A few weeks ago, poet and writer Saeed Jones took to Twitter to open up an honest conversation about rejection — something that all of us, at one point or another, are uncomfortably familiar with. He began by mentioning that a renowned writers conference had turned down his application multiple times, despite the fact that he is a well-known author who, in 2014, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry.
The hashtag took off soon after Saeed’s original tweet, with mostly authors and writers taking #ShareYourRejection and using it as a platform to share what rejections they faced on their path to success, though there were certainly other creatives who likewise used the hashtag to share their stories. Though it may be easy to think of those we look up to and imagine that their achievements were reached with no hurdles in their way, the viral trending topic proved this is often not the case.
In some way, shape, or form, we all experience rejection — especially if our pursuits lie in creative industries. Whether it’s an internship that didn’t pan out, a prestigious scholarship we spent all night writing the essay for, or simply being told ‘no’ when it comes to opportunities we’d love to pour our heart and soul into, rejection can be isolating. And often, we beat ourselves up for it.
This certainly goes for me. For the past two years, I’ve spent countless hours applying for opportunities and receiving nothing more than radio silence on the other end. Or, I’d go into interviews, resume in hand and a bright smile on my face, only to be given a ‘no’ a week later. Though it would have been easy (and I certainly felt tempted) to take these rejections as an indicator of my ability and give up hope, I didn’t. I’d lick my wounds, read a good book, and get back to work.
Hashtags like #ShareYourRejection help us gain new perspectives on what we often see to be the worst case scenario and speak to the power of social media. This outlet not only allows us to feel closer to those we idolize, but to look into their paths and learn from them as well. Saeed’s Twitter hashtag is a smart reminder that though we may be hit with failure a few times, you never know when you’ll succeed.