{"id":11187,"date":"2013-05-29T08:18:11","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T12:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/?p=11187"},"modified":"2013-05-29T08:18:11","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T12:18:11","slug":"make-your-inner-critic-an-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Enchambered, 1996, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The symmetry is marvelous, but it would be even better if it was rotated a few degrees. The color is rich, but it could be a little more saturated \u2013\u00a0not too saturated. The shadows are a touch too dark; they need more detail. The space in the center is too empty. What should go in it? A stone? It blocks the entrance. A bone? It brings unwanted associations of death. A tooth? Don\u2019t give Freud the pleasure. How about something non-material like light? That\u2019s it. But a little irregular. Now the environment needs to reflect the new light source. How light should the surrounding walls become? A little lighter, no that\u2019s too light. And lighten only the central arch so that the source of light appears to be in not in front of the canyon walls. That\u2019s it. Are you sure? I\u2019m sure. Are you really sure? That\u2019s enough. So it went, my dialog with my inner critic as I made this image \u2013 Enchambered<\/em>. My inner critic would have been either maddening or demoralizing if I hadn\u2019t come to trust it so much over the years.
\nYour inner critic can be a terrible adversary or a powerful ally. Which one it becomes depends on how you relate to and use it. Like any animal, proper care and feeding can work wonders while neglect and abuse can produce monstrous results.
\nThe inner critic\u2019s powers of analysis and forethought are truly exceptional. It\u2019s a protective mechanism. Its job is to help you avoid potential dangers. It\u2019s excellent at identifying weaknesses or shortcomings that if left uncorrected and allowed to continue unchecked may have adverse affects. It can quickly identify potential areas for improvement. It can provide all sorts of extremely valuable feedback.
\nBut, the inner critic has its limitations. The inner critic speaks from a point of fear. It motivates with fear too. It\u2019s a pessimist. It\u2019s often accurate, but never infallible. Because of this, it isn\u2019t good at being supportive, but instead may create doubt and insecurity. Its criticism may not be constructive, if its feedback isn\u2019t placed in a useful context. If it goes too far astray, its affects can produce negative results and even lead to paralysis.
\nSo how can you turn this powerful voice from enemy into ally? It\u2019s all in your attitude. First consider the inner critic a trusted ally \u2013\u00a0one with limitations. Call on it whenever you need a good dose of tough love. Give it free reign to speak candidly and fully, for a limited time only. Weigh everything it offers appropriately; remember it\u2019s wearing the opposite of rose colored glasses. Whenever you hear the voice of the inner critic unbeckoned, ask if what it has to offer is helpful. If it is, use its feedback to improve your results. If it\u2019s not, calmly acknowledge it. Tell it you value it as an ally both in the past and in the future, and clearly state the reason(s) you\u2019ve decided to make the choice you\u2019re making. Tell it you will continue to consult with it in the future. You might even give it an alternate project to work on. Stay calm; it can feed on negative emotions. Once you\u2019ve made your decision, be firm. Remember, like a child having a tantrum, there may be times it needs to be silenced; give it a time out. It can take a lot of energy to manage your inner critic well, so afterwards (There must be an afterwards; giving the inner critic free reign 24\/7 is a recipe for depression.) you may need to take a break or even engage your inner coach to reenergize yourself and return empowered with new perspectives.
\nThe inner critic is most valuable at certain stages in a creative process. The inner critic has little to offer early in the creative process; it\u2019s the kiss of death during brainstorming sessions but it\u2019s very useful afterwards when sifting through the wealth of material that\u2019s produced in them. It becomes increasingly valuable further on in a creative process, particularly at key turning points when evaluating results \u2013 identifying and rating strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and performing cost benefit analyses. Often, towards the end of a creative process, it will provide just the thing you need to pull it all together or help you take it up to the next level.
\nQuestions<\/em>
\nWhen are evaluative questions and statements most useful?<\/em>
\nWhen are evaluative questions and statements not useful?<\/em>
\nWhat is the most beneficial attitude to approach them with?<\/em>
\nWhat\u2019s the most productive way to ask and state them?<\/em>
\nWhen are they energizing?<\/em>
\nWhen are they enervating?<\/em>
\nHow do you reconcile conflicting results that are sometimes generated?<\/em>
\nHow long should you stay in this mode?<\/em>
\nWhen should you stop?<\/em>
\nFind out more about this image here.<\/a>
\nView more related images here.<\/a>
\nRead more The Stories Behind The Images here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enchambered, 1996, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah The symmetry is marvelous, but it would be even better if it was rotated a few degrees. The color is rich, but it could be a little more saturated \u2013\u00a0not too saturated. The shadows are a touch too…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[61],"tags":[1032,6,3162,2914,1839],"post_folder":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake Your Inner Critic An Ally - John Paul Caponigro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally - John Paul Caponigro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Enchambered, 1996, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah The symmetry is marvelous, but it would be even better if it was rotated a few degrees. The color is rich, but it could be a little more saturated \u2013\u00a0not too saturated. The shadows are a touch too...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Paul Caponigro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-29T12:18:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Enchambered_1996_425.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"434\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"johnpaulcaponigro\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally - John Paul Caponigro","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally - John Paul Caponigro","og_description":"Enchambered, 1996, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah The symmetry is marvelous, but it would be even better if it was rotated a few degrees. The color is rich, but it could be a little more saturated \u2013\u00a0not too saturated. The shadows are a touch too...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/","og_site_name":"John Paul Caponigro","article_published_time":"2013-05-29T12:18:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":425,"height":434,"url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Enchambered_1996_425.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"johnpaulcaponigro","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/","name":"John Paul Caponigro","description":"Illuminating Creativity","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Enchambered_1996_425.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Enchambered_1996_425.jpg","width":425,"height":434},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/","name":"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally - John Paul Caponigro","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2013-05-29T12:18:11+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-29T12:18:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/858a1050968a36008905f1980aae47b0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/11187\/make-your-inner-critic-an-ally\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Make Your Inner Critic An Ally"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/858a1050968a36008905f1980aae47b0","name":"johnpaulcaponigro","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309d46e93fff33337943899d8f3269cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/309d46e93fff33337943899d8f3269cf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"johnpaulcaponigro"},"url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/author\/johnpaulcaponigro\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Enchambered_1996_425.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11187"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnpaulcaponigro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}