The Pot Calling The Kettle Black

{The Pot Calling The Kettle Black- Something you say that means people should not criticise someone else for a fault they have themselves.}

"Bless your enemy, and you rob him of his ammunition. His arrows will transmute into blessings." ~Florence Scovel Shinn

[Revised: 2022] 

[Preface: This post is my subjective opinion. I was quiet for a long while, and I feel it is vital to share my experiences and be an example for other women to feel comfortable coming forward to share their familiarities. I write for educational purposes, not for disparaging or harmful reasons beyond to share what I have learned and to bring a new perspective in encouragement along the way. We all have personal opinions and are entitled to feel what we feel. Too often, women sit in silence for trepidation of judgment. This deep-seated unhealing turns to resentment and inward loathing. Let us not do that to ourselves, for we are beautiful Mermaid Goddesses. 

I feel entirely indifferent towards Jenny Woods (aka Guinivere Von Sneeden) as of today. I am sure many adore her, as I did once. However, after several incidents, my experience with her soured. I have since updated this post as I see fit.]

The particular occurrence that I am about to speak on happened over six plus years ago, and whereas I have grown immensely, I wanted to spend some time describing the situation. This post is my bid to share how we all have lovely aspects about ourselves as people; however, when our subconscious beliefs begin to give rise to the surface, and someone touches on our wounds, things go awry. That is unless we correct it through healing ourselves. I also thought going into depth from the psychological perspective would better shed light on understanding ourselves. For example, when someone begins a friendship, then that like turns to dislike; it can twist to delusion and sometimes hatred if we aren't careful. In addition, I want to explain why we become angry when bitterness invades our nervous system. We all react/behave in varying degrees when faced with an uneasy circumstance and fall into one of several trauma responses to threats depending on how we survived our childhood damage. Fight: facing any perceived threat aggressively. Flight: running away from danger. Freeze: unable to move or act against a threat. Fawn: immediately working to please to avoid any conflict.

Initially, and throughout my life, I was a flight person; however, after working intensely on myself over many years, I have become well balanced in stabilisation and no longer react. I respond, {there's a vast difference between those two words}. Our reactions to circumstances stem from unhealthy internal subconscious beliefs that create an imbalance in our nervous system. A person with low self-worth and an insecurities in their self-concept are prone to being irrational when one hasn't healed or curated new beliefs on a subconscious level. Many folks live this way all their lives. Initially, when I wrote this post, I wrote with a tongue full of acid rain. I wanted to update this post because I have since healed and gained new self-concept beliefs and see it as a beneficial topic to teach. I want this to help inspire others to learn why these situations arise and why some things that occur never heal but only perpetuate and ingrain our negative beliefs hardening deeper into the subconscious. Another reason for my updating this article is that I will continue reminding others that I desire to teach from my scars, not my wounds. We are continually resonating in (mind) states. Furthermore, darlings, we all know that to be defeated is quite middle-class. 

There be sea witches disguised as friends, and I learned this when I was badgered online by an artist and her {at the time} 34 thousand followers/friends on Instagram. Many of these friends she sent to attack me online and made it abundantly clear they were into black magick and witchcraft. I suppose they tried to intimidate me with the folly of witchery. Many folks know this woman by the name of Guinivere Von Sneeden. Her real name is Jenny Woods/Sneeden. Today she's changed her handle name many times and has several accounts. I found her account on Instagram around the year 2012. I had just begun my account. Guinivere and I would share gardening and farming and chat about art. I even purchased several of her "little ladies" paintings. We often talked in the comments, and I thought we were developing a budding friendship. She has since changed her profile many times and now lives in England. I have been blocked for years by her and only know of her circumstances because I have dear friends that continue to follow her art and personal accounts. 

I feel (at the time) that Jenny represents many women on Instagram. These women have charming accounts and seemingly appreciate everyone that follows them; however, behind the charade, there's a very unkind aspect of that person with deep-seated insecurities that they cloak beneath a veil. Though, these insecurities ultimately reveal themselves. I met up with Guinivere because she was my reflection at the time of my beliefs about myself. Everyone is "you pushed out".

