Category Archives: motivational

art, creativity, inspirational, motivational, passion, process

Are you a quitter?

May 4, 2016 Maria G

I’m not a quitter.

I could have begun something fabulous a long time ago, but I had zero belief that I could succeed. My passion is art and I have created art since I was a kid (on and off.) I always wanted to be an artist, but parents and society said, “artists starve.” That is a false statement but a common one.

You might not make much money on the art to begin with, and ingenuity is very important. When I haven’t made money on my art, I have found other ways to supplement my income without compromising my time to make art.

Sometimes the art making is hard. I feel all kinds of resistance, but I’ll tell you how I overcame that. I made the DECISION to create art, no matter what. Come hell or high water…

Not quitting now. It has become such a great part of my life that it would be inconceivable to quit.

I wish I had committed to it a long time ago by changing my belief system, but the hold of consensus beliefs can be very strong. Also, I didn’t have any tools to help me out like EFT, (tapping.) I have found tapping to be a great way to release old belief systems.

We are all mired in beliefs. What is your passion? Are you doing anything to manifest it? Taking steps every day is something that builds into a big accomplishment as long as we hold the course.

I love what I do so it’s not hard to commit to it. However, the art making in itself can be frustrating and confronting at times. Instead of quitting, I stick with it through the uncomfortable feelings. More often than not, something happens to take me beyond the frustration, and it’s almost a magical feeling when everything comes together.

With any creative process that calls out to you, do this:

*Commit (make the decision) to take your passion seriously.

*Work on it every day even if it’s only baby steps.

* Don’t listen to naysayers, especially the one between your ears.

*When the going gets tough, stick to your passion like a burr.

*When no money is coming in from your passion, do it for the love of it.

*What you create is a gift to the world, so don’t waste any more time!

Easy enough points to follow and if you feel resistance from fear or you’re stuck in everyday rat racing, make a decision today to give your passion some feet. Eventually, you will grow some wings and fly!

I would love to hear what your passion is.

Maria

P.S. I’m selling my original art on etsy. If you’re looking for a gift of art, check out my shop today. HERE. 🙂

declutter, inspirational, life, motivational, process

Simplify!

April 30, 2016 Maria G

Hell yeah, simplify today.

I have been spending a lot of time decluttering my life. Not just all the junk around the house but also my digital junk. It feels good!

So much stuff drags us down and we don’t even know it. You know what a “drag” it is to enter a cluttered area, like a stuffed garage.

Some people are unable to part with their stuff, but I’m not one of them, thank God. I decluttered my closet, my papers, my books, my knicknacks, my email inbox that had about 1000 emails. It came down to about 10 that I still haven’t read and probably never will.

I decluttered my FB friends’ list and groups. I am the member of way too many groups there, and I don’t know how that happened.

I just deleted all of my numerous message threads on my phone, and that felt good. Clean slate is a good feeling. I even decluttered my studio, which is harder than anything else. Now I can actually find my tools (for now anyway.) There is a sense of serenity about order.

I love to simplify my life. I get a sense of space and serenity. It makes it easier to think. I like to see the expanse of my floors, and I like to move around freely without bumping into things.

There is something healing about getting rid of broken things and replacing them, or not. Everything has to be loved or have a purpose. If I don’t get that from stuff it won’t come into my house. Not anymore.

Books are hard to get rid of, but if I haven’t read them for years and don’t plan on reading them any time soon, out they go.

People who are a drag get decluttered too. There is no reason to hold on to friendships that don’t lift you up in some way.

Most important: I have been decluttering my belief systems and that is not an easy task, but I feel lighter, so I crave lighter surroundings. It makes sense.

This is not my brain anymore:

A great way to declutter the brain is through meditation! A great practice to do every day.

What have you decluttered lately?

Maria

P.S. Check out my etsy shop for some cool, affordable art. HERE.

creativity, inspirational, life, motivational, process, transformation

Psychic declutter.

April 27, 2016 Maria G

You might ask what psychic declutter means. And how does it affect art making?

