Battling the Red Eyed Monster
Published on June 16, 2014
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Most of the last ten days has been spent in pitched battle with the gargantuan Red Eyed Monster. Not to be confused with his look-alike, the Green Eyed Monster of Jealousy, the Red Eyed Monster is the two-headed evil twin who lurks in the shadows waiting to destroy the lives of artists and writers everywhere. Those two heads - Fear and Doubt - will strike fear into the hearts of creative souls.
To make matters worse, or perhaps because of it, Mercury went retrograde about the same time my battle began. For those of you unversed in astrological lore, Mercury is planet which rules communication, travel and, oddly, thieves. Most people with a cursory knowledge of astrology tremble at the thought of Mercury retrograde, but it's really all about consolidation, introspection and self-awareness. Which is exactly where the Red Eyed Monster comes in!
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I know very well that succeeding in internet marketing involves taking incremental steps every day. A little google plus here, a little tweet there (what is it about tweeting that is so terrifying to me?), some research and some writing. It's all so very simple. Just do it...chop wood, carry water, move forward. Which is exactly what I was incapable of doing last week. Oh, I was busy, very busy, but I accomplished absolutely nothing because I was overcome by the evil twins, Fear and Doubt, and I retreated at the end of the day into my cave to lick my wounds.
Since they are imaginary wounds, it appears that I have lived to fight another day! Mercury is retrograde into the beginning of July so I think my battle will continue for a few more weeks.
Perhaps I need to refine my goals for this time in order to give Mercury his due, give thought to what I'm doing and why. While defeating the monster is not an option, he can perhaps be tamed. Fear and Doubt are motivating factors that have a vital role to play in my creative process and are in fact part of my personality. So for now, the goal is simply to understand that and to not be paralyzed by it. To tame the beast so that I can chop wood and carry water! Then I can go back to being my overachieving self :-)
Ansley Wilcox
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