Here’s a tale from my short-lived stand-up comedy days.
If you ever find your creative process derailed by that voice inside — the one that cannot shut up about what you did wrong, what you could’ve done better, that beat you missed, your low enoughness — this tactic will fix that mess right now.
I just started playing with the Critic Spot, and ooh, boy. It’s a TRIP. I didn’t even realize how often I’ve been trying to drown her out and ignore her. With the added bolstering of her voice from experiences with not-so-nice teachers over the years, no wonder she’s so inflammatory. She and I are working on developing a better relationship now- let’s put it that way.
I have had two instances where, when she was done spewing, she did actually admit to trying to keep me safe. Interesting. All to say, the work for me right now is about facing her without flinching (not easy, but it does feel like the right healing path).
Thank you for this story and this tool, Bonnie!
Absolutely! And of course this is all tied into the rigors of being a dancer and how it’s a requirement to train the brain to NOT let actual physical pain interrupt the dance. When we get good at walling off, compartmentalizing, etc., we tend to use it everywhere and only when we begin to treat those walls as chain-link fences instead of something made from cement block do we really see all the ways it has made us feel safe… but perhaps totally disconnected from some very important bits of ourselves and our fullest expression as creatives.