We all declutter our houses from time to time. When I purge old ratty clothes from my closet, or sweep up the dust bunnies living under my bed, I feet GREAT. Though, I admit I’ve got some pretty big dust bunnies in my house, and my cat contributes enough hair to knit a bunch of sweaters for the winter. He moves around shedding without a care in the world.

It’s good to have a clean and orderly house that smells awesome, but what about your body? That is easy to take care of too, of course. Some nice soap and hot water go a long way.

Psychic debris might drag you down, especially in this fast-paced electronic world. We catch all sorts of energy we don’t really want. People wear us out, televisions and other media constantly pump out information, AND unwanted waves.

I know I suffer from info overload a lot, and I hate it when people dump their problems on me, or chit-chat me to death.

However, my saving grace, my windshield wipers come in the form of meditation. It gives me a big space of silence between me and the world, like a soft buffer. It also gives me perspective on the issues going on in my life. I try to sit down and really concentrate within every day. When I don’t, I miss it a lot.

For energy debris, I use sage smoke to clear my aura or an old-fashioned Epsom salt bath. You feel REALLY clean after that, lol. Energy overload isn’t necessarily evil, but it can make you feel drained and tired.

A good night’s sleep is a great healer.

Before I go out into the world, I put on an energetic cloak of light that has a mirrored surface facing out. It helps to deflect some of the energy coming at me.

The most important thing is to stay in balance, in equilibrium, because once out of it, you lose your power. Worst case scenario, you become a victim of the energies going on around you. That can be very uncomfortable depending on what is going on. Scattered energy affects my art making in a major way. When I’m balanced, inspiration and motivation seem to flow a lot easier,

Just choose to spend time with people who give you a lift. That makes a huge difference. Energy vampires abound, but you can choose to remove yourself from their influence.

It can feel lonely at times, but as those kinds of energies leave your life, new and better energies have a chance to appear.

On a practical note, you could always get rid of the TV… I did. I have never regretted the choice.

So, to recap:

Meditate

Choose who you spend time with

Choose your social media or TV addiction wisely (in other words, much less of it.)

Stop reading the papers. So much emphasis on negative news.

Clean your environment, declutter your mind and body.

Wear protective light energy in public and stay positive.

Not too hard, huh? It’s just a choice.

All these practices help me to stay focused and my creativity flows without effort. Implement a couple of these practices and see the difference for yourself.

Maria

P.S. Check out my latest painting, a buddha picture. It represents what I was talking about in the post. HERE.

art, free, inspirational, life, motivational, process, purpose, self help

It’s ok to be all over the place.

April 25, 2016 Maria G

My inner critic does not believe it’s ok to be all over the place. Follow the check list, tick the items off and feel accomplished. That is the ego’s rule. Work hard! I never was much of a list person, but I would have a goal in mind and try to accomplish that by making a vague list to follow. Funny thing is, the lists seem to repeat themselves over the years. Did I ever get anywhere??

There isn’t anything wrong with lists, but sometimes I stop and realize I’m missing the whole point. That happened this morning as I read one of my favorite author, Michael Roads’ daily quote in my inbox. I read every single one of them…

Focus on the target, but ‘live’ the arrow in flight.

Suppose you have a business ambition, or a wish to be spiritually enlightened, or whatever your target is that you are aiming at.

Focus on that target clearly, without seeing any problems or difficulties. This clears the way. Seeing problems creates obstructions.

You must now bring your awareness and full expression into the moment. You know the target, it is in your focus, now . . . you live as the arrow in flight. The more focussed and clear your vision, the truer and more sure flies your arrow-self.

Unconditional Trust is the flight of the arrow.

Michael J. Roads

The excerpt is from his book 365 Steps to a Happier More Conscious Life.

Read that statement a few times and take a deep breath or two. What does it bring up for you?

I’m a goal oriented person and one of my strengths is to get shit done, but many times I wonder if any of it brings me any closer to where I really want to be?

I don’t know.

I think I understand where I want to be in my “evolution,” but seriously, does anyone really know?

I for sure don’t know the big picture even if I can feel a hint of it sometimes.

I’m an adventurer. Not that I went and discovered some lost continent, but my own frontier is enough since there is so much to discover.

People say: focus on one thing and make that spectacular. Become an expert.

