Page 78 - Taming Your Gremlin A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way (Rick Carson)_Neat

and feelings. At times you will receive critics’ acclaim and audience
applause. As a result, you will feel very good. At other times the response
of your critics will leave you discouraged. Even if you become a very fine

actor, if you are inordinately attached to your act, you will notice that you
feel empty much of the time, for you will realize that the critics’ acclaim
and the loud applause from your audience are offered in response to your
act rather than to the natural you.

You may have created a façade that is very well liked. You may have
one or more very good acts that are even loved. But what of the real you
that is inside and behind the act? Are you ever seen, heard, or touched?
Because a good act may get you what you want for awhile: the critics’
acclaim I mentioned earlier, high self-esteem, a few strokes, or monetary

reward, I have devoted part of this chapter to “The Pleasant Person Act.”
However, let me simply remind you that you are not your act, and that
shifting from one act to another does not imply qualitative personal growth
or increased comfort with yourself. You may fool a few people, or even
most people, but you won’t fool yourself.

You Are Not Your Act