Recently I have had two streams of negative energy focused on me by others. One was a troll that wished to damage my reputation, and the other has (recently) been negative comments made in response to a post I wrote about diversity in open source.
I think I am getting better in handling this kind of attention. Spending time to consider the issues and the negative responses has, interestingly, led me to reflect on and, consequently, to strengthen my position. Hence in some ways my response has been ‘unequal and opposite’ to the negative energy. Instead of hurting me, as this kind of negative strategy intends, it has helped me to learn a lot about what I am doing and why, and to commit to my position more energetically in a way which is positive in both response and result.
I might actually be growing up. Gasp! (not without the help and patience of many wise friends 🙂
