Step #9: Your Inner Critic

A gentle whisper at first. Very quiet. Very soothing. Even though what it says is harsh and false, it makes you feel good. The words are not encouraging in the least - yet you tend to propel towards them. The voices that say you can't create. That you aren't creative. That you aren't good enough. And even though these words are whispered quietly, they are also thought with a tone of harshness. But then there is something else. You know it's there, but you can't quite figure out what it is. This is also your inner critic. Just a much kinder, softer and more comforting version of it. They are one in the same, but different. But if you can find a way to combine the two critics, what is left is really quite powerful and deliberate. Instead of encouraging and discouraging thoughts all mixed together in a jumbled mess, what you have now is actually a composed and complimentary whole. For example, a phrase that such a composed critic might utter often might be "That doesn't look good, but if you did this..." As you can see, the first part is the more discouraging critic and the second is the comforting one. But together they form a whole. The simplest phrases that this type of critic can be extremely helpful in anything that you do in the large, vast, world of art. For example, if one of the things that you hear often is that something might look better elsewhere, this can be very helpful. But it can also cause you to fall. In the way you think. In the way that you carry yourself. In everything you do. But if you are cautious, everything will work out. I promise. Trust me. I know.