Whilst admitting to never having watched an episode of The X Factor in my life, I did feel a degree of sympathy for Cheryl Cole who apparently has been watching her recent performance on repeat after dividing opinions on her singing.

MY INNER CRITIC HAS BEEN VERY BUSY

My own inner critic has been very busy as I’ve just co-hosted a big event and found myself, just like Cheryl, replaying my yoga class over and over and asking myself ‘Did they enjoy it?’  ‘Someone yawned….were they bored? (It was a restorative class, designed to release tension and aid relaxation!)’ ‘I’m sure I wasn’t as good as the others’.

If you start counting the times that you hear other women say, “Oh, but I don’t want other people to think that…” in my experience, you soon run out of numbers to count with. Or you can even count the number of times you think it to yourself without saying it out loud. “Oh, but I don’t want other people to think that… I’m stupid… I’m fat… I’m out of my depth… I’m a bad mother… I’m not experienced enough for this job… I don’t know what I’m talking about… I’m greedy… I’ve got no friends… I’m desperate… I’m getting above myself… I’ve got a big ego… I’m too self-promoting… I’m big-headed…” Basically, insert whatever insult for yourself you’ve dreamt up here. We all have our own different ways to end the sentence, “Oh, but I don’t want other people to think that…”

You get the message. There is no end to the things we don’t want other people to think about us. And not only do we not want them to even think these things, but, also, we want to control the likelihood of them thinking them at all. So, often, we censor ourselves completely from doing the things that might mean other people would think these things in the first place.

So, you don’t say what you wanted to say in a meeting, in case someone else might know more than you. You don’t book the weekend away, because your mother-in-law will raise her eyebrows. You don’t apply for the dream job, because you don’t fit every single last word of the job spec. You don’t ask for the raise, because you already had a small raise two years ago (even though you just found out a colleague is on a lot more than you). And you change out of trousers into a skirt, because the trousers made your thighs look extremely large, indeed.

The trouble is, we don’t listen to ourselves when we say either out loud or in our heads – “I don’t want other people to think that… (I’m greedy/I’m up myself/I’m too demanding/I’m selfish…)” If we were listening carefully, we would hear the first part of the sentence: “I don’t want other people to think.” Say that again to yourself: “I don’t want other people to think.” How strange is that? We actually harbour a secret wish that other people should have no thoughts whatsoever, that they should not be allowed to think anything. If we could control them, we would want them to think only good things about us. As we can’t control them, we just don’t want them to think at all.

NONE OF US CAN EVER STOP ANYONE FROM THINKING ANYTHING.

It’s fantastically useful to focus on what a crazy wish this is. None of us can ever stop anyone from thinking anything. They may think all kinds of wonderful and terrible things about us. They may think that finally someone has said what needs saying in those interminable pointless meetings. They may think that you’re brave and assertive to take a break from parenting and that you’re fostering independence in your kids by leaving them for a weekend.  Or they may think that you are the most terrible person they have ever had the misfortune of encountering. The point is: there is no point in trying to control or influence the thoughts of others, as they are entitled to think what they like. And, actually, their thoughts have very little bearing on us and we often won’t even find out what their thoughts were.

LET US STOP INWARDLY TROLLING OURSELVES

The moment we think, “Oh, but I don’t want other people to think that…” is a moment when we are actually trolling ourselves before anyone has even had a chance to say or think anything. Let us stop inwardly trolling ourselves. Let us stop imagining that we can anticipate, prevent or control the thoughts of others. Bring on the next workshop!!

Embrace the perfectly imperfect

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese philosophy often described as appreciating the beauty in imperfection. Like so many words which are lost in translation, it’s hard to distil wabi-sabi into a single definition or translation which does justice to its nuances. But, broadly speaking wabi-sabi embraces the following 3 ideas;  ‘nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect’.

In Japanese, the meanings and connotations of wabi and sabi have evolved over time. Wabi was associated with a specific kind of loneliness and solitude. Imagine what it felt like to be a hermit, living in remote nature. Sabi was associated with withering, rusting, tarnishing—the natural progression of things. This thought has developed over time where loneliness and solitude were seen as wise and freeing, and the imperfections resulting from the natural progression of life and things were embraced as the beauty of change.

The lessons of wabi-sabi

Wabi-sabi is often associated with a sense of peace with the natural progression of life. Accepting that life and things are impermanent allows us to appreciate the beauty and melancholy of it. For example, a wooden table that has aged over the years may seem decrepit and ugly. Discovering wabi-sabi is to see the beauty of imperfection and change.

But it can also teach us much more about ourselves and how we view the world around us:

– Instead of focusing on what could be, wabi-sabi focuses on appreciating what is—the ordinary, old and incomplete.

– Suffering or pain, the ugliness of life, are just like the imperfections of an old table. They are a natural part of life that requires acceptance and appreciation.

Wabi-sabi in everyday life

Wabi-sabi in daily life doesn’t require us to be an expert in design or philosophy. It’s a shift in perspective from one that chases perfection to one that appreciates what is. It’s up to you to decide how wabi-sabi fits into your life. It could mean being more accepting of your flaws, practising gratitude, listening more or finding beauty in the ordinary. It could also be as simple as appreciating the autumn leaves or making peace with the stains on your carpet.