Own your creativity. Or at least, flying-cross-body-press it.

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I have a creative soul. Creative talent can usher immeasurable blessings while simultaneously giving you the flying head-scissors.

I started my blog as a writing practice. It led to what professionals might call “creative self-discovery” and feels much like el tornillo; a flying cross-body press with a full twist around the axis.

Instead of giving out wardrobe advice, or re-posting my networking tips, I’d like to wish you Feliz Dia del BlogHer ‘12 by sharing my Lucha Libre moves for owning your creativity.

Become a luchador (fighter), not a referee. You can’t fight while you referee someone else’s match. Morning traffic reporters in Chicago call it gapers’ delay when traffic jams stem not from an accident, but instead from all the rubber-necking. Envy, jealousy, and spite stem from your resistance to doing your own work. Picture envy, jealousy and spite as las minis estrellas and give them la guillotina (leg drop those midget wrestlers!). You might need to facebook-stalk for a respectable amount of time and churros-fortify, but then break the gapers’ delay and return to la lucha, campeon! Go fight, Champion! Write something or take a photo or call a friend who makes you feel muy bien.

Get in el quadralitero (ring). Want to be published? Write and submit, write more, submit more! Want to speak at a conference or on air? Submit a proposal, keep pitching. You want a book deal? Write the book (or the proposal). Wish you had a column? Make contacts and keep pitching—in the meantime write the column on your blog. Ask your favorite coffee shop if you can invite some friends and read some of your favorite posts. Start your own blog community or online magazine with your blog peers. Don’t wait for a hand-engraved wrestling speedo–Make your own opportunities.

Take off la mascara (mask) once in a while. In 2008 I deemed annsrants a humor blog. Today I’m Mexican wrestling about creativity. If I only write funny here for every single post, invariably I grow uneven and begin despising this space. And believe me, when I’m uneven it really screws up my flying Centon. So occasionally I shimmy out of the humor mask, I wear la cabellera (just my hair) instead of the mask. If you write a fashion blog I hope you do a sweat suit giveaway on occasion. If you write a cooking blog, I hope you also photograph Taco Bell night. If you write a happiness blog, I hope you have a toll free number and a safety plan. Take off the mask, we want to see your face.

Own it. I had to go into therapy for this one. Why can’t I just blog for fun like a normal person? I asked shortly after I began blogging. Why do I have to take everything national? I felt embarrassed—ashamed—at feeling so goal-driven, and at needing and wanting to accomplish so much.  I struggled with my unexpressed potential, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I just knew that for me blogging didn’t fit the “for fun” or “hobby” check boxes. My therapist said, that’s because for you this is professional—you’re building a career. Sure, my inner-critic said “HA Career, HA if you’re talented enough, HA if you ever make any money,” but my therapist’s explanation made sense, and my soul nodded yup. I started owning my creative ambition and found other people proudly wearing theirs’ as sequined capes. We started saying our dreams out loud and stuff started happening. Then I started a show and…well, took it national.

One move at a time. Yes you too can perfect both the rana (frog) and the jaula (cage), but one at a time. Pick one or two dreams or goals and devote yourself—announce them out loud with your voice, and to your trusted people. You have to own it to make it happen, and you can’t achieve everything all at once. And then…

Become El Rudo (a brute). Say no, relentlessly. The moment you own your dream and name it, the universe will test you with that Sew Perfect you wanted for Hanukkah in 1980: Want to write for our awesome site you would have killed to write for up until this exact moment? Here’s a job opening for a position you wanted 6 months ago! Mexican wrestling is fun, but your BFF wants you to run a marathon! It will happen and it will test your resolve, and nothing feels more satisfying than prioritizing yourself and your batalla (battle) over everything for the first time.

Establish the rules. Define your goal and how you get there. Create benchmarks so you can measure your progress. I don’t recommend elusive goals like become popular or get discovered by an agent and land a book deal because they make passive waiting/hoping goals. Make them active by defining what popularity means—a certain number of followers? An impressive bio?—and outlining your steps to get there (giveway, guest posts? facebook ad?). See also: do your work, write the book.

Your blog and social media are sus amigos, not El Jefe (the boss). For 99% of us, the blog will never bring fame nor especially not fortune. As soon as you view your blog and online presence as a friend or tool toward a greater goal rather than the goal itself, you can stop obsessing over how many people read and follow you, how many comments you get, who retweets you and who doesn’t. Put all that wasted energy back toward your goal, your path—la lucha! Make a list of why you keep blogging/your presence online and revisit it when you tire of la batalla (battle.)

Find your Capitan. Find a mentor, a writing group, your trusted people—Parejas Increibles Incredible pairings, heels teaming up with faces! Surround yourself with other professionals who challenge you to grow, while supporting you along your journey. Sometimes these people emerge after you make your goal public. Other times they happen because you pay them for their consultation. Yes, you deserve it.

Rest and wash your uniform. Read books on real paper, exercise that chair butt beyond the swivel. Make room in your head. Actively seek inspiration (artistic, spiritual, edible—whatever works for you).

Breathe. Practice patience–my hardest work. Trust that your journey is unfolding as it should—that you have exactly the information you need and only the info you need when you need it. If you don’t know what your goal is, keep doing the work and trust the answer to reveal itself. I keep Melody Beattie and Pema Chodron books by my bedside, and loving people surrounding me. I seek out mentorship professionally and privately. Sometimes I meditate. Patience makes the true lucha libre for me—the free fight—because when I stop fighting against patience I feel free. But I also need to keep fighting for my creativity to feel free.

Some people are born into extended wrestling families. Some people are born to contribute creativity. Own it, use it, and–whatever you do–don’t skimp on your mask designer.

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If you’re going to BlogHer this week, please join Listen To Your Mother at our Open Mic Salon on Friday night from 8-10 pm.

Also, I’m leading a small-group workshop at 11:00 am on Saturday for the Writing Lab called “Copyediting Clinic: How to Tighten Your Prose” Flabby prose obscures your meaning and dulls your impact. Tightened prose: BAM! Bring questions and, if you like, your own prose for tightening.While the pre-reserved slots are filled, they do save a few spots you can sign-up for day of.

See you in NEW YORK CITY!