Month: November 2025

Let’s walk the Creative Path together.

Hello, my lovely friends!

In the lead up to Thanksgiving, I would like to take a moment to reflect and be thankful for my Medium & Substack community!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Medium & Substack are the creative home that I have been searching for for most of my life.

As somebody who knows ZERO Creatives in real life, Medium & Substack have been my go-to source for meeting other Creatives.

I’ve made so many friends here & I can always rely on Medium & Substack to inspire me, broaden my mind, expand my perspective, and grow my creative practices.

As 2025 comes to a close and Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are fast approaching…

I find myself asking, “What’s the best way that I can use my Creative Voice to serve others?”

Here’s my answer:

We are living in a world filled with so much divisiveness. Many of us are depressed, stressed, and anxious. We are constantly struggling to survive, not thrive.

Often our Monkey Minds will not stop the mental chatter that keeps us down, and our Inner Critics can be downright mean.

That’s why I’ve devoted my VICTUS Newsletter: Synergy of Science & Self, and my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, to help us come together so we can get rid of our Limiting Beliefs in a supportive and uplifting setting. To break free of the mental, emotional, and therefore physical cage many of us are trapped inside.

Because I know how horrible it can feel to NOT be your Authentic Self.

I was not my Authentic Self for far too many years because I was scared to embrace Creative Work.

Many of my Posts go into detail, describing how societal pressure tried to stamp it out of me.

But, my body kept the score. I suffered from debilitating migraines, depression, and anxiety.

Until I’d finally had enough and declared, “NO MORE!”

I knew my life would change when I decided once and for all to go on this Attorney-to-Creative Journey.

Yet, I could never have imagined how immensely happy and fulfilled it has made me.

I am now more at peace. Not perfect. But, significantly better. Healthier. Happier. At ease in my own mind and body.

I’ve finally come home.

I now have a creative place where I can share my creative writing, nonfiction writing, artwork, and music.

A place where I can be seen, validated, and celebrated for being exactly who I am: a Creative!

Most importantly, I get to meet & see myself reflected in other Creatives like you.

It’s so very healing.

And exciting to have found fellow Creatives who are interested in studying books in so many different fields to promote our collective creativity. So we can geek out together and cheer each other on our respective journeys.

Climbing the Creative Mountain of our dreams can be daunting.

The landscape can be treacherous at times, and our mental and emotional fortitude can certainly waver.

But, we can always trust in and be grateful for each other, for daring to dream and for daring to do it together.

I am grateful to have found such a warm and welcoming community of Writers, Readers, Artists, Musicians, and Healers to walk this creative path alongside me.

So, THANK YOU for reading, engaging, & Subscribing!

I look forward to learning & growing with you, and wish you & your family a very warm and relaxing Thanksgiving.

Please join us in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵,

on Monday December 1st, when we start our deep-dive into our next Book Club pick —

BEYOND ANXIETY: Curiosity, Creativity, & Finding Your Life’s Purpose by Martha Beck.

The Thankful Creative in me honors & respects the Creative Community I have found in you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marisa

⭐️ Remember, we don’t have to figure everything out, all alone. ⭐️

We can find solutions, together!

Please join us in my

This is a special group for Writers, Artists, & Creatives like us, to have deep conversations about the Books that we choose, so we can implement what we learn, and unearth our truest, most Authentic Selves.

It’s the perfect way to

Share Our Recipes for Happiness:

🔮 Have fun together;

🔮 Share our triumphs;

🔮 Vent from time to time — we’re human after all!

🔮 Take a lighthearted approach to private journaling & Artist’s Dates; and,

🔮 Grow the CREATIVE GENIUS inside all of us! 💐🌺🌷🌸🌹🌻🌼

Share Our Work (allow our True Self to be Seen):

🚀 With Notes Boost Challenges (NBC), we can share our favorite Notes of the week.

🚀 And, when we’d like, we can share our Works In Progress (WIP) and/or Final Posts, Music, & Art…whatever we’re proud of!

🚀 So we can Like, Comment, and/or Restack each others’ work to…

Share Our Joy (experience Connection with a kind & supportive Creative Community):

🙌 This is how we can come together, to grow through our own individual efforts, and feel the support of a kind & supportive Creative Community, too.

