Transcripts
1. From Self Doubt to Creative Power: I'll be quiet. Hi, does your Inner
Critic bother you when you want to start
a new adventure? I feel you. If it tells you that you're
not good enough or that everybody else has done before
what you are about to do, Of course, it's
never good enough. I told them in the
last class. listen up, your inner critic
will not know what hit them when you
take this class. I'm Lucy Lambriex from Amsterdam and this is Mevrouw Bang. You've met her before if you've
taken my previous class, she is my Inner
Critic, Mrs. Scared. She's been with me for as
long as I can remember and even after 13
years of experience as a portrait photographer and many years as
an online teacher, she loves to comment on my work. Ever since I truly
met Mevrouw Bang, she doesn't bother me
as much and her tone has become milder. No. Usually. Don't believe it. This class is for you
if you are a creative or another type of
professional with an active Inner Critic, does your Inner Critic hinder or even sabotage your projects? Join me in this class and free
yourself from their power. Rather than wasting your energy on trying to overcome
the Inner Critic, I will teach you ways
to start connecting with your Inner Critic
and befriending them. After sharing the
underlying dynamics between the Inner
Critic and ourselves, I will guide you through
an eye-opening exercise. Not only is the taking
of the self-portrait as your Inner Critic great fun, this will help you start
appreciating your Inner Critic. Can you imagine that? This whole creative
inner journey will bring more self-awareness. This will empower you and enhance personal
freedom and growth. Why learn from me? As a creative guide for
self-exploration and with a full year of daily
self-portraiture under my belt, I know how to apply
photography to self-inquiry, and many of my students
have experienced this in my previous classes
on Skillshare already. Although this class may bring
up some strong emotions, I hope it will make
you laugh as well and I hope even more
that it will empower you the way it empowered me when I got to know my Inner
Critic 'Mevrouw Bang'. Are you ready to meet
your Inner Critic? Get to know them a
little bit better and teach them a lesson? Let's do it!
2. What You Will Do and Learn: You're about to embark on a fun and reflective inner journey, and you will make the
creative self portrait as your inner critic. By the end of this class, you will have an
understanding of the dynamics between you and
your inner voices. You will have met your inner
critic, talked to them, listened to them properly, and you will have stepped
into and out of their shoes. This will help you
understand its purpose, and it will understand
you better too. You will have produced
a self-portrait as your inner critic, as a reminder of who they are, and that they are not you. In my opinion and experience, it is very important to put into practice what you've learned
and to do a project. Yes, I love to see all those
portraits of my colleagues. Get your portrait
taken, my friends, and let's teach them a lesson. Watching the lessons
doesn't do the full trick. In doing the actual work
of thinking, feeling, reflecting, creating, capturing, you will become closer
to your inner critic. At the same time, it will
lose its strong grip. You will not take it as
seriously as before, and you will start to learn how to make use of
their presence. All you need are these
materials, some makeup, at least an eyeliner pencil, and possibly some face paint, clothing or a paper
to create an outfit, a wig, or fabric,
plastic, or paper, and some tape to make one, and some aluminum foil, and finally, any materials you enjoy using when dressing
up as your inner critic. Share your work on
your project page, and share it on your social
media channels using the hashtag lucylambriex
and theinnercriticseries. I strongly recommend sharing your work as it will have
several extra benefits. It will help your process of outing
your inner critic. They might not like it, but it will help
you stay in charge. It will also help
you see better. That sounds strange,
but once it is online, you can see your inner
critic even more clearly, and you will be able to
reflect upon it even better. It will inspire other
students to follow suit and to gain the
courage to do the same. Join us in the project. Remember to leave a
comment on the projects of the other students and have
some meaningful exchange. It will add a lot to this class. Now, let's find out what
the inner critic is and where it comes from.
3. Voices in Your Head (What?): Before you take a self-portrait as your inner critic, let me give you some
more insight in the dynamics at play
in our personality. It is safe to say
that almost everybody has an inner critic and then the previous
class in the series Win Back Your
Creative Confidence, many of you have
already discovered that the inner critic
is a separate entity doing its own thing. It will keep doing that until you shine a
bright light on them. This class will help
you do just that. The inner critic is
the voice in our head that comments on our every move. Particularly when we are about to embark on a new adventure, when we have a next
step in our business, maybe we are going
to speak in public and it will tell you how
badly you are performing. Or it may become
very active after we've completed something
that we're very proud of. It will keep telling you
what you've done wrong. But what is the
inner critic really, and where does it come from? I will use the theory of voice dialogue to explain this. In the '70s of the
previous century, the founders of voice dialogue, Hal and Sidra Stone
discovered that we can have a conversation with our inner
voices or subpersonalities. Subpersonality, am I telling you that you have a multiple
personality disorder? No, that's not what
I'm saying at all. Imagine driving a bus with you in the driver's seat,
going on a trip. In the back of the bus, you have some passengers. Suddenly they start
talking to you. Drive more safely, and look at the signs,
says the perfectionist. Go faster we won't be in
time, says the pusher. Let's stop at the bar, says the party animal, and some other voices
are trying to be heard. The pusher, impatient as it is, is getting sick of all this talk and takes the wheel from you. Suddenly you find yourself going super fast and ignoring
everything else, like the whispering
of the sensitive one. Let's take a little break. It's all a bit much, they say. Does this sound familiar? Do you ever do things while
you plan something else? Can you not decide because all of these voices
keep discussing, and is your inner critic
extra loud when this happens? This is a normal phenomenon and part of our character
or personality. We all have several
voices in our heads that make us do
things or do things. When we are not all
too aware of these, it can feel like we're
being taken over. When do these first appear? As a young child, we all start developing
the subpersonality to navigate the demands
and expectations from the people around
us that we depend on. Our parents, siblings and peers, our teachers, employers, etc. Later in life, our
partner and children. In order to be liked and accepted and in
order to be safe, the subpersonalities appear and make us behave in certain ways. For instance, one of the
first subpersonalities to emerge in our
lives is the pleaser. It knows what mom and dad want and they make us smile
or make cute noises, so your parents give
you what you need, like cuddles and
food and smiles. Later in life, it may still be your first tendency to please
people when you meet them. Our subpersonality can
be seen as bodyguards who protect our
so-called inner child. Together they protect
the inner child which is the pure open receptive
and innocent part of us, that would not
survive on its own. Takeaway. We all have these
so-called subpersonalities that help us navigate the world. Unless we become aware
of who they are, we will feel like a ****
on their game board. Now you know why we all have these characters
inside of us. Let's move on to our main
character of this class, the inner critic, who has a special
role to fulfill.
4. The Inner Critic is Special: Now let's have a closer
look at that special voice. You have in your head. The inner critic. It is one of the
sub personalities that have developed
over the years. But it is a special one
that feels like it has a special obligation to your
other sub personalities. Sounds weird. Yeah. Let's have a look. If someone asked you a question
and you snapped at them, the inner critic knows
that you're pleased or will be very unhappy, so it tells you you
should have been kinder, if you stay home
on a Friday night because you are tired or
just want to stay home, your party animal will get
help from the inner critic who will tell you
how boring you are. Practically, everyone
has an inner critic, and although it often
behaves like a jerk, it is really there
to protect us. It knows all the rules from
your other subpersonalities. The body guards of
your inner child. It does its utmost to make you follow those rules
so you will be safe. That's why it's
working overtime. It wants you to be safe, and as long as you try to
ignore the inner critic, it will become loud
and crude and rude. There is no escaping it. But there's also very good news. Once you become aware of
the voices in your head, you will regain control
of the steering wheel. The inner voices
will never go away. But you can learn to manage all these voices that
make up your character. You can regain control. The takeaway is that you can learn to manage all of the inner
voices and tendencies. You can develop a relationship with them that will benefit you. There is so much to learn
about all these inner voices and I would encourage you to
study this by yourselves. You can learn more by
reading the books from the list I made that
you can download here, and by doing inner
work and reflection, this class focuses on that
special voice of yours, the inner critic, and
in the next lesson, you will meet yours.
5. Get to Know Your Inner Critic: Now it's time to shine a
light on your inner critic and to start getting
to know it better. Is this a bit scary? Don't worry, your
inner critic is just as nervous
about being exposed. Now, watch this lesson first and then go somewhere
where nobody can disturb you for
about 10 minutes. Download the questionnaire
and answer the questions. I will also read
them for you here. Write down everything
that pops up, even if you don't
understand its meaning yet. When did your inner
critic first appear? Do you remember how it talked to you when
you were a child? Has this changed? What is your inner
critics favorite topic? Has it ever bought
anything positive for you? Be honest. What would happen if they were actually in
charge of your life? If you did everything
they told you? Now, give your inner
critic a name. These are some examples from students of my first-class
in this series. Ms. Critic, Erik, Madge or
Majesty the Queen, Bob, Gremlin, Shamy, Critical Me, The Doubter, Hole,
Nuisance Nellie. Pick a name just intuitively, don't think too
hard about a name, but choose one that feels right. After learning more about your inner critic and
after giving them a name, you can have a
dialogue together. We'll practice
this a little bit. We'll do it much longer and
deeper in the next class, but for now, let's have a taste
of what this can be like. The best way, the
easiest way is to do it while writing in your journal. You write something as yourself and then you listen what
is the inner critic saying and then you write
down what they say. You can also switch seats, but it's not necessary. So let's do this. Here we go. Could you please tell me why
you behave the way you do? It's so unpleasant. Now, listen to what they say. Don't you get it? I worry for you. I don't want you to fail
and you don't listen to me, so I have to speak louder
and be a bit rude sometimes. Try to really hear
them and then respond. I wasn't aware of this. I only hear the nasty words and condescending
laughter all the time. You're not a bit rude
you're very rude. Can you please be more subtle
in your choice of words? Yes, if you listen. So this was a short
sample dialogue, and you can do this
as long as you like. Let me know in your
project how this went. Takeaway. Seeing your inner
critic in this slide helps you see and realize more why they are there
in the first place and how they are not
really out to get you, despite their bad manners. In the next lesson,
you'll connect with your inner critic on a
whole different level.
6. Brainstorm Your Inner Critic's Look: Now that you've studied and contemplated
your inner critic, it is time to come up
with a look for them. You will reflect and write and you'll brainstorm and sketch. If you don't normally see your inner critic with
your internal eye, try and come up with an appearance for how
they make you feel. Not all inner critics take
the shape of a person, it can also be a shadow, a spiky object, a
cube, or even a blob. Often, the inner critic is
simply a version of yourself, but with a particular
expression like fear, judgment, eye rolling, etc. I think it is important
to distinguish your inner critic's
look from yours. Even if it looks like you, make it look different
so you will remember and realize that it's not you, it's only part of you. I suggest you exaggerate the way they appear and
express themselves. Use extra makeup to add a frown, use your facial muscles
to show their expression, add a wig or certain clothes. Take some time to discover
this, make sketches. If yours keeps quiet, trick them and lure them
out by dreaming big or making a drawing that'll
probably wake them up. Share your sketches in the
project as you work towards your final portrait. Takeaway. You will have gathered the most important aspects
of your inner critic, and you will know how
to exaggerate them so the inner critic will look
clearly different from you. This helps you realize
they are not you, but just a part of you. Now you know how your
inner critic will look. In the next video, I'll give you some
tips on how to make a wig or a headdress
at next to no cost.
7. Make a Fun and Simple Wig or Headdress: If you think your
inner critic needs a wig or a headdress
of some type, you know I would probably agree. I will give you some
tips on how to make one at practically no cost. Even if you think
your inner critic doesn't need a wig
or a headdress, try to give them
something to wear anyway. This creative exercise will
help you get acquainted with your inner
critic in a fun way. When I was making
these examples, I had an inner dialogue
with Mrs Scared, which was quite illuminating. I'm curious to see if
this happens to you too. Let's enjoy a
little crafting and create a wig or
headdress yourself. A very easy way to
do this is to use aluminum foil as
the base, like so. You just fold it
around your head. Just turn it into a little
cap like this by pressing. It really doesn't
have to be neat. Give it the right size and
make sure it's not too tight so you can easily
put it on and off. You can attach anything to
it like paper curls, spikes, you could even write some
quotes on these paper strips and have this whole cloud of inner critic
voices on your head. Let's see what that does. You can also make
a simple headband out of cardboard like so, and attach fluffy stuff to it or anything else you see fit. Takeaway. An outfit for your inner critic
doesn't have to be costly. You can easily make one
and have a lot of fun and even experience a
deeper connection with your inner critic
in the process. Now, you're almost ready
to take the self portrait. In the next lesson, I'll give you some
tips on how to do this with your smartphone
or your camera, how to get the focus right, and most importantly, how to evoke that
inner critic energy.
