Quieting the Voice of the Inner Critic

How many times do you hear “I can’t do it”, I am not good enough” or it doesn’t look like that?

Why do we listen to that voice of doubt, the inner critic who actually prevents us from realizing our true potential?

As an artist, I have an intimate relationship with my inner critic, and I work at keeping that negative I can’t voice at bay.
For some reason for me, I call that voice he so when referring to the critic, it may say he at times.
Why is he there in the first place?

As an Art teacher I encounter many different inner critics among my students, but the one I hear the most is I can’t make it like you do, or that is not what it looks like, I can’t make it perfect. By the time most students are in their early teens, they have all but abandoned any type of artistic endeavor. As adults, we have completely shut down that creative side. Turned it off, put in a box and buried it deep.

What makes us dissatisfied with our own creative endeavors and dismisses even beginning attempts with out technique or practice as inadequate. I think back on my own early attempts to be come a Ballet Dancer, even after hours of practice I never felt I got it right. Perhaps my mother didn’t help who constantly compared me to other students successes in class, but more importantly, I compared my self to them ant didn’t measure up, as a result, I left dancing in my teens. I love to dance, and still do in the privacy of my own home. I love to watch dance, and I understand how difficult it is to succeed. We don’t need to become professional to be able to enjoy and participate as arts and creative beings. It is part of us and we need to acknowledge that this part does exist. How many other endeavors have we left because that voice said “Not good enough?”

 As a young visual artist, I was able to ignore the comparisons with other students, and to dismiss bad teacher’s attempts at telling me that what I was doing was wrong. I r3ecognized I was learning a new skill, but this was a vehicle for me to fully express myself. I also recognized that for me making art or being creative was an opportunity for me to go experience inner stillness and peace. All voices became quiet as I worked, and I saw my own intuition creativity and confidence begin to develop.

 Some how for me drawings, or sculpture was so personal, that I saw that who I was and my success at it didn’t depend on anyone else’s opinion or for that matter the voce of the inner critic. I know instinctively when a piece was not working or contrived, and when it was working. In fact another voice was speaking. I will call that the inner guide.

How did I quiet that voice?

How can you quiet your inner critic and open yourself to trusting your own innate creativity? First you have to stop comparing yourself with everyone else and their work. We are not machines, how boring it would be if all art, music, writing etc was all the same. We are not popular media or culture, and we can’t compare our selves to what we see and hear in the media. This is hard, because we are forcing our selves to trust that we can do this, we can be creative and it’s ok.

I know a girl who stopped drawing at an early age, not because someone told her she wasn’t good enough, but because she was good, in her mind didn’t measure up to own her expectations. Another person completely closed herself off to art at the age of six because in comparing herself to another student, felt like a complete failure, as a result, any form of creativity was stuffed in a box and forgotten.

Two different stories, but the end result is the same, the inner critic takes over and we quickly lose interest. The choice is to let the inner critic take over and he will of develop tools to silence that voice. Whenever that voice begins to tell you just how unworthy you are, or who do you think you are fooling etc, just let it ramble on, but don’t listen. If you want to make art, or sing or dance, do it. Don’t let anyone or anything prevent you from exploring your creative side. Being creative takes practice; you need to exercise those muscles. Allow the inner guide to show you what you need to do. Take a few moments each day and listen to the stillness inside. Ask for guidance, and trust the beauty and insights that will come to you more and more.