The ‘Naive’ Gremlin:
I Listened to the Wrong Person
This is a reminder of the importance of discerning whom we listen to and the consequences that follow when we disregard our better judgment. Gremlins. I’m sorry. I made a mistake when I announced that I would write according to the lunar calendar. While it sounded right then, it was a messy solution to a deeper problem. Ultimately I listened to the wrong person when I should have listened to myself first.
‘Balinese Flowers’, Acrylic on Paper, 2023, Karimah Hassan
I NEED YOUR OPINION
I want to find ways to use this newsletter to offer something worth reading. I want to know if you prefer a long newsletter or a short one. Do you like pictures or text? Extensive quotes and poems or long articles? Please let me know. I want this newsletter to evolve and eventually expand into a column in a magazine such as iD, Vogue or Perfect or become a catalogue of references for a biography one day.
So, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
The Lesson
When someone suggested that I change the Gremlins newsletter and write less often, with fewer words and more ‘cosmic/faith’ content I listened. Swept up in the allure of this person’s promises and outlook, I absorbed their advice like a sponge.
I heard quickly because the person's intention was well-meaning - “How can we get you more subscribers, how can you cut the fat off your newsletter, and how can you reflect your spirituality more?”
The problem? HE WASN’T A GREMLIN!!!
I was too fast to listen to the feedback of someone who ISN’T IN THE ARENA.
I SHOULDN’T HAVE LET THE FEEDBACK OF A NON-GREMLIN CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE GREMLINS. Rookie.
The problem was that I had something good going on with the newsletter, and changing the cadence mainly affected me - I was still accumulating crazy experiences & lessons. Still, now with seemingly less space to share them, they were getting lost, and I was writing with intention less often. Secondly, the full moon and new moon are more energetic, meaning I was less hormonally stable to register and create output than I would have been if I’d worked according to the Gregorian calendar *interesting*.
A Voice or a Say?
Most of all, it comes down to the lesson of ‘IS YOUR OPINION A VOICE OR A SAY?’ A voice is an opinion that doesn’t dictate my actions. A say is an opinion that directs me.
I must become more strategic about the people I give a voice to and what is in my life. To live less like an excited puppy and more like a jaguar in stealth mode. Mmh. Yes.
That is it for this week.
Stay true, stay wild.
Karimah
