Jodie Foster once famously told the Press that she never read reviews – whether they were about her work as an actress, a director, or producer. She simply did her job, and forgot about it.

To be completely honest, I used to be a movie critic. For more than a decade, I wrote a weekly movie column, and I’ve accumulated over 500 movie reviews. I always tried to keep my assessments and critiques objective and encouraging because, as a performer and creator, I understood the immense effort that goes into making something, even if the final product isn’t successful. I strived to be fair in my evaluations.

However, once I became a published author, performer, and creator—essentially, on the fringes of the spotlight—I realized that reviews and critiques could severely hinder creativity. We tend to listen to opinions, regardless of whether we agree with them or not, whether the reviewer’s opinion is objective or, in some cases, highly subjective. The creator’s curse: great reviews uplift our spirits, but bad reviews crush us. And I know myself well. If I had received 100 reviews, 99 of which were positive, but one was negative, I would expend excessive energy obsessing over the negative review and second-guessing my work. It’s undoubtedly a creator’s curse.

Recently, I released my debut personal album, and the reviews started pouring in. I made the mistake of reading some of the early ones, and guess what? I encountered the same issue again! While most of the reviews were positive, praising the powerful vocals and well-crafted production, one reviewer took it a step further. They described the vocalist as having a “frog in his throat,” which was quite surprising. Initially, I felt defensive and questioned the reviewer’s perspective. However, upon reflection, I realized that this reviewer might not have encountered vocalists with a resonant, deeper voice. It made me wonder how two reviewers could have such contrasting opinions, one praising the vocal and the other criticizing it. This experience taught me that everyone is a critic, and it’s easy to tear something apart when you have no stake in it, no involvement in its creation, and no vested interest. Additionally, the quality of reviewers is subjective. In today’s world, where anyone can be a “critic” or “influencer,” it’s a bit of a wild, wild west out there. Ultimately, I came to realize that Jodie was right.

So, I decided to adopt the Jodie Foster approach and deleted all the reviews, whether they were positive or negative. I simply chose to ignore them and focus on my art. I made my art, shared it with the world, and then I was going to forget about it. Almost immediately, this decision made me happier and more content. I realized that I should feel proud of my accomplishments, regardless of what others thought or said.