Art. Photography. Gratitude. Life.

Art.
Photography.
Gratitude.

Life.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Meet Gibblewort!


"Gibblewort the Goblin" by Victor Kelleher and Stephen Michael King

Are you familiar with Gibblewort?

 
The 'Anti-Everything-Aussie' Irish Goblin from the imagination of 
Victor Kelleher and Stephen Michael King.
Well, he is exactly what my FEAR GREMLIN is like.
 
I feel like Victor and Stephen plucked him straight out of my mind.

They look alike.
They sound alike. They smell alike.
They have similar bad habits and both whinge ALL the time.
 
 They are both always looking at the storm cloud,
and never seeing the rainbow appearing  faintly in the distance.

Even before I read these fabulous books to my kids at bedtime,
I KNEW that Gibblewort inhabited my world.

He hides you see.
He doesn't like the light.
He hides in the dark and whispers in my ear.

He's very convincing, right at this moment,
he's on my shoulder telling me:
"No one will read your second blog post, you just had beginners luck....."
"Everyone took pity on you, that's why they visited or commented......"
 
"You're getting too big for your boots. You know what happens to tall poppies....."

"Best throw in the towel now, before you make a fool of yourself!!"
 
"You live in a small town and everyone you know is laughing behind your back, right now!!"

Oh! he so KNOWS how to press my buttons. You get the picture.....
I'm guessing you've also heard these whispers,
I'm guessing you've got your own Gibblewort.  
Your own Fear Gremlin.  Your own Inner Critic.

If you've read any of the Gibblewort books,
you'll be familiar with his style of adventure. 
Even the other goblins get jack of him and ship him off.
And so, too, I get jack of MY Gibblewort.
 
Some days he wins.
 
I give in.
 
 I don't follow that dream, that hunch, that gut feeling or that yearning. 
And then I reside in a town called REGRET.
It often all comes back to bite me on the bum and rub my nose in it!! 
I imagine you've visited there, at some stage too?
I'm sure my Fear Gremlins skips away, 
 snorting and snickering as he rubs his grotty-warty hands together all smug....

But other days I win.
I DON'T give in.
I STAND my ground.
I FOLLOW that heart's desire, that gut feeling.
Some days it might be a fight to the death between 'ole Gibblewort and myself,
rolling and tussling on the ground with hair-pulling thrown in for good measure.
He doesn't go quietly!
Some days, I may argue 'til I'm blue in the face,
winning in a war of words, rather than fists.
Some days, I simply stand my ground and refuse to budge an inch.
Refusing to listen to his barrage of abuse.
Some days, I'm sneakier....
 and wait until he's preoccupied picking the grime from under his fingernails,
 I slink past,
then I run like a spooked fox sprung in the chook pen.
Some days, I invite him in for a cuppa and a biccie and a civilised chat. 
 
 
Oh, he whinges about the tea being too weak,
the biccies too hard,
and the cushion too soft,
 but sometimes.....sometimes, he listens,
throws his hands in the air and says;
 "Why do I bother, you'll do what you want anyway!"

 
These are the days I feel taller. 
These are the days I feel wiser.
These are the days I feel stronger.
These are the days I feel braver.
 These are the days I follow my Inner Wisdom. 
These are the days I follow my hunch, my feelings, my heart's yearnings, my dreams.....
These are the days that I decide 
"Yes I will frame that painting I put my heart and soul into and hang it in the exhibition
in a week's time while the framer is 2 1/2 hrs drive away
and it's all a crazy, mad dash!" (phew)
 
 
Or the times I decide 
"Yes I will offer my paintings to a Doctor's surgery to display and sell even thought they are
6 hours away and framing and transport are a nightmare." (phew)

Or the times I decide: 
"Yes I will accept that offer to co-ordinate a collaborative  public art project in time for a
state wide conference on a crazy deadline." (phew)
Or today when I decided:  "Stop fussing with this post, and just press the 'publish' button."
(Are you seeing a pattern here? I am. Hmmmmmm....)
 
That's when I beat the Fear Gremlin. 
That's when Gibblewort hides in the shadows mumbling to himself
 that next time he'll stop me,
next time he'll protect me from myself.
See he's only trying to protect me. 
Poor thing,
he thinks he's doing the right thing with his 'tough love'. 
 

He's trying to stop me going out into the jungle, by myself,
 to be eaten by the tiger he imagines is lurking, waiting to get me. 

He hasn't stopped to LOOK at me,
really LOOK at how I've grown. 
He thinks I still need his protection.
Sure, sometimes I probably do need to think things through from every angle,
to prevent me making a silly decision that really could end me in strife. 

But I AM a big girl now and can make my own mind up. 
And hey, if we don't take risks, if we don't experience failure or disappointment,
how do we learn?
How do we grow?
How do we develop the courage to try again?

See, now when I stop and look inside,
listen to that Inner Wisdom,
really LISTEN....

I AM BRAVE enough to press the "publish" button.
I AM BRAVE enough to share my thoughts with the Whole Big Wide World.

I AM BRAVE enough to show the world my art, my photographs, my words.....

I AM BRAVE enough to be, ME.

