The Disappearing Critic

Hippie Go Free Free 🐸
3 min readJan 24, 2025

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Recently, I was invited into a position at work that allows me to take a seat among some of the finest leaders within our company. It is truly an honor to be able to see the “behind the scenes” of what it takes to run such a successful business. Over the last 2-weeks I have seen nothing less than empowerment, inspiration, passion, and drive. Those with vision heavily rely on the rest of us to carry out such insight. Without hesitation, I can confess that I walked a little taller after being invited to be part of such an extraordinary team. However, it is during this window of opportunity that I am learning more and more about my own abilities, or lack thereof.

A small percentage of this new dose of responsibility invites me to recognize, verbalize, and honor the strengths and weakness of new employees. To some, this is a specific task that may feel tiny or insignificant. In fact, how many of us do that anyway? You know, just walking around life, sizing people up. How quickly can you point out a flaw in another human? How fast do you critique those around you? It may even feel commonplace or normal do all those things, each and every day. So, to step into a leadership position and continue to operate in the manner, could feel like no big ask at all. For me, not so much.

In my 20’s and early 30’s, finger pointing was part of my personality. In fact, I cherished the moments that I was “able” to see something in someone, good or bad. It once filled me with the illusion of power. For example, if I was noticing or pointing out how flakey someone was being, then in that moment I suddenly felt like I had it all together. Right? As if I were saying, “Goodness, I am not nearly as flakey as THAT person!” Our human ego often buddies up with our subconscious and plays tricks on us. We accidently start believing that we are separated from others. I am going to ruin the ending for you….we are not. We are not separated from others in the way we are taught to believe. 99.9% of the time, the traits we like in others, we have in ourselves. 99.9% of the time, the traits we dislike in others, we have in ourselves.

As I attempted to do my best, pointing our newcomers’ strengths and weakness, I noticed how much I hated doing so. I took notice to the tightening in my stomach and the tidal wave of discomfort. Speaking aloud the shortcomings of another did not make me feel more powerful. It made me feel weak, mean, and completely out of alignment. My perspective on personality traits and human behavior is not what it was in my 20’s and early 30’s. At all. As I grew closer and closer to my 40’s, a softness occurred within my being. (I giggle to myself as I picture the Grinch and his heart growing 2-sizes in a single moment.) There was just…a CLICK. A pop. An awakening. A remembering. I fear I would not be able to fully articulate my experience, but that is okay. That’s not really what this blog is about. It is not about “me.” Mostly because there is no me. There is only US. All of us. The collective. Look at everyone around you. You are looking at fractmented peices of yourself. We are all the same soul. Be kind, be compassionate, be empathetic, be forgiving, be gentle, be loving. Discard the desires to judge others…and even the desire to judge yourself. After all, we are one of the same.

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Hippie Go Free Free 🐸
Hippie Go Free Free 🐸

Written by Hippie Go Free Free 🐸

Tie-dyed rabbit hole of wild-child adventures, stoner wisdom, & Spiritual perspectives!

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