“An inner voice always used to be an outer voice.” –The School of Life
___________________________________________________________

One day,
I summon the courage
to ask my inner critic
a question:
“why are you so mean to me all the time?”
I ask it with curiosity,
acceptance,
and non-defensiveness.
My inner critic
breaks down crying.
“Because everyone else was so mean to me,”
it replies.

Suddenly, I realize
that the perpetrator in me
and the victim in me
are just the hard and soft manifestations
of the same pain.

_______________________

Other poems in this series:
Adventures in Meditation 1: https://wordpress.com/post/musings-and-music.com/1529
Adventures in Meditation 2: https://wordpress.com/post/musings-and-music.com/1722