Tag Archives: writing

Do you jot down to-do lists and follow through?

Do you or don’t you? I go in spurts. When I get too lazy, I bring out my small notebook (with gilded edges, no less!) and jot down about five things I need to do daily. My list usually contains these items:

Make art, write or edit chapters, pack etsy orders, clean something.

Art: I usually have something half finished, so it’s easy to choose what to do, but there are days when I have no ideas, and I have to drag myself into the studio. On such days, I might start something like making a clay body for a chicken–nothing too elaborate.

Clearing a list makes you feel good.

I feel compelled to follow through if I make a list. When I don’t, it’s easy to blow things off, and the day goes by without any progress, making me feel bored and ungrounded. I also feel guilty if I don’t progress, especially with my art.

Sometimes it’s okay to blow things off and go out for fresh views and new inspiration. There’s a distinct difference between blowing things off and feeling as if your well is empty. Ignoring your impulses to create is detrimental to your “feel good” that day. I love to create, but I don’t want to be an art-aholic in the studio.

‘Tis a fine line to walk.

Due to my list-making, I had a productive week. I’ve been sculpting goddesses on shells lately and made more angel shrines. Christmas is coming, and I’ve been selling a lot of angels lately.

The angels below are slightly different designs compared to my old ones. I still have a few of the older designs left on etsy.

I also created a couple of paintings. I went back to my work in 2005 to see what Christmas motifs I had used. Back in the day, I painted Americana folk art. I decided to revisit that style and came up with a new and better(?) version. The first painting is current, and the other is from 2005. It was a lot of fun!

I forgot to make a bunch of Christmas things to sell this year. Time has gone by so quickly, and I can’t seem to get a handle on it.

As far as writing goes, I just put up my second mystery, TO DIE FOR, for pre-order on Kindle. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited. I had a lot of fun writing this story. Mysteries are tricky as you have to embed clues and hold back lots of info to keep the suspense up. I’m working on number three now, RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH. It’ll be a while before it comes out.

The last thing on my list is “clean something.” I often fail in that department since I hate cleaning, but I don’t want to live like a pig.

With three cats, it’s hard to keep any surfaces clean. They have a monopoly on the house… You can find lots of pictures of them on my Instagram feed. My handle there is @greeneearth. Mama Sassy and her six-month-old kittens, Elfie and Pixie. They are all tuxedos, and the kittens are almost identical. Anyway, I feel good if I clean one countertop or dust some shelves. Better than nothing, right?

Have a happy and productive week!

Lots of love,

Maria

Paper madness!

Paper madness can strike at any time. I love paper in all forms. What would the world be without paper? Plastic books? I don’t think so.

I don’t want to talk about books but more about art journals and writing journals. I think there is a journaling craze going on. Michael’s has a whole isle with journals and insets and stickers to add.

Maybe we never grow too old for stickers??

I went to Hobby Lobby for some acrylic inks and came away with a great deal on a snooty Fabriano art journal.

Fabriano
paper madness

The paper is exceptional. I touch the pages reverently and imagine what I can create inside. No junk journal here…  It says drawing paper, but at a sturdy 90lbs it can hold just about any wet media.

You know how they describe wine. Dragging my hand across the paper, I would have to say it has a rich depth, is robust, yet smooth and silky against my tongue skin. 🙂

I use a lot of different kinds of journals for my art journaling, but I write my thoughts in a cheap notebook every morning. I have a great pen made for smooth writing (ek Tools journaling ink pen.)

I finish a notebook quickly so I don’t want to spend a lot of money on expensive journals that sit around gathering dust because my handwriting would ruin them. I’d feel guilty if I didn’t write in them.

But, I did buy one for Christmas last year, and I’m about halfway through. It has pictures and sayings. Some of the pages are lined and some are blank. It’s SACRED SPACE, Writing and Creativity Journal by BlueAngel publishing. Journal art by Toni Carmine Solerno.

journal
Sacred Space

journaljournaljournalIsn’t the artwork lovely?

That is a journal I would keep, but I usually throw out my written notebook journals once they are full. No written masterpieces there…

To journal feels good. It clears the mind clutter and gives new vision. It makes you connect inside, with the inner small voice, and also with problem loops of thoughts that keep us away from what is important.

