March Madness
How’s your March been?
The final week of March has been a WTF week - but I believe I tamed the lion and she’s purring at my feet!
The “in like a lion out like a lamb” might have been weather related, but it can also be very much an energy thing. March Madness may be college basketball, but it’s also an energy that we choose to engage with, or not.
When we think of energy, we look at our own, and what’s around us. How do we project our energy, while still honoring the energy that belongs elsewhere, and how do we make sure that energy that is NOT ours isn’t absorbed by us unintentionally?
Energy vampires are a real thing. Sometimes they know they are, and sometimes not. There is a madness in this energy that leaves you depleted, exhausted, and wondering what just hit you. Even when you KNOW it will affect you negatively. What to watch for? Self-centeredness. exaggeration, playing victim, not taking ownership of mistakes, blaming others and not taking responsibility, and the list goes on. The outcome is leaving you perplexed with a great deal of negative emotions.
Sound familiar?
Energy vampires are everywhere. Our industry is no different. Often, the arts make excuses for the energy vampire and they tend to seem like they thrive here. Take a moment: you’ve encountered one or more haven’t you? Social media also gives these energy vampires permission to thrive, due to its “look at me/influencer” mentality.
So, how do we protect our energy, and not be pulled into the madness?
Listen, I know about this and am still affected. It’s a constant balance, choice, decision. When we know better, we do better. And as the Baker’s Wife says after her encounter with the Prince in the woods, “what was that?”.
How do we look after our energy? How do we not get sucked in to the madness and drama to feed this kind of energy?
I wish I had the magic abracadabra I could share with you. Sometimes the madness is swirling around and catches you unawares. Once you know, it’s about making quick changes!
Boundaries. Once you know, you know. Create the boundary, the distance, the limitation. However that makes sense to you, do it.
Adjust your expectations. I try to find the good in people, and often that opens me up to being attacked. I refuse to let go of that innate part of MY energy, so I need to adjust my expectations accordingly.
Protect yourself. Energy vampires want your reaction. They need that. Don’t play into the game they are playing - whether it’s conscious or not. Keep it neutral. Shrug it off. Don’t give them the reaction they want. Don’t argue, don’t engage any more than is absolutely necessary. And, in real life, sometimes you simply have to walk away.
Thinking primarily about our industry, we have to stay pliable, vulnerable to the work, open to process, and the list goes on. Energy vampires thrive in these situations: from the holding room at an audition, to rehearsals, to being on stage, and even in the teaching or coaching studio.
The energy should be, in my opinion, about the work, about the process, about the space between, about the collaboration. We descend into madness, when we pull away from that energetic space and it becomes about the ego. This is a constant dance of staying present and keeping ourselves accountable.
So, pay attention to YOUR energy. Stay present in your interactions to check in on your emotions and your energy levels. Don’t ignore the red flags. Investigate them. Make clear decisions on how to handle them. Learn how to consciously walk into these spaces with boundaries and clarity of purpose. Learn how to consciously leave spaces that are not being served in a way YOU choose to live.
Here’s the thing about madness: it can swirl around you, but you don’t need to engage with it. Sometimes, just recognizing it, and saying “I see you” is enough for it to leave you alone. You then can walk by it, walk through it, and not take it with you.
with fondness & fierceness,
