There are these voices
That live in my head
I’m not mad
We all have them there
Listen to them
How do they sound?
Are they male
Or female?
Also
Are they familiar?
Mine are
I have my Dad
Among others
Exasperated
In fact most of my inner critics
Are male – I hear them
Saying things like
“Wake up to yourself”
“Grow up”
“Be quiet”
And of course the ubiquitous
“Shut up – you talk too much”
Doubt is harder to pick
Is it my mother?
Tentative
Perhaps we had better not..
Rock the boat
Procrastination
Well that is a voice I call myself
The perfectionist
Yes, and that’s where it stems from
These are both voices that I do a great job of
Whilst always listening
To the voice of
The disembodied
Ventriliquist
Projecting
Heckling
On to everything I touch
There are a few other females
Strident
Annoying
Cloying
I don’t pay them any heed
Worked out long ago
They can only see
From a narrow base of fear
However the funny thing is
When you start paying attention
I mean
Really
Paying
Attention
To what is being said
And who is saying it
There simply isn’t anyone there
*Paying attention to the voice of self criticism is a great way to rid myself of it I’ve found.
Reflection and writing have been two of the trustiest and most effective tools of “emptying” old toxic thought patterns and beliefs from my system.
Last Friday WordPress informed me I had written 500 posts.
I would say most of them would be since last October when I reopened the blog and since then have posted nearly every day.
Seth Godin said that writing a blog and posting daily was in the top best five moves he has ever made – more in an article here
I would have to say it has been one of mine too and I have met so many wonderful people that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
For the next 500 posts (to get to my 1000 bits of paper) I will be continuing to share – almost daily – meaningful moments of mine along the way. I look forward to reading yours.
Due to the extent of posts behind me now I will also randomly link to older posts in case anyone wants a quick read “back there”.
Other posts: https://athousandbitsofpaper.com/2020/05/12/the-fence-that-keeps-us-penned/
https://athousandbitsofpaper.com/2019/11/20/look-at-the-sky-poetry-for-creatives/
*header photo – shadows of one of my dogs Ringo and I out walking. Conditioning or “the voices in our heads” remind me of shadows – always there, attached to us yet unlike shadows – we often imagine them real. Once observed however, they tend to lose their power over us and dissipate.
