❤️ How to deal with haters: Focus on yourself ❤️

I've learned that there are all sorts of people in life. There are people who are loving and giving and want to help you succeed by supporting you. There are also people out there insecure about themselves and will try tear you down when they see you are rising. This weekend, I experience the ladder at a craft fair event. I was a vendor at a craft fair event, and another vendor rudely came up to me and accused me of copying her work because she too also sold hand painted cactus paintings. She continued to harass me online by having her friend leave rude comments on my Instagram. Then she went so far as to direct message some of my customers.

This is the first time I have ever experienced someone make bold accusations about my work, which I take a lot of pride in. It really hurt to see that she would so far as to say that I "stole" her idea to paint cacti. The crazy part about this whole ordeal, is that my cactus paintings do not look anything like hers, aside from the fact that they are on mini canvas. AND, I didn't even know who she was until I met her that day.

Her words and that of her friends hurt me and, it made me cry, a lot. It was so hurtful to see that another artist would be willing to hurt another person's reputation out of hate and jealousy. Of course, my Sacramento community had my back, and other artists and makers came out to support me by letting her know that she was not the queen of cactus paintings.

At first, it hurt, and I couldn't stop crying, but after a good talk with @themilsedition, I realized that there will always be haters out there. The bigger I grow, there will be people out there trying to tear your house down, instead of working on their own house.

So what can I do? That was the question that I had to answer. I couldn't stop her from spreading rumors and lies about me, but I could continue to work on my business. I can continue to grow and expand on my ideas, and I decided that I'm going to challenge myself to just make my name Karen Sue Studios, a bigger better brand. So when she comes knocking on my door, trying to tear my house down, she will find that my house is to big to destroy.

Thanks for reading and listening. Steemit has always been a safe haven to express how I feel, and it's great to have the support from my community here. You guys keep me accountable to stay positive, push past my fears, and to keep on growing.

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love,
Karen