🤗 If that sounds good to you, then join us & say hello!

Join Marisa Victus’s subscriber chat

Available in the Substack app and on web

Come join us in the STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT! ☕️🍵 !

Looking for a regular place to help boost each other’s Notes & Posts every week?

I host Notes Boost Challenges (NBC) every Friday in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT.

Feel free to share your latest Note or Post of the week, so we can Like/Comment/Restack yours & you can do the same for others, so we can all GROW!

Pull up a seat & come to our comfy & cozy Creative CHAT! Here’s to the Creative CHAT for me & you! 🎉📚🥳📚🎉

Subscribe if you want to see where this Creative Journey can take us!

BONUS — Did you know that all SUBSCRIBERS can read the 1st Book of THE OBSIDIAN CHRONICLES (OBSIDIAN: Birth to Venus) for FREE?

READ THE SYNOPSIS

Together, we’ll explore all the ways that we can 10x our life — mind, body, & soul.

We’ll learn the scientific, physiological, and psychological reasons why we are the way that we are. And…

We’ll combine that understanding with simple, active practices that will supercharge our self-improvement & give us unstoppable self-belief!

When you SUBSCRIBE, you’ll gain access to these 2 resources:

(1) Every week, you’ll get my free Non-Fiction Newsletter on Medium & Substack, entitled Marisa VICTUS: Science of Synergy & Self; and,

(2) Every day, you’ll be able to entrain your brain — the quick & easy way — with my daily Mindset & Meditation (M&M) practice.

I’m building my own Mindset & Meditation (M&M) Community, so we can all invest in our truest, most Authentic Self.

🌸 Every day, I write ✍️1 handwritten✍️ M&M (Mindset & Meditation) Note.🌸

🧘🏻‍♀️If you want to grow with me, repeat these daily affirmations like I am.🧘🏻‍♀️

🙌Let’s entrain our brains to adopt these empowering beliefs.🙌

Plus, if you’d like to see me succeed (or flop 😂) as I practice in public,

(3) SUBSCRIBE to my free YouTube Channel!

What to LOSE + What you’ll GAIN

In my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, we’re doing a deep-dive into The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (“JC”). This week is WEEK #12 of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: Recovering a Sense of Faith.

In Chapter 12 (the last Chapter of The Artist’s Way), JC gives us her wisest advice as she prepares to part ways with us: she reminds us to guard our Inner Artist by fortifying our self-belief.

We must not fall prey to the doubters and so-called “well wishers” who claim to want the best for us, but ultimately prevent us from seeing what’s possible, because of their own fears, limitations, and lack of imagination or vision.

This can be tricky. Other people’s “advice” can be inviting and, due to our own fears, appear like the truth.

Especially if we have a tendency to believe that art must be “productive,” like an assembly line that starts at Point A and ends at Point B.

Art is more likely to be created on a circuitous path, with many stops and starts. And dull, seemingly lost meanderings.

JC reminds us, yet again, that this is NORMAL.

We must have FAITH in ourselves to persist until the artistic process bears fruit.

But how?

It all comes down to FAITH.

Faith in ourselves.

How can we foster faith in our Self?

(1) We can LET GO:

❌ Ignore the naysayers who whisper mean nothings in our ears.

❌ Abandon the myth, the lie that society tells, that we’re supposed “to be dutiful and then die.”

❌ Beware our own self-sabotage.

❌ Relinquish control.

❌ Stop putting up roadblocks, simply because we’re too afraid to let go of our need for certainty.

❌ Realize that “I don’t know” can cause confusion, but not-knowing is not a sign that we should give up.

(2) Instead, we can DO this:

✅ Embrace a state of Receptivity.

✅ Welcome a sense of Mystery.

✅ Trust in the creative process.

✅ Celebrate the bright flash of inspiration when it comes to us.

✅ Have the courage to admit what our dreams are.

✅ Have faith to trust in what we want.

✅ Trust our own inner guide.

✅ Remember that we aren’t meant to be dutiful, we’re meant to dream, to “be bountiful and live,” and when we pursue our dreams wholeheartedly, the “Universe will always support [our] affirmative action.”

