You thought you were “over it,” but then there comes that same Limiting Belief, rearing its ugly head again!
Let’s SERENADE Our Inner Critic
in my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT (link below), where we love to celebrate the Messy Middle!☕️🍵
I wrote this in the middle of the week —on Wednesday — a.k.a. “hump day,” as some people like to call it.
I say it’s the perfect time to celebrate the “Messy Middle,” no matter what that might be in your life.
What is the “Messy Middle”?
It could be anything. But, whatever it is, it’s definitely something where you’re making progress, but you’re no where near finished.
I’m a firm believer in:
★ NOT waiting until a goal is accomplished to celebrate the journey.
★ BEING GENTLE with ourselves when it’s a struggle, something’s off, or it’s just not finished yet.
Today, I’m tackling the Messiest Middle that ever was: The Inner Critic.
Recently, when I was journaling, I found myself troubled by a specific Limiting Belief: I don’t have enough time.
I know why:
Because I’ve taken so damn long to honor my Authentic Self and go on this “Attorney-to-Creative” Journey.
I thought I was “over it” — that I had gotten rid of the Limiting Belief “I don’t have time” — by committing myself to making 1 Substack Post per week.
I might be slow, but at least I’d be making progress every week. That helped me to calm down and ease some of my anxiety about my Creative Work.
But, then I had my recent health scare, and the same Limiting Belief came roaring back, screaming,
You don’t have enough time!
You’re too late!
Game’s over!
Good thing I have a VOICE & I’m not afraid to use it.
Indeed, I LOVE to sing — not only for fun, but to soothe & heal.
I often sing songs to nurture my Inner Child, like in these two Videos: Sing-Along-Storytime #1 or this Sing-Along-Storytime #2.
But…
What About Serenading the Inner Critic?
That’s what I aimed to do in the Recording above:
To serenade my Inner Critic, in the hope that — one day — it will finally LET ME LET GO
of this Limiting Belief
and all the other Limiting Beliefs that plague me.
What About YOU?
Take a Mindful Minute to reflect on your life:
⭐️ When you listen to the lyrics and imagine them being sung to your Inner Critic, does it help to soothe you?
⭐️ Do you ever take time to celebrate your “Messy Middle”?
⭐️ What’s a Limiting Belief that’s ailing you now?
⭐️ Do you ever wish your Inner Critic would finally LET YOU LET GO?
The Letting Go in me honors & respects the Letting Go in each of you,
Marisa
⭐️ Do you have all the answers? No? Me neither. ⭐️
⭐️ No problem, because we don’t have to figure it 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
Here’s what we’ve been up to in the STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT! ☕️🍵 !
From Monday 2025–9–29:
It’s WEEK #5 of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: Recovering a Sense of Possibility.
Come join us in the STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT! ☕️🍵 for WEEK #5 of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: Recovering a Sense of Possibility.
In Chapter 5, JC asks us to examine how we subconsciously or consciously limit the potential goodness — the “possibilities” — that the Universe brings to us.
According to JC, we place false limits on the opportunities, experiences, and people that the Universe is capable of bringing to us. We don’t take it seriously. We don’t believe it’s possible. We dismiss our dreams as “grandiose.” So when we receive a gift from the universe, we disbelieve, so much so, we sometimes reject the gift by giving it back! What’s the source of the problem? Our Scarcity Mindset, this false belief that the Universe has limited resources.
JC believes in the opposite. According to her, “we are in the spiritual position of having an unlimited bank account.” JC encourages us to dream big, believe it’s achievable, and accept the possibilities that come to us.
How? JC says the solution is to open our minds and our hearts to receiving help from anywhere, no matter the source, because what we seek may come to us unexpectedly, via unanticipated synchronicities and unexpected sources.
JC says we can reduce our skepticism about external sources by working on it internally, in our Morning Pages (MPs). We can use our MPs to “ask for answers in the evening; listen for answers in the morning. Be open to all help.”
As we become more open to receiving external possibilities and expand our internal Mindset with our MPs, JC says we will experience a change in ourselves, like a “current, or river, [that] is a flow of grace moving us to our right livelihood, companions, destiny.”
