Sometimes I think it’s a miracle I get anything done at all, what with this voice in my head telling me I can’t do it, I shouldn’t do it … and if I somehow manage to do it, it will be shitty.
How about you?
Jessica Hagy, amazing illustrator and author, writes, “You hear a voice like this too. It’s the voice that tells you to feel shame when you’re beaming. It’s the voice that tells you you’re utterly worthless when you merely stumble. It’s the voice that calls you disgusting and ugly and stupid and worse. It’s the voice of every bully and creep and predator you’ve ever met. It’s bossy and it’s devious. It’s the comments you shouldn’t read.”
Exactly. The best advice ever: Don’t read your own comments section.
Hagy goes on to encourage listening to the smaller, more fragile voice of encouragement, of creativity, of courage. “The inside of your brain is just like the world beyond your skull: just because the asshole voices are louder, doesn’t mean they’re correct. And even if you ignore them, those tedious assholes never really go away. So listen for the small voice.”
“It’s the one who’ll say what you most need to hear,” she says.