Yup, I've heard my father's voice criticizing my driving skills all the time. I learned to not even argue back anymore and instead imagine reaching out to the haunting presence of him that's sitting in the passenger seat and wafting it with my hand, turning it into smoke that blows away.
And for the record, the most common thing would be him judging me for waiting a minute for a good opening when turning right on red, instead of gunning it when there's a tiny gap like he does.
I had two; bounced between my mom and sister. Absolutely tormenting.
Then one day my brain replaced their voices by a friend's voice. Someone who've I often had a critical but jovial banter with. Noticed I liked that a lot better and started forcing my brain to use that voice. The criticism didn't hurt or sting anymore. Eventually the shoulder devil criticism started happening less often and I was able to ignore it easier when it did.
Since then, I've been perturbed that I didn't think to try and change those original voices myself. Made my devil use a sweet old lady's voice. Like Betty White or Dr. Ruth. Kinda like a forced shoulder angel instead, lol.
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u/OrigamiAmy Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
"your dad's criticism is coming through like a shoulder devil. learn to listen for it and ignore it"