Welcome to Richmond Proper.

jadeoceans:

All of this is relevant.

(Source: pusheen)

Or you can do both, but the first one is mandatory.

(Source: arztriper, via bethseyeview)

Step 188: The proper response to a compliment is “thank you”

adulting:

When someone says something kind about you, it is a small verbal gift they have chosen to give you, and you should thank them for it. Don’t try to tell them that they’re wrong or deflect it, because that doesn’t look like modesty. It looks like you either have such cripplingly low self-esteem that you can’t believe this person would think something nice about you, or that you’re fishing for more compliments.

So the next time you get one, smile graciously and say, “Thank you so much.” Then, if you can, think of something sincerely sweet that you mean and say it back.

Step 185: When someone hurts your feelings, ask yourself if their opinion matters

This is great. The other thing to remember is that whiny or unsatisfied people are WAY more likely to complain / comment than people who are perfectly happy with how you’re doing.  For every negative piece of feedback you get, there are probably 10 positive reactions that you will just never hear.  Think about yourself — are you more likely to loudly give feedback if you’re angry about something, or perfectly satisfied with it?  I think most satisfied people just don’t say a word.  So it’s easy to get a skewed perspective, only hearing from the squeaky wheels day in and day out.

adulting:

I have the thinnest skin in the world, which is hard for someone who writes things for public consumption. But it gets thicker all the time, because people are never, ever stingy with criticism.

When I’m not bringing you life-changing instructions on how to properly wipe counters, I write for a newspaper. I have a column that is … well, I guess it’s a humor column, even though it feels really embarrassing to say that. For years, I also covered the music scene in the Oregon town where I live. The other night, I was out at a bar and one of the musicians who I am not on the friendliest terms with wandered up to me.

Him: Heyyyy! It’s K. Williams Brown! Yeah, your column on Sunday … man, that was terrible.
Me: Huh. Well, I find lots of your music unlistenable. (Note: I actually do. I wasn’t just saying that to throw something at him.)

At that point, I swiveled on my stool and turned my back to him, but he remained there, seemingly wanting to continue the discussion. 

Him: I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings there. I mean, it’s hard to write something every week.
Me: Not at all, and I hope I didn’t hurt yours. We were just having a free and open exchange of ideas.

Anything you do in this life, lots of people are going to dislike, just like he dislikes my writing and I dislike his music. That is the nature of doing things. But that guy’s opinion on my work has little to no bearing, nor does mine on his. He is free to his opinion, and I am free to ignore it, since I didn’t find it to be a valid or useful criticism. Absorbing the fact that someone thinks I’m terrible and not funny won’t make me a better writer. 

This isn’t to say that you should ignore anyone who doesn’t agree with you. But before you take it to heart, ask yourself: Can I use this information to improve what I do? Why is this person saying this to me right now? And if the answer to that is, “I can’t” and “because he’s drunk and/or a jerk,” then it’s worth as much as you paid for it.

Not sure that issuing a ticket was prudent, but Richmond Proper agrees 100% with the police on this one.  When you go outside to enjoy some of the city’s only remaining natural riverside terrain, leave it just as you found it.  There are plenty of other awesome places for children to play with sidewalk chalk, as they certainly should.

neighborhoodr-richmond:

Richmond Police ticket woman for kid’s chalk drawings