I’m also mad for any kind of funky paper, and I like to make my own too of course.  I alter the plain paper with inks, paints, dyes, markers, and collages that I print. It’s a way to put your stamp on plain paper or alter bought scrapbooking paper.

In art anything goes,  Mixed media art is a heaven for paper enthusiasts. I love it when there is a sale on scrapbooking papers. I buy a bunch and then I can’t wait to add some to my artwork.

If you’d like to read a basic article on how to get started with art journaling you can check out this post, Art Journaling Tools.

What do you like to write in? Notebooks or expensive journals? Do you use your computer as a journal?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Maria

P.S. Speaking of papers, I have a short art journaling paper making e-course that is lots of fun. You can check it out via THIS LINK.

 

Laura Probert and the April 2017 art prompts

Laura Probert kindly accepted to help me out with a month of art inspiration for my online art journaling group.

Laura Probert
Laura Probert

She is a great writer and has written for many online publications like Huffington Post and Elephant Journal. She is passionate about healing and uses writing and art, among other things, as tools to dive deeply inside and heal the wounds we carry.

This from her website:

“WAKE UP
“Without awareness there is no choice.”

John F. Barnes

Awareness is the key to healing.

I’ve spent my 21 year career as a student, healer and an athlete learning the tools, tips and tricks that will help you wake up and develop a practice of awareness. 

Healing is about peeling off the layers of mental, emotional and physical injury and trauma that cover up your soul and keep you from living the best, healthiest, most joyful life you can live.

 Awareness can help you heal physical pain and injury, relationships, business ventures, exercise goals…basically anything you want to change in your life.

I’ll teach you what I know about this powerful door to healing and the many paths to it. Everything that happens to us happens through our awareness…it’s a matter of being awake to the stuff of life. I’ll show you how body awareness connects you with your inner healer and gives you choices about your health and life.”

I like the idea that Laura offers tools for self healing and not trying to heal “you.” Ultimately, we are the only ones who can heal ourselves.

More from her website:

“BE BRAVE
“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.”
Brene Brown

My journey has been about stepping into my power, claiming my self-worth and finding and expressing my unique voice. Being brave has been necessary and facing and moving through my fears has been a powerful process.

Dealing with the things that are keeping you stuck or holding you back from your desires helps you heal. I’ll show you how to integrate mind, body and soul in a way that gives you new techniques to deal with fear. 

Being brave is about feeling. You have to be awake to feel. Feeling is healing. It takes guts to feel. I’ll help you feel what you need to feel to heal. I’ll hold a space for you to do the work of feeling and healing you need to do to make a change.”

“DO WHAT YOU LOVE


“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Howard Thurman”

When you connect with what you love, you move toward healing. When you heal, you are able to connect more with what you love.

More of my favorite quotes:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver

“When you are serious, determined, positive and on-purpose, magical shit happens.”
Torrie Pattillo”

Some info about Laura:

Laura’s healing programs, classes, workshops and books will help you redefine healing and take your journey to the next level. She’s able to combine the tools she’s learned for healing with the tools she’s learned for creative flow to create programs that are powerful, unique and integrated. She’s helping to move the knowledge of mind body connection from idea to action and teaches it in an immediately applicable way.

When she’s not igniting transformation in her clients you’ll find her writing, hanging with her kids, dogs or a horse, hiking in the woods, practicing her axe kick, or taste testing dark chocolate. Find her on Facebook at Warrior Love or via her WEBSITE.

I would have to say that Laura Probert is a cool person to know and she GETS RESULTS  because she’s not afraid to dive deep. That is very inspiring to me.

If you didn’t sign up for the free 2017 art journal prompts you can do so HERE.

Lots of love,

Maria

Romance novels are not trash-y

Romance novels, either you love them or you hate them or you feel indifferent.

I have written twenty-three romance novels and I’m proud of it,  I have also written several novellas and been part of romance anthologies, and I have won a national award.

Christmas Blessing by Maria Greene
Romance novel

It’s damned hard work to write a 300-500 page manuscript. Ask any writer of any genre.

