Creativity Journaling: Facing the Inner Critic

We all hear that voice at times. The voice that whispers in our ear things like “You’re not good enough” or “You call yourself an artist?” or “No one is going to buy your work”, or “You have no original ideas”, etc. etc. etc. This voice is the infamous Inner Critic who rears its ugly head right at the moment when we do not need to hear such negative comments.

Our first instinct is to tell the Inner Critic to just go away, or probably we use less polite phrasing. But basically we stuff it down. This is necessary as a means of self-preservation, but really what is essential is to face the Inner Critic and really figure out what that voice is saying and why. Inner Critic work is challenging because it means we have to face the ugly things we say to ourselves.

Get out your journal and try this exercise:
+ Give your inner critic a name
+ Make a drawing of him/her. A collage even.
+ Explore that critical voice- what is it saying?
where is it coming from?
how does it make you feel?
is there a theme?
+ Next time you start hearing the Inner Critic voice, write down exactly what it’s saying. Then respond to it. Have a dialogue with that voice. Ask it what are you trying to teach me?

And why do we need to do this? There are several reasons:
*the Inner Critic is negative energy. By understanding its role, you can shift the energy so it can work for you instead of against you
*understanding the Inner Critic allows you to know it and its dynamics, allowing you to sidestep the roadblocks
*once your can wrap your head around who the Inner Critic is, why it does what it does, you can release that energy. Forgive it and yourself and keep moving forward.

One thing to understand is that the Inner Critic was created to protect you at times. For example, “if I don’t try, I won’t get rejected”.

I did this exercise several years ago and it was extremely helpful. I highly recommend it.

self portrait, Teach Me To Fly, 2005

Some helpful links on the Inner Critic:

http://talentdevelop.com/articles/innercritic.html

http://www.creatingstrategies.com/articles/creativity_and_innovation/invite_the_inner_critic

http://www.kalimunro.com/article_inner_critic.html

http://creativeeveryday.com/creativeeveryday/2009/04/dialoguing-with-your-inner-critic.html

Posted in creativity journaling, journaling prompt, journaling tips

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 3:38 pm.