I have tried. I’m one of those people who gets interested in something by chance. I read and absorb everything I can about the subject, and when I’m done I’m on to the next bright thing. I could teach many things, but that’s not really my “thing.”

In some ways I’m a walking encyclopedia of useful and useless information.

No wonder I can’t see my way through the jungle of possibilities.

I have been trying to combine my spirituality, which is a practice close to my heart, with my art, and create a fusion that can help people in some way.

Nothing has really gelled, so I keep forging ahead in the wilderness with my machete/ paintbrush. I can’t stay with one type of motif and explore that at length like some artists do.

Now there is a word for people like me! A woman by the name of Emilie Wapnick gave a TED talk about being a “multipotentialite.”

Check it out HERE.

“Why some of us don’t have a true calling.”

I found it comforting and delightful to listen to the talk.

So, I guess the gist of this post is to be content with being all over the place. Remember to stop and smell the roses! Don’t live by ticking off items on a list. Focus on what you want next (and that can change if you’re anything like me,) and be the arrow that shoots free and clear toward that goal.

The best suggestion I can give today: be kind to yourself and allow for a wider perspective to seep in. No hurry, no worries. Have TRUST and enjoy the journey, wherever it leads. It’s good to have goals but not at the cost of the simple joy of living.

Follow the moment and life is always fresh and full of wonder, and explore the word Trust. There is so much more to that word than meets the eye.

I am discovering a whole new level of TRUST and it’s awesome.

My latest painting:

DSCN2034 — The Buddha intuitive painting.

Maria

P.S. If you’d like an intuitive consultation, check it out HERE.

I offer reasonable rates and awesome readings!

fear, inspirational, life, motivational, resistance, unstuck

Procrastination is an ugly beast.

April 4, 2016 Maria G

Procrastination never served anyone. (I have a hard time spelling that word anyway.)

The word totally resonates with non-action through its complex spelling. To me, it suggests monkeys jumping through hoops for no reason whatsoever, or being stuck in place.

Wiki’s interpretation of the word: Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task which needs to be accomplished. It is the practice of doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time.

Hoohah.

What is your favorite tool for procrastination? Mine is laying jigsaw puzzles on my iPad. I could spend all day doing puzzles, but I blushed just telling you what my fave “wasting time” tool is. Today, I’ve laid three puzzles so far, but in my defense I did some important yard work, WHICH DID NOT MOVE MY BUSINESS FORWARD. The excuse afterwards: I’m too tired now to do anything but lay puzzles.

Then I get furious with myself since I have a list an arm long to take care of. By the way, I teach people how to get out of a slump / stuckness, and avoid procrastination…. (with art.) Yeah, for real. I guess it makes me human, and all I have to do is take charge and get going (even if I don’t). It does become easier the more I exercise the anti-procrastination muscle.

And what is that muscle? I have lived by my Dad’s words for many years, and they work remarkably well. “If you have an unpleasant task ahead of you, do it right away so that you don’t have to think about it any more.”

Words of wisdom! In other words, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Chopping off bite size pieces of “things-to-do” works very well too. Take your list and denote how many hours or minutes you will work on each task every day, and then do it. It’s no different than exercising, really. Many tasks in life are not fun or pleasurable, but they have to get done or weigh you down more every day.

I do have a stubborn streak and I avoid my better sense many times, but at the end of the day, who suffers? Not the cat, that’s for sure. I feel like crap for betraying my own trust, and that ought to be a lesson in itself, but there is that strange stubborn streak sneaking up daily if I don’t watch out.

Psychologists say that fear produces procrastination, and that is true, but when I’m not afraid of the tasks, why put them off?? It’s a bad habit and the constant struggle against the internal nay-sayer.

Time is just going faster than it used to… hehe.

So what do you do to combat this daily beast if you don’t possess magic? Do the tasks anyway. That’s where a schedule can be helpful, and the discipline and promise to myself that I will do things that support myself and my dream.

The turtle wins the race. Just do a little bit at a time. It will get the work done. All I know, the monster will not go away so it needs to be trained to within an inch of its life. It sits when you say “sit!” Same with fear. If we let fear rule our life, we would never get anything done or go anywhere.

