Dr Emily Musgrove

What would happen?

And you don't want to hear it, I get that.

How would you be, but how would you be letting them down if you still didn't?

Yeah, and I think this is what is so tricky in this work of living is that the voice of the critic is so hard to hear and deeply painful.

But if we do listen to it,

It's like it has a grip on our choices and that I guess this kind of great question we have is like, can I have this voice and still head in the direction that's deeply meaningful to me?

So am I willing to have the pain if it's on track to what I value?

Because the difficulty is that if I listen to it and it keeps me safe from exposure, when that race is done and I haven't been there,

Is that me acting in accordance with what I deeply value and what is deeply meaningful to me?

And that then, the shame that shows up then is really hard to be with.

Exactly, yeah, and actually kind of becomes self-perpetuating and strengthening as it goes.

Yeah.

So this kind of question, am I willing to have the pain knowing that it's on track to

And so any time, like when we think about this role of the critic, any time you like put your head above the parapet, it's going to have a lot to say because this is too risky.

Get back down there.

And it's going to have a whole host of stuff to say.

But can I stick my head out?

And it can say what it wants to say and you can say that this is on track.

Yeah.

And there's a whole lot of things.