Today I got triggered by reading an email from a well-known online entrepreneur who sent out her list of favorite books in 2016. She freely admitted that she read tons of TRASHY romance novels. The word came up four times in her email and that is really offensive in my opinion. No one ever says trashy mysteries or trashy westerns. She did not use that word for any of the other books she mentioned.  She sent this newsletter out to maybe 50k subscribers, perpetuating the literary “racist” view of romances.

If they are such trash, stop reading them! By the way, it’s the most popular and lucrative genre of all fiction.

Another point was that she would not buy them new but buy them used and then trade them back in. An author does not get any royalties from that. I know it’s very common practice, and I have bought used books myself, but I try to buy new as much as I can.

A book genre is a genre is a genre and they are written in a certain way. That is how the reader expects them to be (especially the ending) when they read them.  That does not make them trashy.

If she alluded to sex there is plenty of mainstream fiction with sex that is not romantic in the least.  Romances focus on the feelings rather than the graphics.

There are books that are badly written in every genre, but any savvy reader would not buy from those authors. Any savvy reader buys books from authors she likes and whose writing she admires.

So, anyone who reads this, please stop using the term trashy romance novels. There are some excellent books out there, and the writers worked VERY hard at making them so.

Stepping off the soapbox….

I’m not writing much at the moment. I’m mostly focusing on art, but I’ll always be a writer! My last romance was published in 2005.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. I have a year-long FREE art journaling journey coming up in 2017.  if you want to follow along, please register HERE.

 

Resistance sucks donkey balls!

Hello gorgeous,

Resistance sucks donkey balls! (I got that expression from a friend in NZ haha.)

donkey
Resistance sucks donkey balls

Have you noticed how you don’t feel any resistance when you go out partying or watching TV shows? But as soon as you decide to do something that you really WANT to do, something worthwhile, resistance sets in. You might be one of the lucky few who sails through without a blemish, but then you’re probably a saint.

I’m an artist and I suffer from resistance every day. When I was a full-time writer I suffered from resistance too, but I had an ironclad discipline that pulled me through. With art however, you usually don’t have a chapter outline to follow, and a word processing program that  keeps you within the parameters of the page. Writing itself can be a resistance, BUT if you show up at the computer and start with one sentence, things might start flowing.  No promise though, and that’s where discipline comes in.

It is sort of a military word, isn’t it?  It worked wonders in my writing career.

Discipline and art don’t get along well.  The only discipline I can tie myself to is to move my body and sit down at my art table or stand by the easel.  After that, the wild donkey comes along and everything flows or the blank page syndrome sets in with a vengeance. That opens the door to the inner Critic (who sounds like someone I knew.)   He says: get depressed now and go find something in the fridge, or better yet, the freezer….

critic
Mr. Critic on a rant

My Mr. Critic is very sneaky, comes in on soft-soled shoes and doesn’t exactly critique my art, but fans the flames of frustration until I feel disgusted with the project. I never hear the words “you are no good” or “your art sucks,” no, we are way beyond that point. My Critic knows that if he says that, I’ll laugh in his face because I trust my art. So, subtler methods are often used to get me to fold.

But, I have learned to push on. That’s the only thing you can do. Don’t give up, don’t get up and go to the freezer, and don’t pay any attention to the feelings of frustration or doubt trying to railroad you. Welcome them! By Mr. Critic showing up in such stealthy fashion and throwing a curve ball only means you’re really onto something good.  When you’ve got it going and the passion is burning, Mr. Critic will sneak in with curve balls or frustration tantrums. It is a test of sorts, a test to see if you’re ready for the next level of awesomeness.

When things turn to sh*t you might be on the threshold to something truly great. It could be a new level of expertise or a new way of unexpected expression.  Go with it, and kick Mr. Critic to the curb!

If you want to grow, face the Critic and move on.  Never stop creating, whatever your passion. Nothing can stop you then. There is only one simple remedy.

Show up every day…. Stay with it until it moves forward.

xo

Maria

P.S. There is still time to join my current art e-course, Art Journaling Journey.  You can read more about it HERE.

Begin anywhere and anyway!