A gentle stretching of that fear moves us forward. That is a promise. If procrastination bugs you, you might be standing before a major breakthrough. Isn’t that an exciting thought??

Kick this to the curb if you have one… NOW!

On that note, I did get this blog post written after I got up from the recliner. It was a choice.

Maria

P.S. Check out my art e-courses HERE. I also do one-on-one coaching. Click on the link in the menu at the top of this page. Have a great productive day–every day!

art, asskickery, creativity, inspirational, intuitive, life, motivational, purpose

Because you are a leader.

March 21, 2016 Maria G

Because you are a leader…

Hello beautiful person,

Does the headline put a great bubble with a question mark above you as in the cartoons? A leader can be many things, and the most exciting is when he or she has the brilliant enthusiasm and determination to change the world. Do you say then, “I’m not like that, or do you say a resounding ‘hell yeah’?”

Basically, you can’t change the world, but by changing yourself you change the world. However, it’s not so much about changing yourself as it is to ACCEPT yourself, with warts and all.

You know, we are all leaders IF we decide to blaze our own path and go “there” whether anyone follows or not. The individual has that choice. I believe we were put on this earth to have amazing lives filled with passion and prosperity. I totally buy into that concept and I have consistently turned to the arrow pointing toward my best life: “go there, there is your passion.”

It is becoming a habit to follow where the joy is in my life. And so it should be for you. There is no mystery here.

It can take guts to change yourself, let alone change the world. But I’d rather take the risk of making a fool of myself using my own mental and heart capacities to create something original than working 35 years in the same job. I never could settle down to a career, but now I’m grateful for that since so MANY varied experiences have led me to take charge and become the CEO of my life.

businesswoman-454874__180 — CEO of your own life

When you step into the shoes of leadership, you say no to the fears of society, you rise above the anchors that hold you down at status quo, i.e. the murky bottom with the sharks.

So, a leader leads people toward something good, a transformation.

A leader offers the path that she has already blazed with a badass machete. 🙂

A leader inspires others to break out of the mold and become the awesome person they are meant to be, to become another leader to help others succeed.

It is basically all about helping others to become great, so a leader stands behind the people and urges them along the path he or she knows will lead to contentment and discovery.

A great leader listens to the needs and implements solutions to problems.

Leadership is something we can grow into if only we take the steps to free ourselves from the beliefs and fears that hold us back. Who says your idea, your passion, isn’t the next great thing that will help humanity??

If you ever read the classic book Jonathan Livingston Seagull you know anything is possible. Jonathan sensed within that he had greatness and he set out to prove it to himself and others. He flew higher than any seagull had done before.

The other seagulls said it could not be done, but Jonathan practiced and practiced. He didn’t care if his wings hurt or if it was stormy; he know he had to reach that greatness. He made the decision to never give up and that decision brought him to success.

I stand in my power as a leader. I’m no great name or famous person, but at one point I decided to be the best I can be, and that includes my spiritual life, my mental and physical health, and my work. My passion is art and to help others to create, overcome their fears of exploration via art. I am an intuitive artist and I use my intuition to help others break through to greatness beyond that snarl of brambles that grew across the path because no one had the nerve to cut them down. Do you have the nerve?

Passion leads you along to discover even more passion. There is no time like now to get started. Maybe passion flows quietly at first, but if you keep at it, it will become a roaring river. It is a natural law!

As I said above, it takes guts to change, and the change starts within, with mindset and determination.

Are you longing to change? Are you longing to help people in a way that counts, not just surface stuff? Do you want to help change the world from the inside out?

If you want to explore art as a way to break through your brambles, I can help you. Check out some of my e-courses, and I will soon be offering one-on-one coaching based on intuition. Are you in?

The only thing that stands between you and your own greatness is DETERMINATION. Just don’t quit.

On that note, keep on going. Our roads might cross at some point, or they won’t. It is all okay.

xoxo

Maria

P.S. My available ecourses at this time: CLICK HERE.

Maria Greene @ Greeneearth

Category Archives: motivational

Are you a quitter?

Simplify!

Psychic declutter.

It’s ok to be all over the place.

Procrastination is an ugly beast.

Because you are a leader.

Artist and writer