Damn me! Silencing our inner critic
Forget the right brain = creativity equation!! Outdated, according to current neuroscience
research– it’s our inner critic— or the parts of our brain linked to repressing self-expression—that are responsible for stifling creative flow. Check out Saturday’s article in Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/neuroscientists-try-to-unlock-the-origins-of-creativity/article1887117/
This is actually good news! Equalizing. Rather than labeling half the population as left brain dominant, and therefore not as creatively inclined, instead the focus is on something we all carry, and therefore have control over changing!
Awareness
Silencing the inner critic means first picking out her siren-like tones… our inner critic is cunning. He has access to all the same sophisticated theories and justifications we’ve stored away in both our conscious and subconscious mind. Her voice can be seductive, damning and wimpy in turns. The inner critic is not the reality check- he’s the whiny one that clamps down on a good idea before it has time to even hatch!
Gratitude
So we notice… and then we thank her for the role she plays in our self-protection. In Freudian terms, the inner critic might be thought of as an overzealous super-ego protecting us from our id, or dangerous sub-conscious desires: “thank you for warning me of possible dangers but I don’t need you right now. Please step back so I can explore this further”.
Think of it as self-directed cognitive therapy. It actually works! Sometimes, we may even need to release some feelings the inner critic can evoke—shame, guilt, frustration etc. When we deny self-expression, there is a physiological kick-back.
Courage
And then we choose to act. We pair creation with her side-kick, courage. Any kind of true creativity risks exposing our real self… not the one we wear all day at work, but the one who dares to dream.
And who said dreams, can’t change our world.
