Slay Your Emotional Vampires

By Jenna Pastuszek

It’s 2017, y’all. Welcome to the future. And we here at Innovative Voice Studio think it’s time  to get rid of some of that excess emotional baggage that’s weighing you down as a person, as a  singer, and as an ARTIST! 

Today, we’re talking about EMOTIONAL VAMPIRES aka the people and things that (consciously  or not) drain you of life- that suck the proverbial blood from your soul. You know what we’re  talking about- that dreaded survival job where it takes every ounce of strength to just SHOW  UP each day; the roommate who always leaves CHEESE crusted dirty dishes in the sink; that  busted printer that ALWAYS needs an ink refill when you need to print last minute sides as  you’re rushing out the door; that guy on Tinder who keeps sending you WINKing emojis but  won’t respond to your messages with actual text. These people and things and circumstances  are weighing you down!! According to the DailyOm, these VAMPIRES are potentially causing  you to feel chronic anxiety and/or depression. No wonder that backpack you carry around  everyday feels so heavy! 

So what do we do?! 

Gods and Monsters says that there are five ways to effectively get rid of a vampire.

1. With Sunlight 

2. With a Stake 

3. With Silver 

4. With Fire 

5. Tear it’s Head Off 

We don’t generally advocate for violence here at IVS, so let’s concentrate on number  1. SUNLIGHT! You can use the old “Kill ‘em with kindness” motto to your advantage here.  Surround yourself with positive, light, energized, happy people and things that make YOU feel  that way. If one of your VAMPIRES happens to be your mother (no offense, mom), you cannot  simply kill her with a stake. BUT you can choose to wait to call her back until after your audition  or until after you’ve had a coffee with a hilarious friend from college. With the messy  roommate situation, maybe have a group discussion and decide it’s worth it for all of your  mental sanities to either be better about cleaning up as a whole or have a profesh  from Handy come over and clean your apartment once a month. Spin things positively- be a  problem solver (like BUFFY!) instead of slowly melting into a pile of negativity and despair. And  whenever possible, completely remove or reduce the effects of the vampires in your life by  spending more time in the light and less time watching them lurk in the dark. 

Your singing and your backpack will thank you. :-)