Beautiful piece, Dew. Just what the doctor ordered.😊👍

I've been gnawing on a particular bone for a long time - that being as a society we are unduly influenced by perceptions created through marketing and advertising. It is through these media that new realities are put in place that dictate ( for lack of a better term) what we should think about ourselves, our outlook, our appearance and so on.

In order to buy something (that we didn't know we needed) we must be told - this is needed to solve some problem - some lack. Years and years pass and these messages are woven into a lifetime's worth of perceptions about ourselves. How we compare to others. Are we respond to others. How we can become better by changing.

Thus through education, parenting, advertising and such, we are constantly advised to improve, be better, do more.

Self-criticism can come with self-motivation. The desire to be better at something - like hitting a major league curveball.

But it can also embed the belief system that there is always something to improve and this is not healthy. Not 24/7.

Again, an excellent article. 😊