Why being harsh on yourself harms you.

Here's my drawing/portrait for the day. Today I drew it from Sktchy which is a fabulous app (currently only for iphone users). It's a supportive community of artists and art lovers where people share their images--thousands and thousands of photos--which you can use as reference images.

I made this waterolour portrait from a reference image on sktchy.

Initially, I  was quite pleased with it, as I thought it was a good likeness. Then I began to compare and analyse with the reference image. You can swipe right on my instagram art account to see it fully.

The more I compared it, the unhappier I felt!

It made me think about how harsh we are on ourselves, sometimes. If a friend of mine had made the above image, I would have congratulated him/her and praised him/her for the great work done. I would have said it's a superb likeness (which it is). I wouldn't have pointed out the flaws, unless I was specifically asked for it.

Why then was I being harsh on myself?

I think we harm ourselves by trying for 'perfection'. Just to be clear: This is not to say, you should not try to better yourself. You definitely should. That is the only way to grow.

However, if we have done out best about something, and the results are not exactly what we had in mind, we should learn to accept and let go. By beating up yourself about it, you feed the  N in our head, who is the critic. (I have written more about Y and N in a chapter in my book Love A Little Stronger)

By all means, strive to excel.
But also remember to pat yourself on the back for working hard and trying.
It is okay to be a little less than perfect!
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ps: See you tomorrow, with a new picture and a new post! This is a part of May Drawing Challenge where I post a picture I made every single day :)  Hit subscribe to get my posts in your inbox.

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