forms of art or others work without even knowing if they them-self are eligible in talking about something which they are not associated with. Being a person who loves (but not involved in) arts, artifacts, music and culture – it doesn’t look professional or ethical in me to critique something as bad or not worth while. Before making statements or critiquing someone or something isn’t it fair on our part to see if what we are telling or thinking is right ? And on other end isn’ t it true that we our-self can be at receiving end which we might not be aware of. Why cant we ever grow up and think and behave sensibly than just proving we are the best by downgrading others or others work?
“We are who we are !”