telling that little voice it's wrong

We watched some of an Emotion Focused Therapy session yesterday in my Clinical Psychology class and it was a really touching experience. It was so raw to watch this woman working through her struggles with her internal critical self who had been holding her back from completing her goals and things for years explore that voice and where it comes from. Even though it was just a video and none of us knew the client, the whole class related to her and I was no exception. The women had this dream to write fiction [she writes for a living in some other genre] but she struggles with the voice telling her that, while she may be talented, she'll never finish the project and even if she does, it won't be worth anything because that's not a viable avenue for success in life. Watching that hit me really hard because that's a big part of what holds me back in writing as well for various reasons. It was almost like she was speaking for me in a way so I got really excited when the therapist used the technique of the client having a conversation between her critical self and her goal-oriented self because her goal-oriented self, being given a tangible voice, started to fight back. Seeing that change in her was absolutely inspiring and I've been thinking about it ever since.

Our internal critic comes from us but often from the opinions of others as well. Why should we let someone else's opinions, expectations, and definitions of what is "good enough" determine what talents we pursue? Aren't we told to develop all the talents we've been given? Sometimes that may mean that we don't take lucrative jobs in the business world, and why is that bad? These are our talents! Some of us are good at the arts, some in the sciences or business worlds, and some of us have talents I've never even hear of but that doesn't mean they don't count!

I think the world would be a much happier place if everyone tried to balance more of what they like to do with what they need to do. So I'm determined to give that critical little voice what for, and encouraging you to do so as well. Because we are all wonderfully talented people, and we need to remember that.

Today, for me, that means getting a clear plastic folder with pockets.

[EDIT: I've officially hit 400 page views! Thanks to everyone who's kept reading along and any new readers I've gathered :) ]