recovering our creative selves. As we gain strength, so will
some of the attacks of self-doubt. This is normal, and we
can deal with these stronger attacks when we see them as
symptoms of recovery.
Common self-attacks are: “Okay, so I did okay this week
but it’s just a temporary thing.... Okay, so I got the morning
pages done. I probably did them wrong.... Okay, so now I
need to plan something big and do it right away! ... Who am
I kidding? I’ll never recover, not right away ... not ever....”
These attacks are groundless, but very convincing to
ourselves. Buying into them enables us to remain stuck and
victimized. Just as a recovering alcoholic must avoid the
first drink, the recovering artist must avoid taking the first
think. For us, that think is really self-doubt: “I don’t think
this is any good....”
All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to
feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright,
knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh.
DORIS LESSINGSnipers are people who undermine your efforts to
break unhealthy relationship patterns.
JODY HAYESThese attacks can come from either internal or external