Just like the waves in the sea, it’s really easy to gauge success by the waves of popularity of something online. More likes or the bigger the splash, obviously means your work is high caliber. Low engagement means you stink and should pack up and go home. Wait! Please don’t leave.

Engagement is a mental game. We are looking for affirmation by total strangers, but crave their approval. I saw a post the other day that made me laugh, it said something like, no one will cheer harder for you than your friend from online you’ve never met. Why would you define your success or level of enjoyment off what strangers think? Yet, we see it all too often of complaints about algorithm, engagement or even going as far as admitting they took down work because it was not performing how they would like it to.

We are human. We want to feel like what we are doing has significance and impact. Just like last weeks post about archiving, we are trying to think about the legacy we are leaving behind, or if we will have anything we are leaving behind.

If you fight through the noise and distractions, what it’s about is making connections. That is why we like to see things do good, then we like to feel like what we are doing has significance. Recently, I was going through photos from our trip to the San Juan Islands and came across this series of my son playing on the beach. When you look at all of the photos one after another, you see his playfulness and sense of adventure. Through the photos series, I could relive that moment of him on that shore playing and exploring. To me, this is a very special series of photos. To others, this is just some photos of a kid running around. If this was just one photo, it would also change the entire context or what story it is telling. Once you see them all together, that’s when you get the full sense of place.

It just takes one.

If the work is important to myself or my family and it was able to be documented, that’s all that matters. If it touches one person positively, or someone lets you know that it resonated with them, then that’s just extra icing on the cake.

I had this series of photos posted recently with the description of what was going on and the most gratifying thing happened. I received a message from my friend Ian Farrell that I’ve never met from the internet (but we will fix this someday) and he let me know how much he enjoyed the set of photos because it reminded him of his kids playing.

What could be more gratifying than that?

1000 likes or 🔥 comments on a photo would not equal someone giving you the feedback that your photo reminded them of their own children. With that message, we were able to add some dialogue and chat a bit more. Making connections. That is what it’s about. Not chasing likes or engagement, but being able to evoke a feeling in someone that they would message you and tell you that. When is the last time you sent someone feedback when something moves you the same way?

Iain was kind enough to send me the photos he was referring to and let me add them to this. I am grateful for him and his conversation.

If you are unfamiliar with him, please head to:

https://www.iainfarrell.com

Iain is a super cool guy and runs a great podcast. I highly recommend getting acquainted with him and his work.

In a world already full of parody. The best thing to be is original. Don’t do it for others, do it for yourself.

Be you. There is only one you.