Seems there are dramas aplenty in the US regarding the Hall of Fame contest. This too shall pass. I know rules are rules,
but really I don't think it should matter who took the photos - it's
about the scrapbooking isn't it? Kristina Contes is an awesome scrapper
and deserves to be there, whether she pressed the shutter button or
someone else did. Really - is there not something more important in
their lives to be worrying about?
I wrote that on my blog here about a week ago. It just hasn't gone away and hasn't stopped. Even though, as of yesterday, Kristina Contes has been disqualified from her place among the winners of the CK Hall of Fame contest.
That should be enough, right? I mean, the haters and the people who felt personally afronted that they weren't on the list got what they wanted. She's off the list.
But no, now she's in the deep end because she said it was all OK and that she understood the decision and was comfortable with it. Not coz she said it, but because she also called out the people who hide behind psuedonyms to slag her off publicly, because she says it how she sees it and is honest about things. On her own blog.
Well, if Kristina Contes wasn't a good scrapbooker, people wouldn't visit her blog or know who she was, and probably not be worried about someone using the word fuck on their own blog. But since she IS a good awesome scrapbooker, they DO read her blog and then judge her on how she speaks. You see, if you're good at something - heck, better than most - apparently you must be a bastion of virtue and conform to what others say is right or wrong.
I understand that competitions have rules. I also stated in the above quote what I think of that particular rule - it's stupid. But to condemn the girl for what she writes on her own blog - not 2Peas, not the CK messageboard, her OWN piece of cyberspace - she's back on the hate list. People say "I have the right to be upset" and "I have the right to talk this through". Yep, you do.....and so does Kristina. You can say what you think. So can she.
Some people are so self-righteous. It's a friggen scrapbooking competition. It's not world changing stuff. Really, it's not. Affirm yourself through your pages all you like - please do - but dont act like a victim when you dont win a contest. Go to the Sudan and explain to an emaciated child orphan why it was so important that you spend weeks crying over this contest. Please - go and explain to the victims of Hurricane Katrina - those who have suffered so much in their own backyard - why this is just so important. Go to a local oncology ward and explain to someone with chemo running through their veins why this is an important life moment.
Just dont get defensive when they call you a selfish, conceited brat.
I know some people from 2Peas are clicking through to this because my blog addy is in my profile. Great. Welcome. I am always happy to have new readers.
But this is my piece of cyberspace to say what I think. And no-one has the "right" to tell me what I can or can't write.
if I want to say FUCK I will.
And so can Kristina.
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This is exactly why I no longer enter scrapbooking competitions of any kind and dont submit my layouts to magazines. It's because I don't think that by putting my work out in the public arena makes it public property to critique, criticise or judge. The reality is, my pages are what I like and are about me, and my life. I don't expect my style to suit everyone. The same as many styles dont suit me or aren't to my taste. I don't want to subject myself to that. Heck, I don't even worry about my marks at Uni - because my art is my art - visual arts, scrapbooking, writing....whatever. Everyone has different taste and I cannot and will not live and die by the opinions of others. Whether your work is public or private is irrelevant. It's YOUR work. That's all that matters.
We started scrapbooking to record our memories. To record our lives and experiences. To tell our stories. I don't think there is one single scrapper out there who started scrapping purely to win competitions. I doubt they even start in order to immerse themselves in online messageboards. Sometimes, we lose sight of what our LIVES are all about. Does being mean to someone make you a better human being? Does someone saying fuck make them a lesser human being? I'm thinking not.
Sometimes, life sucks, Life is not always fair. But let me tell you, winning a scrapbook competition, whilst nice sometimes, isn't going to make you a nicer person or a more decent human being. And neither is being nasty behind fake names on message boards.
Don't get defensive.
Just think about it.
Life is all about making choices.
