Me to a student: “How’d this morning’s Film & TV class go?”
“I look horrid! I can’t stand how I look!” I watch the tears forming in her eyes.
The tall, beautiful woman standing next to her starts nodding in agreement. “It’s so hard getting older and being a woman in this business!”
I take a breath.
“You are much greater than your physical form. It is all about the story.”
“That doesn’t help!” the student says.
A sadness drops into me. I am reminded of the quote from Michael Singer’s book, The Untethered Soul…“You would never have lunch with the voice in your head.”
I sometimes call our inner critic “Judy Judge.” She isn’t going away. “Judy Judge” is doing her job. She just wants to help us be the best artist we can be. Sometimes her voice can get loud and sharp. When this happens, we have the opportunity to find tools to soften the harshness of her critique, so it doesn’t paralyze us and stop us from creating.
As we wander into class to work on scenes, I think…We have to be kinder to ourselves.
– Lee