Over a year ago I wrote a post on my previous blog about prostitution + poverty while I was in the Philippines. It was the last post in a series about my time there.
A year later I’m still receiving emails + comments about that post. In fact, I received another one a couple of days ago.
But the comments aren’t, “Wow Bethany, that was a great piece! Really insightful” blah blah blah (although it has received lot’s of those comments).
No.
Most of the comments + emails I receive are people (males) correcting, criticising + defending what I wrote.
I’ve been told that being in the Philippines would have disturbed the people, that it’s obvious I’ve never travelled before, am ignorant + too young to write about it, + have even been told to “stay out of it.”
Do I get cut? Sure, the first time I received one I was (who wouldn’t be?)
But after a while + when I started looking at what people were Googling to find my post, I became grateful. Without saying the exact terms, they were looking to find prostitutes in the area or wanted to find out more about about the industry there.
And that makes me incredibly grateful that that post shows up as a light in the midst of the content that some of the other post that pop up have – so of course it’s going to get swiped!
I know it’s been written with the utmost respect + integrity it deserved. And to be honest, I don’t actually see what’s so ‘wrong’ about it to cause such a great response – it was simply what I saw.
But I’m happy that it crosses people’s paths, even though that may not have been what they were searching for.
And I quite enjoy receiving these comments + emails now; it shows that it poked something in them for them to take the time to respond. And I even reply to some thanking them, + then clear up some of their claims with an ‘Enjoy your day!’ at the end.
Why? Because it’s about grace. And rather than taking it personal (even when it is) + replying out of hurt, it’s better to see the beauty in all + keep sowing seeds of truth.
When you do something that brings a point of difference + truth + justice, you’re going to get criticised. And that’s completely fine. In fact, it’s fantastic! It just means that you’re doing something good in the world.
“It’s not what you look at, but what you see.” – Thoreau
You can read the post here that I’m talking about.