✅ Remember to treat our Inner Artist like the Inner Child s/he is. Be gentle!

✅ Remind ourselves that our artistic flow “will be characterized by spurts of abundance and long spells of doubt, when our supply dwindles to a mere trickle.”

✅ Accept that ideas are “brainchildren” that, “like all babies, should not be dragged from the creative womb prematurely.”

✅ Don’t elevate our creativity to Capital A, “Art.” By placing art on too high a pedestal, we serve the ego, but quash our imagination with too much seriousness.

✅ We can foster more creativity with play, festivity, and humor.

✅ Devote ourselves to Creative Recovery. “We must get serious about taking ourselves lightly. We must work at learning to play.”

✅ So much so, we reach “escape velocity,” that critical point when we can overcome our greatest fears and our Creative Self can finally blast off like a rocket.

Now, take a Mindful Minute to reflect on your life:

⭐️ Does this resonate with you?

⭐️ Have you fallen prey to the pitfalls listed under the “Let Go” list?

⭐️ If so, how can you transition to the “Do” list, instead?

⭐️ If you look back on your 12 weeks of Journaling, how do your Morning Pages reflect your growth?

⭐️ What lingering concerns do you have? Can you find ways to be gentle and nurture your Inner Artist, to grow alongside you?

⭐️ Do you plan to continue your Morning Pages and Artist’s Dates?

👭 Do you want to enlist the help of a Fellow Creative, to help keep you accountable so you can commit to accomplishing a specific Creative task?

👭 If so, in the Comments or in the CHAT, tell us what you’d like to accomplish this upcoming week so we can all support & cheer you on.

Are you ready to BREAK FREE, by being CREATIVE with me?

Then,

TRUST IN WHO YOU ARE!

The Faith & Self-Belief in me honors & respects the Faith & Self-Belief in each of you,

Marisa

⭐️ Remember, we don’t have to figure everything out, all alone. ⭐️

We can find solutions, together!

Please join us in my

This is a special group for Writers, Artists, & Creatives like us, to have deep conversations about the Books that we choose, so we can implement what we learn, and unearth our truest, most Authentic Selves.

It’s the perfect way to

Share Our Recipes for Happiness:

🔮 Have fun together;

🔮 Share our triumphs;

🔮 Vent from time to time — we’re human after all!

🔮 Take a lighthearted approach to private journaling & Artist’s Dates; and,

🔮 Grow the CREATIVE GENIUS inside all of us! 💐🌺🌷🌸🌹🌻🌼

Share Our Work (allow our True Self to be Seen):

🚀 With Notes Boost Challenges (NBC), we can share our favorite Notes of the week.

🚀 And, when we’d like, we can share our Works In Progress (WIP) and/or Final Posts, Music, & Art…whatever we’re proud of!

🚀 So we can Like, Comment, and/or Restack each others’ work to…

Share Our Joy (experience Connection with a kind & supportive Creative Community):

🙌 This is how we can come together, to grow through our own individual efforts, and feel the support of a kind & supportive Creative Community, too.

🤗 If that sounds good to you, then join us & say hello!

Join Marisa Victus’s subscriber chat

Come join us in the STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT! ☕️🍵 !

Looking for a regular place to help boost each other’s Notes & Posts every week?

I host Notes Boost Challenges (NBC) every Friday in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT.

Feel free to share your latest Note or Post of the week, so we can Like/Comment/Restack yours & you can do the same for others, so we can all GROW!

Pull up a seat & come to our comfy & cozy Creative CHAT! Here’s to the Creative CHAT for me & you! 🎉📚🥳📚🎉

Subscribe if you want to see where this Creative Journey can take us!

BONUS — Did you know that all SUBSCRIBERS can read the 1st Book of THE OBSIDIAN CHRONICLES (OBSIDIAN: Birth to Venus) for FREE?

READ THE SYNOPSIS

Together, we’ll explore all the ways that we can 10x our life — mind, body, & soul.

We’ll learn the scientific, physiological, and psychological reasons why we are the way that we are. And…

We’ll combine that understanding with simple, active practices that will supercharge our self-improvement & give us unstoppable self-belief!

