The “You Piss Me Off!” Art Dolls - part 1

No more “Ms. Nice Guy”. The time had come to make some angry, ugly art dolls for a cathartic, therapeutic experience.

From time to time, in my otherwise happy life, people appear and really piss me off.

I know, this must be a shock to some of you, Dear Readers. But it is true.

This first fellow here, to our left is Mr. Liar Liar. I had a phone conversation with him in late October last year during which he told me lies. Lots of lies. Whoppers, really. Then he went away and told his boss lies about me. And maybe he told other people lies about me, I don’t know. Why? Because his job was at risk. As I turned the situation over in my mind, I realized I could do him a lot of damage if I revealed what I know about him. And he surely realizes it. And this is why he initiated the lying process.

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive.

-Sir Walter Scott

I considered wrapping Mr. Liar Liar up in a “tangled web”. When a person starts lying, they often have to keep it up and spin lie upon lie to keep up the charade. I think it must drain one of a lot of psychic energy to do this. You’d be constantly worried about being found out.

Mr. Liar Liar is squinting because he is scared to look you in the eyes when he lies. His mouth is dirty. He has “LIAR LIAR” pasted on his forehead and he bears a sign that states “I tell you lies and I lie to others about you.” His clothing is a strip of burlap (hessian) and there is a dirty scrap of paper wrapped up inside that states “My name is _____ and I’m imperfect and it doesn’t matter anymore.” I put the real guy’s name in the blank, of course.

Why did I write “It doesn’t matter anymore”? Because the whole point of this exercise is to GET OVER IT. Mr Liar Liar is not an important person in my life and I don’t need to think about his lack of integrity or feel the anger that it causes in me. It doesn’t matter anymore.

This is Inept, Blaming Man. He doesn’t ever want to look weak. He hates being shown up as wrong. He, unfortunately, isn’t terribly savvy about life and, because he’ll never admit this, he gets in a lot of arguments with people. He doesn’t listen to what they say and sometimes misses helpful information because he’s been so preoccupied with composing his defensive remarks.

Inept, Blaming Man and I had a phone conversation in December. I ended it by hanging up on him. I felt bad about it, I felt like a failure. My buttons were pushed and I wasn’t mature enough to let his insults roll over me. My own ego got in the way.

Hidden in his burlap wrappings is a note that reads “My name is ______ and I’m imperfect and it doesn’t matter anymore.”

And it doesn’t matter anymore. This guy is hardly a key figure in my life. Other people know what he is like and accept it and life goes on. My life goes on, too.

So here is the part of the process that I don’t much like but I really have to do.

If these two guys can SO get up my nose that I indulged in a little obsession about them, are they pointing out characteristics within myself that I find objectionable?

Where in my life am I being dishonest? Where in my life am I attempting to defer blame onto others, when I should be owning it myself?

Gulp.

My name is Stacey Apeitos and I am imperfect and it doesn’t matter anymore.

(This post relates to Art Dolls number 13 and 14, You Piss Me Off Dolls 1 and 2, February 08, by Stacey Apeitos.)