October Origins - Inner Demons

This is part of a month long challenge suggested by Ponty Cyclops where we explain through the magic of blip what formed us to make us the fine community we are today.

I've gone for a slightly less upbeat take today as I will be talking about our Inner Demons. Don't worry, my demons are pretty low in the pecking order, more goblin than demon, more likely to occasionally poke you with a stick rather than wake you screaming from night terrors. And all fully formed people should experience moments of self doubt and anxiety. Otherwise we would be a nation of George Osbournes or Peter Mandelsons. *shudder* (By the by, I heard a description of Mandy as having 'all the moist satisfaction of a cat doing his business'. Perfect.)

So, while I am generally a cheerful cove, my inner demons do occasionally visit with a bout of depression. It's something the women on one side of the family have all suffered from at some point. This time it's come with an extra gift of writer's block. A colleague recommended a self-help book for this which is terribly airy-fairy but has some really useful exercises. One is to personify the inner voice which says, 'I can't', find a cartoon, picture or draw one yourself and draw a cross through it, then display it where you work. I'm pretty pleased with this as I generally can't draw for toffee (there's one of those 'can'ts' again!) I've chosen to symbolise the old women who lived on my childhood estate. It was unusual as it was mostly inhabited by an elderly population with very few children. We were considered scandalous anyway: my mother was a very young, attractive single mum in an era when divorce was still uncommon. She did have a string of gentlemen callers - men love my mother's company and she likes them so I can't say I blame her. Anyway, there was a certain section of the estate (not all, I remember some lovely people who opened their doors to us) who made it their duty to judge, complain and gossip about us. Obviously, my inner demon is made up of lots of different people's voices but I thought this one was a good place to start.