When you SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK, you’ll gain access to these 2 resources:

(1) Every week, you’ll get my free Non-Fiction Newsletter on Substack, entitled Marisa VICTUS: Science of Synergy & Self; and,

(2) Every day, you’ll be able to entrain your brain — the quick & easy way — with my daily Mindset & Meditation (M&M) practice.

I’m building my own Mindset & Meditation (M&M) Community, so we can all invest in our truest, most Authentic Self.

🌸 Every day, I write ✍️1 handwritten✍️ M&M (Mindset & Meditation) Note.

🧘🏻‍♀️If you want to grow with me, repeat these daily affirmations like I am.🧘🏻‍♀️

🙌Let’s entrain our brains to adopt these empowering beliefs.🙌

Plus, if you’d like to see me succeed (or flop 😂) as I practice in public,

(3) SUBSCRIBE to my free YouTube Channel!

When we’re blocked, what can we do?

☠️ The 6 Types of Creative Block & 🤔 The 1 Counterintuitive Solution to Breaking Through.

As you know, in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, we’re doing a deep-dive into The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (“JC”). This week is Week #10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection.

In Chapter 10, JC reminds us to beware of the 6 ways we might block our creative flow because we fear our own creative potential:

💥 (1) Food

💥 (2) Alcohol

💥 (3) Drugs

💥 (4) Relationships

💥 (5) Sex

💥 (6) Work

All these things can give us a sense of busyness and an excuse to distract our attention away from our desire to create.

The first step is to become aware.

She says, “Knowing yourself as an artist means acknowledging which of these you abuse when you want to block yourself. If creativity is like a burst in the universe’s breath through the straw that is each of us, we pinch that straw whenever we pick up one of our blocks. We shut down our flow. And we do it on purpose.

We begin to sense our real potential and the wide range of possibilities open to us. That scares us. So we all reach for blocks to slow our growth. If we are honest with ourselves, we all know which blocks are the toxic ones for us. Clue: this is the block we defend as our right.”

But, there’s hope:

This pattern of blocking our creative flow is NORMAL.

And it’s not because we are “bad,” but because we lack faith in our own creative abilities.

It may even be because we fear happiness. Not because we don’t want to be happy, but simply because happiness feels unfamiliar to us.

Same for fun. For Workaholics, play and fun can make us nervous.

Or even simpler: we fear the unknown. The unknown can lead to doubt & uncertainty.

So we use blocks to make Creative U-Turns that keep us in our familiar blocked state, even if it doesn’t serve our Creative, Highest Self in the long run.

BEWARE: These blocks only work in the short-term.

Eventually, she warns, “blocks will no longer work effectively.”

Uh-oh.

Eventually we will feel a growing sense of anxiety.

But, guess what?

That’s a good thing.

Anxiety is the Counterintuitive Solution to Breaking Through.

When we reframe anxiety…

When we lean into anxiety…

We can use anxiety to fuel our creativity.

We just need to FEEL the anxiety and move ahead anyway.

Easier said than done, right?

It helps to have a curious attitude.

To ask, “What might happen?”

To experiment, play, and be proud of our block-busting effort, no matter the outcome.

I tried to lean into my own anxiety this week.

Not because I wanted to.

But because I had to.

My migraines have increased lately. So much so, I even got an MRI. I don’t have brain cancer (whew!), but sadly I do suffer from “chronic migraines.”

So, I took a break from writing Substack Notes this week.

It was hard. The lack of conversation made me feel worse. And feeling “I’m not doing enough” wasn’t pleasant, either.

It got easier when I stopped trying to get rid of the ick.

Instead, I leaned into my anxiety, by writing this, to honor my creativity, even if it was less than what I’d hoped it could be:

If it’s not working, DON’T QUIT.

Rest.

Play.

Find inspiration.

Broaden your perspective.

Meditate.

Practice going inward.

Give it time to percolate.

Remember who you are.

Trust in who you are becoming.

Keep going…slowly, if you must.

until you find a SOFT WAY back…

Into your True Self.

Embrace yourself.

Be gentle.

Welcome your Homecoming.