Have you ever read Fairie Magazine? Once upon a time (from my connection to Weeki Wachee springs and formally a mermaid) was friends with the owner of Fairie Magazine, but because of her friendship with Guinivere, she stopped speaking to me and blocked me on Instagram. (I will note on that score that I realised I created all of this turmoil because of my insecurities). We mirrored each other. Guinevere  has her art published in Fairie magazine quite often. When Jenny was much newer and just beginning her artistry (after she left work at the airport), I liked her art when she painted with actual watercolours. She has since taken to digital paints from a computer which I don't personally favour. I want the real thing, not digital art. 

I'm bringing this topic up presently because, at the time, I was yet to experience the many viscitudes that taught me about life and to be quite honest, I didn't dare to stand up for myself. However, I have now released this experience from my conscious awareness, and it feels quite healing and liberating. 

"The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy." Florence Scovel Shinn

I tend to drag out an episode, so let me get on and tell you how this event resurfaced and why I'm speaking about it now after six years. A bit ago, I thought about when I would have the most to say and attempt to make a point; It was because I was hurting, and I constantly reacted. I also thought that since I teach mindest work, I know when someone makes an abnormal deal out of something insignificantly small, it means there must be some issue looming with the person throwing the darts. People can hide and disguise themselves on social media, making for a nice cloaked veneer. As a result, we only see the appealing aspects of what someone wants to show us. I enjoy the aesthetic of life and what makes the world so lovely. To only show the beautiful things I find refreshing. I attempt to do similarly, for the most part; however, I am multi-dimensional being (as we all are), and only showing one aspect of ourself creates division and inauthenticity. 

Furthermore, being one dimension is not truth or reality. When someone passes by my blog, I go in-depth, and you realise I have had not always had such flowery and lovely things occur, and that can be a bit of a manoeuvre to try and speak of ghastly occurrences with a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed observation. 

Nevertheless, I do my best and feel beholden to myself and others. My mission is to create lovely gentle feelings by using my wordsmith abilities. I know this world has a greater purpose: for all of us to understand we are one.

I was going through some old journals while seeking the research information I had jotted down for my next novel, {Deceit and Dissension} and that's where I came upon several of my diary entries about the experience at the time with Guinivere and her friends bullying me. It had me quite upset at the time, so now that the dust has settled for me, I wanted to teach about it in a healthy environment. 

As previously stated, Guinivere had her sorcery friends harass me with all types of life and career threats, claiming to have placed spells on me, saying they knew where I lived and creating voodoo doll chants. I thought it was entirely silly because witchcraft doesn't have the power to work when one doesn't believe, which I do not; furthermore, I would never align with that type of wizardry; therefore, we were not equally yoked. What these characters didn't understand is that whatever one does with malicious intentions creates a karmic debt towards themselves (if the recipient in the target would never descend to that state). That is the beauty of laws in this realm. At the time, it bothered me quite a bit. The magic didn't frighten me; It was the outright meanness and rejection from someone I thought was a friend or at least the potentiality of a friend. I thought, why on earth would Guinivere have others do her bidding? We could have ironed out the discord if she had simply addressed me straightforwardly instead of sending in the white walkers.

Goodwill produces a great aura of protection about the one who is the recipient, and no weapon formed against him shall prosper. In other words, love and goodwill destroy the enemies within oneself; therefore, one has no enemies on the external. There is an old saying that man only dares use his words for three purposes, to heal, bless and prosper. What man says of others will be said of him, and what he wishes for another, he wishes for himself. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. If a man wishes someone terrible luck, he will surely attract bad luck. If he wishes to aid someone to success, he is wishing and benefiting himself. 

There's a point when malice ceases to be amusing. I did not appreciate the excessiveness of how many times they collectively got together and reported my Instagram account, my Facebook, Etsy, and my blog, also sending me threatening emails. Etsy and my blog were my livelihoods at the time, and they kept trying to get them closed down. They constantly hounded me and spammed my comment section on my blog with disgusting remarks. In the end, though, I found myself powerless and left Instagram for a time and later had to recreate numerous accounts. Once my new accounts from the hashtags appeared on the discovery page, it started up again. I finally decided to report their accounts for bullying. That occurred several times. After I dispatched their accounts to Instagram, it stopped. I looked at where I had sewn the seeds of this harvest. I believe I know when it happened, but one can never be sure of every solitary circumstance. We are humans and fallible and also quite forgetful in what we are admitting at all times into the universe. This example is why I constantly admonish that when seeds are sown by not following the golden rule (do unto others as you would have done to you), they will always return to the sender seventy times seventy. I very clearly own this responsibility. I have learned to focus on my thoughts and their direction.

