Category Archives: passion

art, inspirational, life, motivational, passion, self help

Raining on your parade?

Lots of people like to rain on your parade, but nothing new there, right? It’s all in how we allow it to affect us.

So many artists say that they get a lot of negative feedback about their choice of career.  This affects their self-confidence, but it doesn’t have to. If they feel passionate about art they need to stand tall and make the decision that no matter what, they are not going to cave to other people’s opinions.

The choice is about who you hang out with. If we have low self-confidence we hang with people who put us down.

A boost to your self-confidence: DITCH the people who put you down.

If you feel heavy and anxious around them, they don’t belong in your universe. Simple, right?

My dad used to say when I came up with some good idea;
“that will never work,” with sarcasm in his voice.  I proved him wrong a number of times, to his surprise.

DITCH the people who hog all the attention all the time and those who are envious of your progress.  They never followed their dream, but you don’t have to drink their poison.  Ditch the angry people.

The friends who only show up when they want something from you BECAUSE they know you did all the research already (on your own.)

People who make you feel angry for no obvious reason. Those are the “needle-nose” manipulators.

People who drain your energy in a sneaky nebulous manner. I call them the “black hole vampires.”  They don’t have a life, only a black hole.

I DO feel compassion for people’s predicaments, but there comes a time when you have to make a choice. Do they stay or do they go?

If you don’t make the choice someone else will. You don’t want an energy vampire to choose what you do with your energy, right?

Hang out with those who cheer you on and uplift you in every way.  If you don’t have such connections, find some.  Find some friends who are passionate about their own lives.

As an artist you let your vulnerability hang out for all to see via your art, and the beauty of your vision feeds their soul. Being vulnerable is your offering to the world, so don’t let anyone rain your parade!

  • Know your worth (as a person and artist) and if you feel that yours tips toward minus on the scale, find a way to remedy that.
  • Know that if you get lots of criticism and “hate” comments, you’re doing something right. 🙂
  • Don’t worry about others and their feelings, follow your passion. You’re not hurting anyone.
  • You are responsible for how you feel and how you take criticism. Try not to take it personally and don’t allow DRAMA into your life.
  • Don’t argue or try to prove yourself.  Just smile like Mona Lisa and carry on.

Passion grows and nothing can stand in its way. That is the power of passion.  You’re in it for the ride.

Create with passion today!

xo

Maria

P.S. I could use an art sale from my etsy shop if you feel so inspired.  Check ’em out HERE.

art journaling, asskickery, creativity, life, motivational, passion, self help

Do what you enjoy first, chores later.

Hell yea, do what you enjoy first.  I have lived by that motto for good and bad during my life, but I KNOW that it is the right way to live.

Most people are not able to let go of the fear, which is dug deep into our psyche to prevent any “black sheep” activity.  Be a good robot and waste your precious life on stuff that you hate.  Does that make sense?

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good robot

No.

I realize the bills have to be paid and the dust bunnies have to be swept up and killed, but will the world end if you do that later? No.

We set up our own prisons and stay inside them even though the door is open and the key got lost a long time ago.  (Probably hanging out with the dust bunnies.)

The only way I can explore the journey of my art is to practice it daily, and do it while I still have some energy. The boring stuff I can do with one eye closed, or hire someone else to do it.

To work against the programming that has been imprinted since birth, we have to take steps, even if they are mini steps, and no matter how old you are, to change and find something more soul nourishing.  Excuses begone!  (By the way, there is an excellent audio book by that title by Wayne Dyer.)

Give yourself PERMISSION to start doing what you’re passionate about.  Take a long hard look at life and see where the hang ups stop you in your tracks.  Are you willing to part with your hang-ups and quirks and phobias?  You can, you know. It’s a choice.

Yes, that’s right. It’s a frigging choice.  You are not really ruled by your inner hang-ups, but it might seem that way because that’s how we are used to living life. No wonder the whole society is neurotic.

You can choose right now to change your life, one baby step at a time.  You will gain confidence, experience, new ways of seeing things, inspiration to move forward even if the road seems dim at times.