8. Evoke and Capture Your Inner Critic: In this video, I'll give you
some tips on how to take your self-portrait on your
smartphone or on your camera, how to get the focus right, and also how to evoke
that inner critic energy. First, let's get the
technical stuff in place. Put your camera or smartphone on a tripod or a stack of books. I use these books on a
stool and a little tripod. You can use anything that keeps your phone in place
or your camera. Make a stand-in out of
a paper bag on a stand, or use a pillow in
a neutral color. I drew a face because it
makes it easier to focus, practice, focus, and
lighting using the stand-in. I keep holding it until the
AE/AF [inaudible] goes on. I'm using an iPhone, but you can use any smartphone
or camera to do the same. Now evoke your inner critic. Have everything ready that you need to step into their shoes. Actually, you can put it on when you are in your own seat. The inner critic will
be sitting here. I can already feel her
creeping up on me. I forgot to tell you, I have a mirror already. I can check my look. Now I'm going to evoke
that inner critic energy, feel and evoke their energy
and listen to their comments. Let it all show in
your expression. Take some time to
get this all right. I just listened to her. I can hear her already. She's telling me I
cannot impersonate her. You cannot impersonate me? Just feel what it's
like in her outfit. I'm only using this
jacket and the wig. I've already practiced
her face so often, so I don't need makeup
to exaggerate it. Now I feel her, I'm going
to sit in her seat. Feel what it's like here. [LAUGHTER] Hello. I'm ready, I'm going to take
the self-portrait. Make a few different versions. Continue taking
portraits until you feel you've captured the right
energy of your inner critic. Just try one again right away. If you stop photographing, the whole fixed focus is gone. It's better to take a whole series and then
check them at the end. Before you continue, after taking your portrait, please make another
conscious decision to step into your
own shoes again. Now I'm going to go back to my own seat and to
turn back into myself. This is a better place
for me, at least. My hair, you can see this in the whole class it's getting
flatter and flatter. No self-criticism.
That's her job. Now, I'm going to
thank my inner critic for letting me impersonate her. Thank you, Mrs. Scared. I'm very grateful that I was
allowed to impersonate you. Yes, you're welcome but
it was really lousy. She didn't like that. I'm so much better at my job. Don't you think? You
are better at your job? Now, click the green
button under Project and Resources and start
your project. Please also share some
words on how this all went. It is an important part of your own journey and you
will also inspire others. Yes, I love to see all those
portraits of my colleagues. Get your portrait
taken, my friends, and let's teach them a lesson. Takeaway, fully
submerging herself into that inner critic
energy will help you make a powerful portrait
and the stand-in made from a paper bag will improve
your results immensely. I hope stepping
into the shoes of your inner critic gave you
more insight in who they are, and in the final video, I'll recap what you've learned and I'll ask you for
a little bit of help.
9. Takeaways & a Request: I'm so happy you've made
it to this final video. I will recap what you've learned and I will ask you
for some help. You got to meet
your Inner Critic by stepping into their shoes. You learned they are
not out to get you. Instead, you saw that
they have a purpose and they try to protect you by becoming your Inner Critic and taking a self-portrait. You honored that part
of your personality and you found a way to
communicate with it. Now that you have a
physical portrait, you have a reminder that
they are separate from you. You can start using their
sharp eye to your benefit. Just keep reminding them to
speak to you in a kind way. If they start to
be abusive again, put them back in the corner and tell them you won't listen. If you haven't already, please share your work
in the project gallery and remember to add a
cover image as well. Also, if you feel comfortable, please share your work on your
social media channels with the hashtag Lucy Lambriex
and the Inner Critic Series. I really hope you've
enjoyed this class and I would be very grateful if you could leave
me a short review. It will tell other students why they could take this class, and I'll know how
you've experienced it. You're always welcome to come
back and ask me questions. Just drop a note in
the discussion section or in your project. Follow me here, and you might also want to have a look at my other classes, like the first class in
the Inner Critic Series. Win back your
creative confidence, and my previous class, unlock your creativity with
photography and writing. If there's anything else
you would like me to teach in a future class, just ask. I might just do it. For now, thank you
for taking this class and see you in my other classes. Bye. This in life is so amazing, sometimes it can get crazy, but, hey, that's okay. We've got another day to
make mistakes and say sorry. There's no sense in our worry, because all we can do is try our best to make it
through with love.
Lucy Lambriex, Creative Confidence & Camera Courage