After reading those journal entries from six years ago, I decided to do minor anthropology digging on Guinevere Von Sneeden. Oh, my, what I uncovered is quite telling. The same person who once shamed me for causing her grief, rendering her incapable of painting, was performing the distinct aspect with Kelly Judd aka Swanbones on Instagram. Guinevere said I had stolen her joy of artistry. Are you curious why she was so upset with me and what exactly I had done? I was inspired by how she used to paint the mouths of her little ladies. She would focus solely on forest and floral themes (and the occasional mermaids) for issues of the Fairie magazine publication concentrated on mermaids. I didn't copy her art. I was inspired by her art, and I'm stunned by any artist that doesn't understand this principle. As she claimed I had done to her, mirroring her art is very much the exact thing she was doing to the artist named Kelly Louise Judd, aka., Swanbones. I used to follow Kelly and began noticing the near same type of art coming from Guinivere. 

Guinevere asserted I was duplicating her art which she claimed I was making her depressed, unable to paint and stifling her creativity for the craft. She claimed so intensely, in fact, that she could not paint and was very distressed about it to the point that she changed her Instagram account many times and then went private for a while. Discern how she was not accepting the responsibility of her affairs and positioned all her internal issues by projecting them onto me? Her words, I was hindering her from painting. It is vital more now than ever for everyone to accept accountability for ones life. This article is not a victim post of my torment, nor will I accept responsibility for issues that other folks possess. I have tried to write with empathy. Perhaps she was under an evil spell. I now hold all of the power. I took back control, stood firm and was brave in facing difficulties. I also accept my portion of the incident. Be mindful that we are God-like beings and have all the abilities with our wonderful human imagination.  

Today, I have worked through those emotional motivations; however, I wanted to write/revise this post because I care about wanting to share with you, my dear readers, as a way to manage navigation through experiences we all struggle with at times in our lives.

I shall refrain from the dialogue of providing you with the gritty elements of how similar Guinivere and Kelly's work is as it's as plain as the nose on my face. Guinevere would significantly benefit from the book by Austin Kleon titled Steal Like An Artist.

In some form or another, all artists are taking inspiration from others.

Gathering inspiration from others is not a violation or something to be ashamed of but rather courageous. To find a hero and emulate them is how the artistry trees of genius keep growing and branching out.

Kelly's art inspired Guinivere; however, that's not where I took issue. Instead, I took issue with her holding me to a creative crime that I never once committed.

After this encounter, I took all avenues to have all of my work copyrighted and trademarked.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."- Hamlet

The news has flooded with many celebrities that claim to have been bullied by others online, and we now see that they are themselves, bullies. So the next time someone accuses you of something they most oftentimes are the culprit of the same thing and most likely struggle in their life. Nevertheless, they love to take evil delight by projecting it in your direction. This can be a beautiful opportunity to self-check to see from where this belief stems. When we understand ourselves, we are more capable of healing our hearts, and that's the only objective. Smile, all is well, dear friends. This is terrific news. 

So today, instead of saying that the pot is calling the kettle black, I thank Jenny for highlighting my deep-seated, insecure self-concept. That experience created an enormous shift in my life.

And lastly, before ending this article, I wanted to add one more element. I sincerely meant for this post to shed light in hopes that we all achieve a bit of growth from self-exploration. I tried to use spritely turns of phrases to bring forth a gentle, loving notion while teaching. I appreciate folks who also share their viewpoints without being shouty and self-righteous. I find insincerity and teachers with a dictatorship authoritarian nature off-putting and out of touch. I've been upfront with you, dear hearts, about my past and the difficulties I have struggled with along the way, and I will continue to do so. Again I am indeed thrilled to bits that for over a year now, I have had long-lasting friendships. Thank goodness these days I am in such a happy Take Joy place and to have finally healed from the childhood trauma that followed me for decades in regards to female connections.

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx