Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Esther! And sorry to hear about your rejection.

I totally hear you about how people online are being so positive about rejections. I think in some ways the idea that one should feel great about rejections can make the whole experience worse because then there’s self-judgment about the reaction to rejection (“I shouldn’t feel this way… everyone else seems to handle this better”) on top of the rejection itself.

While I’m sure some writers actually feel good about their rejections, I think many people at least sometimes feel worse about it than they admit on the outside. I find it hard to believe that everyone who says they like rejections actually feels that way all the time. I sure don’t. :)