testing testing

What are your coping strategies when things go wrong or become so frustrating that you want to throw the whole project out of the window?

I'm still in the throes of producing my workshop for 21 Secrets but the technology has been beset by gremlins this week.  Error messages keep appearing, work won't save, I can't find files.

Apparently, Mercury is in retrograde and this affects such things.  I just know it's frustrating, whatever might be causing these problems.

Yesterday, having burst into tears, I walked away from the laptop and down to my studio. The paint flowed and the world turned the right way up again.

The technical problems are still there today.  Frustration abounds but I know I can go and make art and feel better.  

My other coping mechanisms are: 

• ask my technical, left brained son for help (I don't know what I'd do without him)
• going for a walk
• put some music on
• go and do something different - anything - bake a cake, clean, dance round the kitchen
• talk to the cat (she doesn't know anything about technology but she makes me happy). 

What do you do when you are working on something,whatever it is, and nothing seems to be going right?  

Let me know in the comments box, I do love to hear from you

From my heart to yours

Rachel xox

dancing with the gremlins

Oh dearest ones - I've got something big coming up, something huge (for me), something I can't share with you yet. But what I will share is my crisis of confidence. It's a while since this happened quite this badly, but apparently it seems the bigger the challenge, the bigger the crisis. Have you found this to be so?

The gremlins are HUGE, the critic's voice so LOUD...what to do in order to step out of the paralysing fear they induce?

My favoured method to deal with the gremlins (or critics or whatever you want to call them) is the good old art journal. How did I get through my life crises before I knew art journaling?!!

There are lots of ways to do this but I like to start with a coloured paint surface and then, using a nice glittery pen, write a letter to my gremlins telling them exactly what I think of them. How dare they treat me like this? Calling me small and telling me not to get too excited, not to mention questioning my very existence!

Once I've done journaling and my gremlins have left the building I invite my goddesses in and let the page become their own.

How do you deal with your gremlins? What do you do when your critic starts whispering in you ear?

I would love to know because I might use your method next time!  Please do leave me a message below.

From my (now) positive heart to yours

Rachel xox

ps If you liked this post, don't forget to share, just click on 'share this article' to find the usual icons...