The cover art for 'Trollhunters' (I do not, obviously, own this image)
Being a TROLLHUNTER
Recently my friends and I have been watching a Netflix original series called ‘TROLLHUNTERS’. One dull evening my friends and I, a little tiddlyly, decided to binge on the obscure cartoon which has now become a great source of amusement for all of us. Early on in the series the young hero is taught the 3 golden rules of troll hunting. I am going to now bestow this wisdom upon you.
The 3 Rules of Trollhunting:
1. Always be afraid – fear heightens the senses; a fearless warrior is a dead warrior!
2. Always finish a foe – does this really need explaining?
3. Kick them in the ‘Gronk-nuts’ – hit them where the, ack-hmn, sun don’t shine
Now one of the perks of having a loud, earth-churning brain whose primary function appears to be to philosophize random trivialities that cross my wanderings, is that sometimes my brain will correlate things that appear to have no correlation. In this case, Trollhunters and life lessons.
From the 3 Rules of Trollhunting, I have extracted 3 less obvious meanings:
1. Always be afraid – Never let your own self-assuredness get in the way, it can be a thin line between confident and cocky. It’s true that fear of immediate danger etc heightens the senses and other sciencey stuff but I guess anxiety and even panic (when they’re not being a personal hinderance!) can be wielded as great motivators. How often have you pulled something out of the bag last minute simply because you had to?
2. Always finish a foe – Any task you undertake, do it until completion, even if it’s a real ‘foe’ of a task! Talent is nothing without determination. The older I get the more I realise my Mum was right every time she told me this, I listened but I often wish I’d acted!
3. Kick them in the ‘Gronk-nuts’ – When life get in the way, don’t hesitate, attack the weak spots and don’t be afraid to be a little viscous (side note, this is the last rule for a reason, being vicious with your approach is not always the best strategy…). This rule always makes me think of honey badgers… a few years ago I read an article about a man who was fitted with an artificial penis when he lost it too a honey badger… vicious I know, but imagine being that small but ferocious enough to do that… A good friend once said to me ‘when attacked by someone, or something bigger and stronger than you, you can’t be afraid to go a little phsyco, and that a little bit how I feel about life sometimes!
Now, I don’t know if my brain just though these things or if I’ve just really bought into the shows subtext, but I do know that my brain works best in metaphors, music and rhymes, and finding pictures like these in every day things helps me to make sense of a Tourettey brain.
I once spent 2 weeks of therapy referring to my ability to deal with my head and things that have happened as my ‘sassy handbag’ together my therapist and I filled the ‘handbag’ with ‘essentials’ (other purse themed items with underlying metaphors and convoluted meanings). It may sound like the therapy equivalent of teaching kids to share using a picture book about a greedy monkey, but it worked for me. By detaching myself from thoughts and re-picturing them as objects or beings with physical presence, I can deconstruct the concept and either validate or disregard it. This helps me keep my thoughts (the ones I want) and the other thoughts separate.
Keeping an ‘organised’ head is one of the only ways I have coped with my Tourette’s, although I do sometimes wonder if I am too aware of myself, introspectively… ironically enough. But enough of that, if you teeter on the edge of introspective gloom, eventually you’ll fall in…
So, back to Trollhunters and Gronk-nuts. The next couple of days hold an unknown for me. Tomorrow morning (or today if you are a sensible person and went to bed before I finished this!) the documentary I am in airs on BBC iplayer – BBC 3. I’m a little nervous to be honest, but I intend to approach it like a Trollhunter, with a little bit of fear, determination and general ferocious. I’m sure all will be well, either way, I’ll let you know!
The image for the upcoming documentary (i don't own this either)