⭐️ What about you?
🔬 Let’s reflect & examine our progress as we’ve been reading Chapters 1 to 5 in this book:
🔬 Do you see a river of change in yourself?
🔬 We can take measurements to find out:
⭐️ On a scale of 1–10, let’s give ourselves 2 ratings:
• (1) Disbelief about external possibilities; and,
• (2) Internal avoidance, as expressed in our MPs.
⭐️ Give yourself one set of ratings before we started reading The Artist’s Way.
⭐️ Give yourself another set of ratings now that we’ve read Chapters 1 to 5 of The Artist’s Way.
⭐️ Is there a change?
⭐️If our 1st ratings decreased in number, it indicates that we are more open to accepting external possibilities from the Universe.
⭐️ If our 2nd ratings decreased, it indicates that we are less resistant/avoidant, internally; we are more open to identifying and receiving solutions in our MPs.
⭐️ Did your ratings decrease or increase?
⭐️ Why do you think there’s a change?
⭐️ is there an External reason? Or Internal reason? Or, maybe both?
Feel free to share your observations in the Chat, like this:
For me, my numbered ratings for external disbelief decreased. Meaning that I am more open to accepting possibilities. I know this is because of the synchronicities I’ve experienced since I started reading this book. I am not to the point that I believe without skepticism. But I remain open-minded and feel better the more open-minded I become. And I always feel grateful for the goodness that has come to me. Especially for the kind and creative people I have met since I started my Creative Journey. Becoming friends with the *right people* who are also dedicated to living creatively and authentically, has been the best part of my creative journey. It’s made my creative work much more enjoyable and increased my enthusiasm to do it. I think that’s why I also see a reduction in my numbered rating for internal avoidance as well. I am still striving to meet my creative goals, and I am far from being done. But I can definitely say that I am enjoying the journey much more than before. Even though I have not reached my intended destination yet.
⭐️ What about you?
⭐️ Do you observe a shift in your own ratings?
⭐️ How has your river changed?
⭐️ Do you feel a sense of expansion as your numbers decrease? Or, a feeling of being blocked, as your numbers increase?
⭐️ I think it helps to remind ourselves that there is no “right way” to travel along our river. We are not “bad” for feeling any particular way.
Many times, we have to work through blocks to get to the other side, like lifting boulders that block our Flow. This not only helps us to let go of what no longer serves us, but also allows us to have a strong enough current to give birth to our Authentic Self. I find it’s helpful to remember that we must be gentle with ourselves no matter what we are experiencing. To just experience and notice what we notice in an accepting way.
⭐️ Please share your thoughts.
⭐️ Did anything from Chapter 5 resonate with you?
⭐️ Is there a different journaling prompt that’s been helpful for you?
Let’s support each other in the Chat!
We got this! 💪😉🙌
From Wednesday 2025–9–24:
STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT — 🤗 Let’s SUPPORT EACH OTHER with a NOTES & POSTS BOOST! 🚀
Today, let’s celebrate the Messy Middle with “WEDNESDAY WIPs”! Post a Note featuring a Work In Progress — to intentionally celebrate what we are in the process of creating, so we can SAVOR & CELEBRATE the Messy Middle before it’s finished!
It’s a fun way for us to see what we’ve been up to, cheer each other on, & Like/Comment/Restack, so we can all GROW!🙌
Like the Sketch I included in the CHAT.
Pull up a seat & come to our comfy & cozy Creative CHAT! Here’s to the Creative CHAT for me & you! 🎉📚🥳📚🎉
If it’s not your cuppa tea/coffee/chai/matcha/whatevs,
Please Note:
For anyone who does not wish to participate in the Study, Savor, & Support each other CHAT, no problemo!
I will still publish my Newsletter, M&Ms, Sing-Along Storytime, Music, Videos, Science Fiction writing, & more!
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to send me a DM.
Have a fantastic weekend!
The Creative in me honors & respects the Creative in each of you,
Marisa
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?
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!