Many personal development books and blogs talk about banishing, firing, destroying, maiming, or otherwise seriously injuring one’s inner critics. Inner critical voices seem to be obstacles to creating “awesome” things, to being authentic, or even to just being happy. What happens when we try to get rid of an inner critical voice? Can we embrace this unwanted experience without letting it run our behavior?

I know a kid who sometimes blames his hand for doing things. For instance if he knocks a cup filled with water over he’ll say, “it’s not my fault—my hand did it!” Getting rid of a critical voice is like cutting off your hand because it does stuff you don’t like. Want to quit smoking cigarettes? Cut off your offending hands! (more…)