Rejection

I received an email today that I am 98% certain (based on the opening line) is a rejection from a journal. But I cannot bear to read the email in its entirety because I am not sure I can deal with rejection right now. So it is sitting in my Inbox, unread.

What is weird about my strong tendency to avoid news of rejection is that I also serve as the senior editor at a journal. I am on the other end in being the one who rejects papers. I love all I have learned from this service commitment, but it always feels awful to reject someone's work.

I read once that your brain processes rejection similarly to how it processes physical pain. Being rejected hurts - literally. Having resilience and mental fortitude can reduce discomfort from rejection, but it is still an unpleasant emotion for anyone to experience.

But what is the answer? Should we avoid any interactions that may lead to rejection, hoping we can avoid this unpleasantness? Should we stop putting ourselves out there? Should we retreat inward, sealed away in a cocoon?

I would argue no. Rejection hurts, but it is a price we pay for trying. Forward progress is rarely attainable without rejection and defeat and heartbreak. So I, too, will keep at it, keep submitting papers at work, keep plugging away and trying. And I will open that email, read it, and move on. Maybe not right this minute. But sometime soon. ;)