Criticism can crush inspiration and block our natural inclination to try out new things. So if you grew up with constant criticism, your life may have become centered on ways to avoid it. Maybe you wait to do nearly everything until you’re by yourself or you wait until you feel ready to do whatever it is “perfectly enough” so that there’s no room for criticism.
But the sad thing about this is that you may never feel ready enough to do anything “perfectly.” And by wasting so much time waiting to be ready, you may miss out on the truth: that there really isn’t any such thing as perfection. That the richness of life often occurs by just winging it—by trying stuff out and exploring that natural instinct we have to invent and create and manifest.
Other people will always have their opinions. But they’ll be seeing through their lens, not yours. When you trust your lens, you allow what’s beautiful to you to emerge.
-JLK
