Critical Energy

After my memoir came out and the Amazon reviews started coming in, my mother asked: “Does it bother you when someone criticizes your book?”

“Only when they’re right,” I replied.

Criticism is rarely useful, but feedback can be, and it’s up to you to decide what that is.  If I get feedback that is helpful, I accept it. I’m devoted to my craft, and there’s always room for growth.

But not all feedback is created equal. If a comment was accurate and constructive, I took it in. If it wasn’t, or was unkind or missed the mark, I didn’t. I didn’t allow someone else’s opinion to usurp my own.

Your creativity matters, deeply. Protect your creative space. You and only you get to decide who and what you allow in.

And, as we also all know, criticism doesn’t only come from without. Our inner judges are sturdy creatures. Here, again, not all judgments about ourselves are useful or true. Some are simply habitual. It’s important to do the inner work to be able to discern which is which, and not create stories about them that will take root as truth.  These false stories will hold you back from experiencing the joy that comes from creative expression in the world.

When you feel a tug, a call—when something is creatively beckoning you, inviting you to come closer and explore—say yes! Be curious, walk towards it, and see what’s there. It’s not frivolous, it’s essential— a sacred invitation to meet your self in the world and know yourself better, as an artist and a human being.. There is nothing more powerful than your own energy. Welcome it in.

Love,

Dayna

*****

The Journey by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Practice Video:

Here’s a short practice video where we write to Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Journey”. In this video, I include simple writing instructions, (basically, pick up the pen and keep writing for 10-15 minutes), a couple of jump off lines, and some somatic cues to center and calm.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it!