A Letter From The Person Who’s Been Trolling You
Dear Artists, Writers, Celebrities, Entrepreneurs, Innovators, or People in general who seem to be living inspired lives,
I implore you to understand the following:
When I have nothing better to do, it is only natural for me to try to belittle you, berate you, or bully you.
When my life has no higher purpose towards which I can aim, I am compelled to look at you with contempt and disdain.
Think about it: If my life were filled with deeply fulfilling activities, would I be spending my time trolling you? If I had goals that made me feel alive, would I be dedicating my life energy to making you feel bad about yourself? If I had creative ideas of my own — ideas that I actually respected and believed in — would I really orient my day around telling you how stupid you are?
The sheer fact that I focus so much attention on you is evidence that I see your life as being more valuable than anything I have going on.
Think about the people who have made the world a better place. Think about the people who have inspired others to dream. Think about the people who challenge us to be better versions of ourselves. Think about the kind of people you’d actually want to be like. Do those people spend inordinate amounts of time writing nasty tweets, composing mean-spirited YouTube comments, and attacking people on Facebook? If you really think about it, you’ll see very clearly that my actions are coming from a much darker place, a place within myself that is in great need of healing.
Be mystified no longer by my disparaging tone.
I may sound confident when I spew discouraging words of scorn. But behind my hardened visage is a heart that’s painfully torn. My ability to make you lose your cool is the only thing that keeps my fragile world from falling to pieces. Sometimes, the negative reaction I get out of you is the only way I know how to escape this haunting feeling of being alone.
My existence is validated when I get to see how capable I am of getting a rise out of you. Attention is attention. If you give your attention to me, that’s attention that can’t be directed at your family, your friends, your fans, your customers, and all the other people who truly love and appreciate you. When you do that, it makes me feel very special.
To be honest, I don’t know if I will ever change. Even if I do, I’m sure someone else will come along to take my place. There will always be another troll. And no matter how many strategies you come up with for ignoring us, outing us, and converting us, we’re always going to be there in some shape, form, or fashion. So even though I will probably lose my troll card, my hater degree, and naysayer status by writing this letter to you, here’s my advice:
Whatever you do, don’t stop creating. We’ll never admit it, but we need to see examples of strength, resilience, and imagination. Trolls like me are the by-product of a life that feels alienated from hope and love. If you can stay focused on who you love and what you love in spite of our efforts to pull you into our vortex of misery, perhaps you’ll infect one of us with the same sense of inspiration that keeps you going. And even if you don’t, at least you’ll make the world a better place for someone else.
I know it’s hard, but please don’t allow me to ruin your day. My hurtful words are only a projection of my own dismay. Continue to create no matter how much I hate. Putting up with people like me may not be fun. But if you let us distract you, nothing good will ever get done.
Sincerely,
The Person Who’s Been Trolling You
P.S. Please save this letter and read it again before responding to me in the future. If you must respond, send me a copy of this and maybe it’ll jolt me into a state of sobriety.
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