29 comments:

  1. My apologies, one photo is not appearing in the published blog, but is appearing in my preview and some of the font isn't correct. No idea why, but I'm letting go of the perfectionist in me that wants to pull this blog post and not publish until I work it out, but hey, that could be never. So I'm putting on my Birl-Girl-Undies (as my dear friend Jane would recommend and leaving it up with the wee errors anyway). I trust you'll still enjoy.....

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  2. awesome post... and if you write it they will come... and tell that gremlin to take a big hike... what does he know!!!! the photos are stunning and match your words so perfectly
    love to you
    T xx

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    1. Thanks oh dear BB,so pleased you enjoyed it. Did you see the photo I took of the teapots for you got a gurnsey in this post. Matching the photos seems to take me forever............must organise them a tad better I think! (another 'to do' list job. lol) xox

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  3. Melissa, it is exactly perfect the way it is! Lovely photos and the posting is so eloquent -- it would make a wonderful children's book! You are such a lucky, lucky woman to bear such talent in so many areas. I'm blessed that you decided to share some with the world.
    xx

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    1. Oh sweet Michelle,thanks so VERY much for such beautiful, supportive words.I am blessed to have 'met' you through Arouse. xx

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  4. Melissa, You speak to my heart and of my own inner critic : ) They can be so loud and overbearing!! Love this, your writing is wonderful!!!

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    1. Dearest Tami, thankyou so very much. I feel very 'wordy' whereas you seem to be able to say so much with so few words. I guess we are all very different in the way we express ourselves, that is part of the magic. So pleased this resonated with you, and thanks for the support. xx

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  5. Melissa: This is a fabulous post. Your inner gremlin would know my inner judge well. You are incredibly talented and yor post is perfect as is. xo Tanya

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    1. Ahh Tanya, I think they would probably sneak out for a quick coldie together when no-one was looking and compare stories about us!! lol. Pleased you enjoyed the post and it struck a chord with you. Thanks for the lovely comments. xx

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  6. You wonderful Melissa are a very big inspiration in my life :) Thank you for hitting the publish button!

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    1. Awwww dear Jill, it is mutual, completely mutual. Thanks for supporting me so. xx

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  7. AHHHH! Between the move, the trip and launching things it took me forever to get here but HERE I am and HERE I will stay. What an exquisite space you have created!! I LOVE this post - your honesty is inspiring. You need only kick that gremlin and tell him you are filled with magic because you are and every time you share it you change the world around you for the better! LOVE your images and the way they dance with your words!!

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    1. Gosh Natasha, I'm blushing, afterall you are the wordsmith I am in awe of!! so very honoured that you squeezed in the time to have a peek and to comment too. Your word and intention of "LIMITLESS" inspired me to launch last month,as I mentioned before, but I'll say it again for the world to see!!xx

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  8. Melissa- love you, love your energy, your courage, your inspiration- love your expression through writing, too- my gremlins actually a very cute troll- he is sneaky with his cuteness- he is comfortable- interesting both of ours are "male"-

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    1. Whinnie, my love, I just adore that we have so much in common! Maybe your troll and my gremlin have a secret 'boys club' they hang out in together and complain about us!! lol. Thanks so VERY much for the love and support and kind words. xx

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  9. Whew! What a dance you have with your gremlin. He even got you to apologize in the comments. :) So glad you got this second post out. I love all the pictures to go with your beautiful words. I think so many of us can relate and are happy to hear your story. (applause here)

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    1. Jennifer you just made me laugh out aloud for real!!!! I hadn't noticed that the gremlin got me being all apologetic in the comments! I am so pleased the post resonated with you. The more we shine our Light on our gremlins the more they shrivel away!!xx

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  10. Nothing looked amiss to me. I really enjoy hearing about your human-ness. It helps me to feel better about my own. Ty.

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    1. Thank you very much Myra for visiting my infant blog and for taking the time to comment. I agree, the more we open ourselves up to sharing the more we realise we aren't so different afterall and the more compassion we can have for each other.xx

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  11. Aw love... Thank you for sharing, you are definitely striking chords. :) and OHhhh that perfectionism... boy can I relate on that level. So glad you hit publish... so glad you realised how brave you are♥

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    1. Ah my sweet, sweet Charlie, YOU are part of the reason I decided to write "my story" and for me being brave enough to hit 'publish'. You are a guiding light, my dear friend. xx

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  12. awesome post M...damn that gremlin but you'll sort him out ;) glad you hit publish, you've given me strength to deal with mine!

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    1. Oh Karen, reading your words fills me with total joy!! You are SO talented, you must share you gorgeous photography with the WHOLE world, to not do so would be a crime!! So send your gremlin to hide under the covers with mine for a week or two and go "Just Do It" as they say. xx

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  13. Just.
    Freakin'.
    Beautiful.

    I want to hug you for this.

    Beautiful.

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  14. Oh gosh Lisa. . You don't know how much your comment means to me.

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  15. I know the goblin of which you speak quite well - he is doing a happy dance on my not so happiness at the moment, but he will NEVER win.

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    1. Ah Jeanie, that's the spirit!! Send yours over here, I'll lock him in a box with mine for a few days and they can grumble together about the two of us and leave you in peace for a wee while. xx

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  16. Go Melissa! Well said, and I'm so happy to see your blog!

    (Lisa Griffen)

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