 

looking-muscle-21999417

Hello friends,

Begin anywhere and anyway; have you heard it before?  I’m sure you have. I have, many times, and I’ve told myself to “just do it” many times, and I do, BUT the tendency is to always fall back to the status quo of mediocrity.  I could call that laziness, but that word is like a bog of negative possibilities, all not supportive of life.  The solution to this is to strengthen the muscle of resolve.

So many TV programs and self-help books are dedicated to bettering yourself in some way, like losing those 30 lbs, or becoming a better parent. We get lost in the possibilities and the result is inaction, or in my case, boredom.

Let’s talk about the muscle of resolve. When you decide to stop smoking or losing weight for instance, you must have resolve, or that busy little devil on your shoulder will soon talk you into starting the new habit tomorrow, always tomorrow.

So, any time we take on a challenge we have to face making a decision. If you want to start exercising or stop a bad habit, you make that decision. There is usually a threat involved, like bad health that propels a person into action, but not always. I have seen people with stage 4 lung cancer wheel their drip bag stand out to the smoking room at the hospital and puff away. That is what I call giving up. The little devil won.

How hard is it to make a decision?  It’s hard unless you’re so fed up with status quo, or as Anthony Robbins says, “you’re in so much pain you have to change.” The old is no longer an option.  It’s something to pray for. Pain is good because it forces us to change, but why go that far?

That’s where the headline of this post comes in: Begin anywhere and anyway.  Say you have a dream of accomplishing something great in your life. It’s that thing that’s always bugging you at the back of your mind.  A deep desire for change.

I’m appalled at how stuck we are in the ruts and routines and the FEARS of change. But if you truly want to change, to create something new for yourself, start NOW.  You don’t need fancy equipment (well, you might at some point but not now,) you don’t need extra time, you don’t need a block of 2 days of me-time to get things straightened out.

All you need is to make that decision, and make it over and over when you fall of the wagon. As you keep dedicating yourself you build the resolve muscle you will have to re-make your decision. The trick to staying on the wagon is to get some excitement going about your project. It makes the decision easy every time.

Start with ONE thing to forward your dream. It could be as little as a phone call or email.

What can you do this week, Monday-Friday, to make strides? Make a short list of doable steps. Only you know what is needed. As you take small actions every day, your excitement will grow, and so will your commitment.

Then you fall off the wagon again…  and again.

BUT the tool is simple. Make tiny goals each day and accomplish them, and as you follow this path, your to-do list will grow because you can see the progress, and you want to get THERE, so you delve more deeply into the dream and find more possibilities for expansion.  One step can reveal a big revelation. One email can open doors to connections you only dreamed of in the past.

What do I do every day? I am an artist and writer, and those are the subjects I keep delving into every day. My morning looks like this pretty much every morning:

Cup of tea in my back yard.

Meditate to get in the flow.

Walk 20 minutes. Hot as hell sometimes in FL. I slacked with my exercise for years, but I used to be committed to keeping in shape, and I discovered that muscle memory still works! Now I’m addicted to walking.

Write 750 word in my online journal at 750words.com. I usually write more than that since writing is in my blood and I like to blog as well.

Have a green smoothie for breakfast, and after that I feel out what I want to focus on that day. It’s not always easy. The little devil will always sit there and jabber away, but he can be trained!

When I was a fulltime writer I made up my mind to write ten pages a day, and I have followed that for forever. The writing isn’t always glowing. It rarely is, but I keep going.  I have no fears around showing up on the page. Crappy writing can always be fixed.

Art is a different animal altogether. That muscle has a mind of its own… I have never been able to tame it, but my challenge is to show up at the art journal page or the canvas. I can do that, but the resistance is powerful most of the time. They say to push through the resistance and I do, and I find myself happy on the other side. The other kind of resistance is the one that says “this is not good for you.” It has a different feel, like facing a brick wall. Then I listen to that, and every day has a forward flow of small positive increments.

When I fall off the wagon I get so uncomfortable in my skin that I have to get back on, or DIE, (not really, but there is no compromise.)

To accomplish something worthwhile, start tiny and grow from there. Make that decision, dedicate yourself, kick the fears to the curb, take small action steps, and soon you’ll have something new and wonderful in your life. Grow your awesome self via the muscle of resolve!!!  🙂