please challenge me

here is your red pen

I learned to resent the red pen early in my primary school days. As a child, I’d spend hours carefully crafting my letters and tackling math problems, only to find them covered in corrections in bright red ink. The red pen became a symbol of imperfection, highlighting the gap between my efforts and an unattainable ideal.

thanks to Olha Ivanivna, Iryna Vaselivna, and my strict German teacher whose name I no longer remember

Now, as I flip through those old notebooks, I see those red marks differently. They are reminders of care and dedication—a sign that my teachers were invested in my growth. Each correction was an opportunity to improve, a chance to get better.

Receiving feedback isn’t easy, especially when it touches on past traumas or deeply held identity ties. But I want to grow and as such I am on a journey of cultivating a healthy relationship with feedback. I hope to desensitize myself from the “pain” of judgment and create a comfortable space for anyone’s feedback, welcoming it with open-mindedness and discernment.¹²

So, dear friend, I have a request for you: use your red pen on my work if you have any thoughts. Kindly challenge my writing, my beliefs, my “whys,” my assumptions, and my decisions. Your unique perspective is invaluable and I am eager to heat it to fine-tune my understanding of the world. After all, nothing I share is ever set in stone. Your honest thoughts are the best gift.³

1. Lmk if you know how I can do so!

2. what is the bes

3. From my side, I will do my best to not let your pushbacks hurt our relationship — which might require me to press the “stop” button at your feedback at times - stay tuned for Svitlana’s learning how to communicate that:))