If we all did this we would live in a happier place and inspire others to be happy, and before you know it, more and more people would be infected by the happy bug.

Let’s be explorers of our own capabilities and see where they might lead.  Never a boring moment for sure.  Happy new year, all year long.

So whatever argument you have to what I stated above is an EXCUSE.

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Let’s be happy!

I did some art in the last couple of days and had lots of fun, art journaling mostly.

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listen
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Free to fly.

On that note, have a fabulous week, doing what you love FIRST.

I have some items on sale in my etsy shop.  I made three handmade journals that are ready to be embellished.  CLICK HERE.

xo

Maria

creativity, doubt, fear, inspirational, passion, process

Doubt is what holds us back.

I have no doubt that doubt holds us back from achieving our dreams.

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doubt and fear

Dreams can be elusive, and you might have a vague idea of what your dream is about. If you have an inkling that is GOOD! So many people don’t have any idea of what their dream or passion is.

Achieving a dream can be fraught with doubt and other pitfalls, but the easy part is to JUST START where you are now.  Say you want to be an accomplished painter and you know you feel great when you paint, but something holds you back.

Fear create doubts. “I’m not good enough.”  “I can’t paint well enough.” “I never went to art school so I can’t be a painter.” “People don’t approve.”

Sounds familiar?  But who cares?  When you start something, you might not have any idea of where you’re going, but buy some art supplies that appeal to you. (Most likely, you already have some dusty stuff hidden in the closet.) Dust that stuff off and bring it back out.

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Despite the doubt, just start.

Once you have started and made a commitment to pursue your desire to become a painter, you will find that the next step on the journey will reveal itself.  It’s as if starting sets off some kind of unseen magic.

You will make some ugly art and you will make some great art, and the PROCESS is what makes things interesting.  Everything you do will teach you to take the next step. Art, by the way, is an endless exploration so even if you are a painter for 60 years, you still have more to explore. That is a great thing!

Other passions might not have that longevity factor.

You will be working on yourself as you follow your passion.  Everything we dare to do helps us to discover new depths and gifts within ourselves. That is another gift that happens when we dare to step out of our comfort zone and try something new.

By all means, take some painting courses to learn technique, but know that the true creativity is inside of you. Don’t become a copy cat. Be brave enough to forge your own path even if there is lots of resistance. That might never go away, but you can make friends with it and DO IT ANYWAY.

Resistance meets me every morning in the studio, but what the heck is new with that?  Nada.  Old record of fear keeps playing in my mind, but action takes me beyond that and into the space where magic happens, or not. I still gain experience that is valuable.

How to find your passion if you don’t know what it is.

Think back to when you were a kid. What did you do then that you enjoyed? I enjoyed crafts (paperdolls,) reading, and the outdoors.  Art making has traveled like a red thread through my life.

Think of some job you liked or had a knack for. It might have been a summer job when you were young.

What do you have a knack for?  Writing? Numbers? Decorating?  What do your friends ask you to help them with if anything?  Do they often say, “You’re so good at this.”

If you like more internal things like reading, maybe you can try writing a book.  What if you like intuition and meditation, all internal experiences? Maybe you can teach that to people.  What if you love to cook? Maybe you can specialize in some type of cooking and write a cook book?

The possibilities are endless.

Maybe you like to speak, to lead, to teach. The online world is filled with endless possibility to make your mark and help many people.

Find your passion, START doing it.  Take one step at a time, and when hurdles show up (as they will,) deal with them one at a time. You may have to do some internal work to get past feelings to inadequacy but in the long run, you will stand VICTORIOUS, and who knows, your paintings might be worth millions (once you’re dead, haha.) It’s all in the process, baby.

Kick the doubt to the curb and tell it stay the hell away!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have an art and intuition ecourse coming up. Art as Oracle 2 starts on June 7. You can read all about it HERE.

art, creativity, inspirational, motivational, passion, process

Are you a quitter?

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…

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your passion

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.

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my passion

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.

passion5xo

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. 🙂