Let’s COMMIT to loving our Authentic Self!
Our MENTALITY Creates Our REALITY!
Not the other way around.
Today, I need that reminder more than usual, so I’ll say it again:
“My Mentality creates My Reality!”
I try to remind myself of this fact, especially on difficult days.
Today’s a Difficult Day because I woke up with a horrendous migraine.
I told myself, “I could push harder to make this post.”
Yup, my initial inclination was to force myself to GO HARD!
Then, I thought, “I could soften, instead.”
I could take the time to remember: I AM HUMAN.
And, sometimes, “Being Human is HARD!”
It feels vulnerable to think.
Even more vulnerable to say it out loud.
But it’s the truth.
I need help.
I need to reach out across the Universe, to find “My People,” other humans who can resonate with my current suffering, who are open to receiving my message today:
- I am not perfect.
- I am suffering.
- But, I am still here…trying.
I am writing this, in the hope that my imperfect Self can still create something of value for you.
In the hope that maybe a part of you is suffering, too.
Not that I want you to suffer. No, never that.
I just want to touch your human heart.
To seek a simple truth:
Are you in any way like me?
Maybe not.
Certainly, not identical.
But, do you understand — even a little — what it feels like to be suffering?
In my body, as in my mind, I feel this tension between what I feel — this pain — and what I wish I could do, how I wish I could be, in this moment.
It’s a roadblock, preventing me from walking the path I feel I “should” be walking.
There’s this urge to “do more.” To “be more.”
To fight against “what is,” because “what is” is beyond inconvenient.
The pain in my head and neck’s unbearable.
And, worse, as usual for all my migraines, the ruminating thoughts and feeling of being alone are overwhelming.
I have a solution: To remember I am not alone.
We are not alone. Never.
We all suffer in a myriad of ways.
But we can all encourage each other to love ourselves, always.
To be kinder to ourselves in all the moments that matter.
Especially in the midst of our inescapable imperfection.
We don’t have to be perfect to be loved.
We are worthy as we are.
As individuals and as a community.
Which brings me to why I decided to show up today…
Despite the pain & rumination, there’s something I am excited & happy about!
YASSS! It’s time for us to announce the new Book Club selection!
🥁 Drum roll, please…🥁
The new book for our STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵 is…
Dr. Ellen J. Langer’s book — ON BECOMING AN ARTIST: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity!
Dr. Langer’s the very first female to be tenured in Psychology at Harvard, and her research focuses on the power of Mind-Body Unity (rather than duality).
Many of her experiments and studies are world-famous, and here she’s talking about how to apply the practice of Mindfulness & the science of Mind-Body Unity to Creativity.
The book’s jam-packed with science but, what I love even more, is her attitude. She’s not dogmatic whatsoever. She’s the opposite. She teaches us how mindlessly we often live our lives, and demonstrates how we can stop assuming we know and allow our creative curiosity to guide us instead.
I can’t wait to launch into our deep-dive, starting next week!
As always, I will be including Journaling Prompts so we can go inward and explore ways to put Dr. Langer’s insights into living practice.
Not in the stuffy way you might expect.
Not by following the so-called “rules.”
But by actively questioning the rules. Flying by the seat of our pants. And experimenting to see what suits us as individuals.
This is an intuitive approach that’s inspired by Dr. Langer herself. For, as you’ll see in this book, amidst plenty of scientific explanations, she takes us on her own adventure with painting.
And, trust me, it’s not some paint-by-numbers exercise.
It’s all about not having preconceived notions about how art’s “supposed to be.”
Instead, it’s all about using our mindful creativity to find what actually works for us — not because society’s told us so, but because it feels right for us to grow and thrive as unique individuals.
I anticipate it’s going to strengthen our resolve to be creative as a lifelong method for enriching our lives, to BREAK FREE of Our Needless Suffering!
Now, let’s take a Mindful Minute, to imagine who we could be if we were open to play, no matter our age.
How much better would our lives be because of it?
How connected would we feel to the child that’s still there, living inside of us?
How healthy could our minds, bodies, and spirits be if we prioritized our self-love for once?
Our days needn’t be dreary, focused on “the grind” or on “making it.”
Together, we can break free of society’s tendency to lull us like lemmings off a cliff.
We can live our lives in a mindful, creative way, & become who we CHOOSE to be, instead.
Please join us next week,
when we begin our deep-dive into
our new Book Club selection:
📚ON BECOMING AN ARTIST📚
📚by Dr. Ellen J. Langer📚
🧠🎨The Mindful Artist in me🎨🧠
🧠🎨honors & respects the Mindful Artist in you,🎨🧠
Marisa
👭 Do you want to enlist the help of a Fellow Creative, to help you BREAK FREE?
Our CHAT can be a safe place to tell safe people what you’d like to accomplish, so we can all support & cheer you on.
👭 If you’re comfortable doing so, feel free to tell us what Creative Practice you would like to try whenever one of your Anxiety Spirals starts to spin.
Let’s TRUST in our ability to be at peace.
Together, we can support each other on our healing journeys, to be the Creatives we are meant to be.
Together, we can BREAK FREE.
We don’t have to find solutions 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):
🙌 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
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!
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Your kind contribution can be the greatly-appreciated rocket fuel that inspires me to keep living according to My Motto: Vita est pro victus! which means “Life is for Living — Truly Living!” Not as some shell of who we should be. But as our truest, most Authentic Self.
That’s MY MISSION in life: to encourage myself & others to BREAK FREE, to Be Our Truest, Most Authentic Self!
Join me! Together, we can be who we CHOOSE to be. Who we’re MEANT to be:
Happy & Healthy ♾️ Creating a life we LOVE ♾️ Full of Hope, Passion, & Purpose
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) You’ll be able to entrain your brain — the quick & easy way — with my 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,
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