Do you know this situation? You meet someone and after the meeting you feel totally worn out, as if that person sucked all the energy out of you. I’m not talking about a friend in need who needs your help and support, and who will give you help and support back when you need it. After a meeting with a friend in need you will usually not feel worn out. I’m not talking about confronting and inspiring meetings either. The energy from those meetings usually goes to your own growth.
I’m talking about people who structurally seem to parasite on your energy, people who crawl under your skin, make you doubt about yourself, pulling the rug from under you. Artists are known to be very sensitive, often HSP, which makes them more sensible than others for this kind of people.
I guess you know by now exactly what kind of people I’m talking about. Usually the best advise would be to avoid them. Just that. There are reasons though why you might decide not to avoid them, maybe because you would have to quit your job or because it is a neighbor or a close family member.
Last year a neighbor threatened to sue me for a scratch at his car, after he almost run me over on my bicycle and I couldn’t avoid his car. I pass his house on my bicycle twice every day. He called in the police, and weeks later we heard that the police agreed with my story, backed up by three by-standers.
When I noticed the emotional, poisonous effect this guy had on me, I invented a very simple and funny way to mentally avoid him. I started to stick imaginary (!) pink hearts on his house, car, garden, everywhere, every time I was passing his house or car. He and everything associated with him was – imaginary – totally covered by my imaginary pink hearts. I choose for pink hearts because he seemed to miss love in his life.
Sounds childish? The pink hearts helped me to avoid this guy mentally, to stop the poisonous effect he had on me. In other occasions when I started to feel some poisonous effect, I used yellow rubber ducks (for more fun) or shamrock (for more luck). I’m sure that any very iconic symbol would do. I don’t see it as childish, it’s funny and it helps me to avoid poisonous people if I can’t avoid them, to put difficult situations into perspective.