I support @officialmballas!

Haha, that title sounds like I'm supporting him for political office or something. =P

I feel compelled to write something today. This isn't a news post, so don't read if you don't want to read my opinion.

I'm not here to try and offend anyone and I don't want to say that I know best, but I think sometimes people don't look at the whole picture and say things that are hurtful and rude. It happens to all of us.  We all say the hurtful things and we all have received comments like that.

I've noticed that with the rise of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, people seem more willing to say incredibly rude and hurtful things to people they've never even met, based on one comment or situation.  It's easy to insult behind a computer, but would you really be that rude and hurtful in person, face-to-face? I pray your answer isn't yes.

Hate is not the answer, my friends.  We aren't all going to agree about everything, but we can be respectful and loving to one another!

Today on Twitter, a follower attacked Mark about his 'pimp my album' tweets, as I lovingly call them. ;) Basically, she's upset that he is talking about his music so much and promoting his EP and music video instead of talking about dancing.

First, DON'T ATTACK THIS PERSON. That is only spreading hate.  I'm going to talk about this only to use it as an example of situations I see everyday on Twitter.

As I said before, I think the main issue in most situations is that the person doing the 'attacking' isn't looking at the whole picture.

Yes, Mark has been tweeting about his music a lot lately. Somedays, all we get are 'check out my album' tweets, but hey, if you made this EP with your blood, sweat, and tears...and your own money, independently from a record company, you'd be pimpin' your EP too.  There is no record company to promote him. He has to do it himself and pray for good word-of-mouth too.

This isn't about making money. Sure, I imagine he would like to make enough money to pay for the studio fees he incurred while recording the album. Yeah, he makes a nice paycheck on DWTS, but still...it's not like he's actually making money off this EP. A friend of mine records his own music and releases it independently and he usually just gets above the red line (meaning he really doesn't make a profit, just enough to pay back the fees for the album already created and maybe afford to make another album).

I'm a musician and an artist. Mark isn't making this music to be a famous rock star and make millions.  He is an artist. Artists create. Period. We can't not create. It's in us and it's a driving force in our lives. And why create if we don't share it with the world? Making an EP is Mark's way of saying, "Thank you for supporting me and believing in me. Maybe this art that has helped me will help you too."

It's about connecting with the world. He wants to share his gift with us because it's wasted if he keeps it to himself. God gives us all gifts with the purpose of sharing it with the world.

So, support him. Spread the world about his music and his dance and, if he does more of it in the future, his acting. If you have found some inspiration from an artist, the most wonderful thing you can do for that artist to say thank you is to tell others about them.

It isn't about ego or money or fame. It's about connecting with other human beings and sharing your love, pain, struggles, and lessons learned with others. We will only grow as a society if we share and connect and help one other. Whether you connect through an art or some other way, it doesn't matter. It's just the connecting that matters.

So, before you get annoyed at Mark's tweets about his music, please think about where he is coming from. Who else but him will tell the world about his art? We can help him, if we have found inspiration from his work, and spread the word too. :)

Sure, I miss his dancing tweets and pictures, but he's a busy guy. He's got his EP out, he's choreographing for TV shows and other artists, he's teaching and preparing for a TV show, not to mention all the other responsibilities he has in his life that we have no business knowing about.  We need to stop demanding things from him and just be appreciative that he's on Twitter at all and takes the time to connect with us when he can.

I wish, too, that there were more tweets in between the 'promotion' tweets, but give him a break. He's only doing this to share it with us. How would you feel if you took the time to draw a picture or something for a friend and they were like "yeah, whatever, that's boring. What else you got?". You'd be devastated and hurt.

It is my wish that people will think about their words before speaking. That they will get the whole story before attacking. That they will try to see the world through someone else's eyes before judging.  :)

Love and respect each other. :)

And, here is me, doing my part to pimp Mr. Ballas a little bit more... ;)

All For Nothing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9C2AK126s I'm giving the link and not the video because it's super important to go to places like YouTube, iTunes, and Amazon and rate things and leave feedback. Not only will Mark know what we like or would like to see more of, but also, higher rated stuff gets noticed on the main page of sites like that. ;)