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Be Nice to Yourself.

This week on the Equals Record: thoughts on being my own worst critic - and finally learning to cut myself some slack (it's harder than it sounds!).


An excerpt from the new post: "Just before my sixteenth birthday, my family packed up our little white clapboard house in Honolulu (where we'd lived for eight years) and moved back to Los Angeles (where I was born and had attended elementary school). My first year back on "the mainland" required me to adjust to life in a  big city after spending many years in the slow, simmering heat of a tiny tropical island. I also had to cope with the stress of starting over at a new school in the eleventh grade, on top of the normal, everyday highs and lows of teenage life. It was not easy... I was often very hard on myself when I made mistakes, or faltered, or did things that I thought were awkward or embarrassing (but, in hindsight, were totally normal). I was my own worst critic and toughest judge — I expected myself to handle everything perfectly."

See the rest on the Equals Record, here. Thank you so much for reading - I appreciate it!

Illustration by Emily McDowell

10 comments:

  1. Shoko, this is such a beautiful writing and really helps me too. Sometimes I could be my own worst critic and depressed only because of my own thought. I always love your writing as I relate how you feel so well :) xo akiko
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  2. Dear Shoko, I often have these kind of thoughts and it's good that someone (better ourselves) remind us the part we are missing. Thanks for reminding this to me! And I think you are doing great too :)

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  3. wow this is something that I have to remind myself from time to time, especially when one compares themselves to others. My bf would tell me that I'm being too hard on myself and that causes so much stress! I def don't care in taking part of a vicious race, because living in nyc you see everyone trampling over one another, not all the time but mostly. Thank you so much for writing this post! It was a kind reminder that I needed to hear!

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  4. looking forward to reading this; it's already reinforcement that i never, ever, ever want to be a teenaged girl, ever, ever again!

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  5. Thank you for this! It seems like somewhere along the way we pick up this bad habit of putting ourselves down pretty young and it sort of stays with us always. still trying to dispel my inner critic from my teenage years.

    www.prettydinos.com

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  6. Beautiful, Shoko. This really is just what I needed to read. Believe it or not, this is helping me - just reading it.

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  7. Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone! Really, truly means the world to me.

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  8. That is just, simply beautiful truth. Thank you for sharing!
    Deirdre

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  9. Loved it! I commented over on the other site, but I just wanted to leave a note here saying that once again, you've hit the nail on the head, and I can totally relate =]

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  10. Shoko, your words are inspiring, as always. I wish I had learned to be nice to myself at an earlier age. I'm so very harsh on myself and need regular reminders to treat myself as a friend, not an enemy. I love Emily McDowell's illustration - so very true!

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