Compliments

I followed Kraig Adams on YouTube for a couple of years. I think I initially got in because of his minimalism videos. Anyways, there’s an old video of his that I think about off-and-on for the past many years. The video was one of his Brooklyn vlogs that I think he’s taken down now. I don’t remember the premise of this specific one but it had his girlfriend at the time. He made some comment at one point about “I’m so glad you’re not a basic girlie”.

She retorted, “Hey. You can give me a compliment without putting other women down”

That line has burrowed in my head for the past few years. “You can lift me up without putting others down”. It has started to shift my own language in how I refer to “basic” things but more generally, how I refer to things that are commonly enjoyed by masses.

Compliments are about appreciating the individual, not about diminishing others.