Publishing Deadline & Facing the Inner Gremlins

This week I have been working on a chapter for an anthology with a group of creatives. It is exciting as it will be published at the end of March.

Whenever I am about to do an art show, column, blog, or start a new painting, I can hear the little gremlins stirring from their slumber in my unconscious. They are searching for the cowbell to get as loud as possible in my head. Whew, we are about to have a party!!

Yes, even after all these years, they love to party. The difference is that I party with them. I am not saying, I never have one who seems to grab a hold of my neck, shake me, and say “Who do you think you are… an artist, writer, or whatever?” Sometimes I am rattled by the intensity that comes up. Really DUDE? After all these years you think that is gonna stop me?

I deal with the gremlins differently than most. I know that those little buggers are in my unconscious ready to have a margarita at any moment and try to sabotage, grade, scrutinize, and perfect whatever I am working on… and I don’t mean in a good way.

I get into relationships with these buggers. I let them rip for a while but I do it creatively. They get to scream, whine, cry, kick their feet and have a little temper tantrums. And once they are out, I know who and what I am dealing with. If I don’t then they will grip any piece I do like a bunch of leaches… sucking the energy out of me.

Another effect is that I usually end up laughing or feeling fiery, knowing that the energy is moving. AND THAT IS THE POINT. While I have other ways of working with my own and others’ gremlins, awareness is important. When people just try to shove it aside, they can take hold in a variety of forms. Holding your breath, stressing out, tensing your muscles or organs, getting perfectionistic in the head, or making you want to numb any energy that is there to help you produce something.

We are the experts at numbing and denial. Olympic champions. Why? Because we don’t want pain, suffering, or those gremlins to rip us to shreds. But denial actually helps them win. They live in the unconscious and help sabotage our uninhibited belief that we CAN.

Creating an awareness of who these gremlins are and what they are trying to do is the beginning of taking them out of the driver's seat of your life. They are not only trying to drive but also using up the gas of your life. Don’t let them do that.

I’m here to get your energy going again!