Boy do I know about the cop! My voice seems a lot meaner than a cop's. Anyway, I get you sister. A friend said to me just today, maybe the voice is trying to help you, to keep you safe. You can give it a little compassion, thank it, and then continue your journey. It made me pause. Would that be better than trying to kick it to the curb? Maybe...
I took a writing course back in the '90s taught by SF writer David Gerrold. One of my favorite memories of his lectures was the brief segment he devoted to what he called "the shitbird on your shoulder." It would sit there as you wrote, looking down at the page or screen, unceasingly carping: "What the hell is THIS?" it says, and "What makes you think you're a writer, anyhow?" "That's not even grammatical!" etc. etc.
Gerrold was talking about the practice of writing, of course, not the more general practice of life and work. But I sense the general resemblance of the cop in your head to the shitbird on my shoulder.
Yes!! Actually when I chose the image for this post, I was thinking I liked it because it reminded me of the angel and devil on the shoulder. Or, you know, the shitbird.
My former colleague, a MAN to be specific, and CEO of his own digital marketing company, often pours out his heart and soul into long LinkedIn posts that dissect what’s going right and wrong in his head, in his business and the industry at large. He fully admits when he loses a proposal. He waxes poetic about why his agency is different and may not be the right fit for certain businesses. He bears it all! But in the name of drawing in a very specific client, high on the emotional intelligence scale. Occasionally I’ll cringe a bit reading his posts only because I can’t imagine being that honest (we women have a mask for every occasion in our closet), but I gotta hand it to him—the risks he takes have led to some sweet rewards.
i have so many thoughts but the primary one is how much you enliven my life, my thoughts and pull me out of the past and future and into my present sense of self!
Boy do I know about the cop! My voice seems a lot meaner than a cop's. Anyway, I get you sister. A friend said to me just today, maybe the voice is trying to help you, to keep you safe. You can give it a little compassion, thank it, and then continue your journey. It made me pause. Would that be better than trying to kick it to the curb? Maybe...
Aye, let us all befriend our inner cop :)
I took a writing course back in the '90s taught by SF writer David Gerrold. One of my favorite memories of his lectures was the brief segment he devoted to what he called "the shitbird on your shoulder." It would sit there as you wrote, looking down at the page or screen, unceasingly carping: "What the hell is THIS?" it says, and "What makes you think you're a writer, anyhow?" "That's not even grammatical!" etc. etc.
Gerrold was talking about the practice of writing, of course, not the more general practice of life and work. But I sense the general resemblance of the cop in your head to the shitbird on my shoulder.
Yes!! Actually when I chose the image for this post, I was thinking I liked it because it reminded me of the angel and devil on the shoulder. Or, you know, the shitbird.
Ha! My writing teacher in the '90s was poet Philip Schultz, and he also constantly referred to the Shitbird.
My former colleague, a MAN to be specific, and CEO of his own digital marketing company, often pours out his heart and soul into long LinkedIn posts that dissect what’s going right and wrong in his head, in his business and the industry at large. He fully admits when he loses a proposal. He waxes poetic about why his agency is different and may not be the right fit for certain businesses. He bears it all! But in the name of drawing in a very specific client, high on the emotional intelligence scale. Occasionally I’ll cringe a bit reading his posts only because I can’t imagine being that honest (we women have a mask for every occasion in our closet), but I gotta hand it to him—the risks he takes have led to some sweet rewards.
Wow. I mean, it is definitely a strategy. And probably you could only get away with it as a man, but who knows? Bless his heart.
"get away with it as a man" sounds more accurate maybe hahaha!!
keep 'em coming!
I find it funny that you wrote under the pseudonym "Jane Donuts" and now you are writing about internal police. Haha!!!
omg HA well observed!!!! had not made that connection.
i have so many thoughts but the primary one is how much you enliven my life, my thoughts and pull me out of the past and future and into my present sense of self!
Love you, Steph 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
I have nothing more to say, than this piece resonated so deeply within me and thank you for writing it! I think it found me in the right time :)
So glad to hear that!!