We all get grumpy feedback

but don't become the grump

Earlier this week, I received some uncharitable feedback to my weekly “Now Discern This” column. Negative feedback is nothing new or novel for a writer—and certainly not for this one. But something about this week’s hot take just felt unnecessary; it got under my skin. My friend had to really swerve off the path of the day’s well-trodden routine just to pop me in the mouth.

Photo by Shahmie Mahmoud on Unsplash

This particular fan was wondering, loudly and in print, why I even bothered sharing my musings, which in this person’s words have less value than the time needed to delete them.

There’s little use in running through the many (sassy) thoughts I had in response. Everyone has an opinion, and occasionally the worst of them park themselves right there in front of my weary eyes.

Rather, what I want to share is a word of caution to all of us. I’ve been revisiting Julia Cameron’s wonderful text, The Artist’s Way, lately, and I’m struck by her depiction of the Censor.

The Censor, she says, is that voice in our heads—likely formed at a key moment in our own upbringing—that insists we are good for nothing. Our creative efforts are worthless crap, and any past success we’ve enjoyed is no more than a fluke and certainly not one that can be repeated. The Censor stomps on every word, every sentence, every brush stroke or new melody.

The Censor, I’d argue, is, in Ignatian language, the enemy of our human nature. The evil spirit. The one who stands against our God who, quite insistently, declares we are beloved, we are enough, and we are worthy of infinite delight.

The Censor, though, doesn’t reside solely in our heads but can and does show up in our material lives—and even in our inbox.

And so here’s my bit of caution: Don’t be the Censor. Or, read another way, don’t take the side of the evil spirit, the enemy of our human nature. God delights in all of us—and we are made in the image and likeness of that very same God.

Which leads me to wonder: To what image are we responding when we tear down others, when we provide nothing but criticism, when we judge and mock and dismiss?

Because, phrased this way, I no longer worry so much about that one particular email I received this week. I’m left instead wondering about myself, my own failures to build up others in their creativity, my own knee-jerk judgments.

The enemy of our human nature would stop us from being creative, from dreaming and imagining and exploring. Instead, let’s delight in one another.

And another thing:

• I took my girls to see Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace last week. It was awesome. So, I wrote about it for Dork Side of the Force. Check it out.