Stop worshiping the Inner Critic!

Current contemplation: should I stop reading the literary magazine Poets & Writers? This periodical's affecting my authorial self worth!

It's hard enough for a writer to fend off the inner critic, right? But, after reading P&W, the battle inside of me falls into the category of Bad Ass Ebola versus Wimpy Miss Sniffles. This begs the question, what is it about me that makes me so susceptible to kicking my own ass with the whip of perfectionism? Worshiper to my inner critic. By, God! I'm not going to blame my parents for this one!

Perfectionism! Anne Lamott writes as the "voice of the oppressor." True Dat! My rational mind knows Lamott's correct, but something inside of me listens to the resounding dark voice that says, "You're hackneyed. Trite! Go back to your day job!"

Do you battle perfectionism? Do all writers? Artists? If so, how the hell does anything get written? For now, I need to stick with books like Bird by Bird (Anchor Books, 1995) my voice of hope.

I will not compare myself! I will not compare myself! I will not compare myself! I will not compare myself!

I'm entering new territory, people. Armed with no common sense or knowledge about the blogging world, I will attempt to live up to my last name. WARRIOR! Guess what I did this past week!  You'll never guess. I stood in line for 4 1/2 hours (in a deluge) to audition for THE BIGGEST LOSER!!!! What a trip. It's the first time I've stood in a line in south Florida and felt like I really needed to be there. Trust me, people, we south Floridians stand in a lot of lines. The BIGGEST LOSER line was fun and friendly. I didn't make the call back list, so it will have to be next year. Stay tuned.