You are coming home.

Now, take a Mindful Minute to reflect on your life:

⭐️ Does this resonate with you?

⭐️ Can you immediately identify the methods that you tend to use to block your own creative flow?

⭐️ When journaling, are you able to identify any new blocking methods you hadn’t realized you were using?

⭐️ Why do you think you have a tendency to block your creative flow? What do you think you are truly afraid of?

⭐️ In your Journaling, did you track how you spend your time? If so, did you realize you’re a Workaholic who’s overly-devoted to your non-creative work?

⭐️ How do you plan to prioritize your Creative Work, moving forward?

⭐️ Do you want to enlist the help of a Fellow Creative, to help keep you accountable so you can commit to accomplishing a specific Creative task?

👭 If so, in the Comments or in the CHAT, tell us what you’d like to accomplish this upcoming week so we can all support & cheer you on.

The Block-Busting-Creative in me honors & respects the Block-Busting-Creative in each of you,

Marisa

⭐️ Remember, we don’t have to figure everything out, all alone. ⭐️

We can find solutions, together!

Please join us in my

This is a special group for Writers, Artists, & Creatives like us, to have deep conversations about the Books that we choose, so we can implement what we learn, and unearth our truest, most Authentic Selves.

It’s the perfect way to

Share Our Recipes for Happiness:

• Have fun together;
• Share our triumphs;
• Vent from time to time — we’re human after all!
• Take a lighthearted approach to private journaling & Artist’s Dates; and,
• Grow the CREATIVE GENIUS inside all of us! 💐🌺🌷🌸🌹🌻🌼

Share Our Work (allow our True Self to be Seen):

With Notes Boost Challenges (NBC), we can share our favorite Notes of the week.

And, when we’d like, we can share our Works In Progress (WIP) and/or Final Posts, Music, & Art…whatever we’re proud of!

So we can Like, Comment, and/or Restack each others’ work to…

Share Our Joy (experience Connection with a kind & supportive Creative Community):

This is how we can come together, to grow through our own individual efforts, and feel the support of a kind & supportive Creative Community, too.

If that sounds good to you, then join us & say hello!

Join Marisa Victus’s subscriber chat

Available in the Substack app and on web

Join chat

Come join us in the STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT! ☕️🍵 !

Looking for a regular place to help boost each other’s Notes & Posts every week?

I host Notes Boost Challenges (NBC) every Friday in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT.

Feel free to share your latest Note or Post of the week, so we can Like/Comment/Restack yours & you can do the same for others, so we can all GROW!

Pull up a seat & come to our comfy & cozy Creative CHAT! Here’s to the Creative CHAT for me & you! 🎉📚🥳📚🎉

Subscribe if you want to see where this Creative Journey can take us!

Share

Leave a comment

BONUS — Did you know that all SUBSCRIBERS can read the 1st Book of THE OBSIDIAN CHRONICLES (OBSIDIAN: Birth to Venus) for FREE?

READ THE SYNOPSIS

Subscribe now

Together, we’ll explore all the ways that we can 10x our life — mind, body, & soul.

We’ll learn the scientific, physiological, and psychological reasons why we are the way that we are. And…

We’ll combine that understanding with simple, active practices that will supercharge our self-improvement & give us unstoppable self-belief!

When you SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK, you’ll gain access to these 2 resources:

(1) Every week, you’ll get my free Non-Fiction Newsletter on Substack, entitled Marisa VICTUS: Science of Synergy & Self; and,

(2) Every day, you’ll be able to entrain your brain — the quick & easy way — with my daily Mindset & Meditation (M&M) practice.

I’m building my own Mindset & Meditation (M&M) Community, so we can all invest in our truest, most Authentic Self.

🌸 Every day, I write ✍️1 handwritten✍️ M&M (Mindset & Meditation) Note.🌸

🧘🏻‍♀️If you want to grow with me, repeat these daily affirmations like I am.🧘🏻‍♀️

🙌Let’s entrain our brains to adopt these empowering beliefs.🙌

Plus, if you’d like to see me succeed (or flop 😂) as I practice in public,

(3) SUBSCRIBE to my free YouTube Channel!