The ‘Feminine’ Gremlin
MAMMA BEAR MODE
Strength? It is a profoundly feminine trait. Two weeks ago, I spoke about masculine energy, and today, I go into the feminine assets of life. This isn’t about gender in the Western sense, but rather, what I am learning as the counterpart to headstrong action - surrender.
This brings me to the insight I had this week. I had a tricky encounter with someone - the general notion is that we were misaligned on the vision for the project. When I was told by someone who isn’t familiar with my audience what the Gremlins want and that they aren’t deep or ready enough for certain topics made me angry. This is because I know I owe due diligence to artists who push culture forward and don’t dumb down their audience (aka Donald Glover, Andre 3000) and if I was the kind of person who deserved the truth, surely, there are others out there too? After our conversation, I got p i s s e d. How dare he ask me to dumb people down? Especially when he doesn’t interact or know our conversations. This leads me to the revelation - that feminine energy is also fierce. Feminine energy is the protective, angry energy that came up in me that is maternal and raging.
Lean, 74x98cm, 2018, Karimah Hassan
A few months ago, when I vowed to change the cadence of this newsletter and then humbly came back to writing weekly, I learnt only to let a Gremlin tell me what a Gremlin wants.
The gift? Strength. Feminine strength. The type that births humans and forgives oppressors.
In the encounter, an overwhelming maternal instinct kicked in, and I thought - “there is no way in hell I will dumb down my audience or make my message shallow for a play-by-play. No way. Ever.” At the moment of confrontation when a non-Gremlin told me what a Gremlin wanted, I found a maternal energy that I never met before. Fearless protection over the Gremlins and my authenticity = Feminine.
Clown Face, 98x74cm, 2018, Karimah Hassan
You see, at the top of this email, when I said surrender, you probably thought I meant to go with the flow, to love and hug and allow serendipity, right?
Yes, all are deeply feminine; however, letting go of control also means allowing a fierce, raging fire of protection and intuition to flow through.
From this encounter, I learned two lessons.
1- There are no shortcuts; I must create my path authentically.
2- I must make art that I want to watch. It has to resonate with my true self… avoid the temptation to pander to trends that will only look cringe when algorithms change.
And so. If you take anything from this short tale, let it be this.
Fearlessness isn't a hasty masculine charge into battle; it's deeply feminine. It's about feeling fear and transforming it through heart, voice, and sight into compassion, love, and humility. Fearlessness, in its truest form, embodies the feminine essence.
To Dip Your Toes In Both Worlds, 74x98cm, 2018, Karimah Hassan
Musings
Just watch the whole thing. I’m 1.5 hours in, with another hour to go and already, I could write five emails on this interview.
Even though Hormozi is an entrepreneur, he cites art many times - it's really interesting and helped me realise the ‘make art you want’ epiphany I wrote about above.
- Alex Hormozi & Chris Williamson Podcast
With love from the wild,
Karimah
