Don't Kick The Habit Yet

There is this article by Lissa Rankin.

Lissa writes:

"I know you just made resolutions, but don’t try to stop smoking. Don’t give up booze. Don’t throw out your pot. Don’t ditch the donuts.

While you’re at it, don’t join the gym.  Don’t try to meditate every day.  Don’t promise to get over your money issues. Don’t resolve to lose twenty pounds.

Don’t quit the job you hate. Don’t leave your deadbeat boyfriend.  Don’t try to be a better mother/ daughter/ friend. Don’t give up internet porn.

Don’t finish that novel. Don’t sign up for that art class. Don’t declutter your house. Don’t get out of debt."

"What the heck? !!!" you might ask. Read until the end of Lissa's article and you will understand.

And, from my experience with myself, my children and my clients, I can really say she's right.

You might wonder how to accept yourself with those "bad" habits and even love yourself although you "did it again". 

Schedule a FREE diagnostic call with me here and let's talk! I'd be more than happy to help you see how natural it actually is for you. :)

To Create Fearlessly

(image courtesy: experiencelife.com)

Today, I stumbled upon this article with 10 great suggestions to help us create fearlessly.

What it's missing in my eyes, is the clarity about how to implement those 10 great ideas.

I'd say: Get some kind of friend/coach, who can help you to close the cleft between wanting to live differently and actually doing it.

And that I'd be happy to serve you as such, if you'd let me.

Drop me a line here or at ritajc[at]inbox[dot]lv or Facebook and let's see, if it works!

Or schedule a FREE session with me right away.

Good Suggestions

Yesterday, I watched a couple of art videos and had to think about this.

There is this saying:

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions".

I would add:

"And, even more, with good suggestions". :)

How often do we hear, read, or watch a video with great suggestions for our health or creativity, then, have all the best intentions to follow them, but don't do that?

And, in addition, we feel bad about not doing it. Right?

Any experience with stopping this vicious circle?

No suggestions, please! :)

You know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or on Facebook,
or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A Huge A-ha Moment

For some time already, I have stopped to identify with painful emotions and am using a couple of simple, but effective techniques not to get stuck with them but letting them flow (The Sedona Method, Emotional Freedom Technique, Inner Reconciliation, The Work etc.)

Lately, triggered by an episode of addictive behavior and the call for local artists to submit works to the yearly show as well as The 100 Artworks Challenge by Kellee Wynne Conrad, I was following the suggestion of Echhart Tolle to stay with the emotions that I'm feeling before indulging in addictive "coping mechanisms", to explore them.

And, only an hour ago, I realized that I have never tried to apply those techniques to boredom and abulia. Don't know, why that took me so long, but I'm over the Moon that I discovered this fact at least today. I'm sure it will change the rest of my life. :)

You know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or on Facebook,
or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

Are You Thinking About Writing?

Here are top writing tips by Barbara Kingsolver shared in this interview with Amanda Patterson.

1. Quit smoking in the hope of growing old. It takes a long time to write. People go to books for wisdom and older authors tend to have more of it.
2. Notice. If you're writing, you're a writer. If you're talking about it or thinking about it, I'm not so sure. Writing is ninety-eight percent work and two percent magic.
3. Plot comes first. The plot is the architecture of your novel. You wouldn’t build a house without a plan. If I wrote without a plot, it would just be a pile of bricks. Characters are your servants. They must serve your plot.
4. Pay attention to your passions. They are the key to starting and finishing the book you are meant to write. I don’t believe in talent. I believe in passion. 
5. Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.
6. You can do hard things. When I wrote The Poisonwood Bible, I would practice writing one scene from the viewpoint of each of the four daughters – until their voices started to sound authentic. 
7. I research a novel six ways to Sunday. I don’t want to lie to the reader; I want you to trust me.

Makes totally sense to me. How about you? Let me know in the comments, please.

We Are Born Again

Today, I received a newsletter from Lauren Gorgo with the link to her new 5D report, a really heartening one.

It looks like the seemingly never ending time of purging and morphing (at times - very painfully) could be over. *pheeeeew*

"...as our personal hologram begins to morph to reflect our true nature, we are simultaneously reconnecting with our cosmic creator power…remembering how to manage our balancing male-female forces with aplomb.  And as we begin to work more directly with the universal forces that are offered freely to those of pure heart & mind, the divine mechanism for creation activates in our DNA and we are able to enact our soul plans with perfection, quickly and effectively able to accomplish the impossible…to the extent that our well-honed capabilities will literally seem like magic to those around us."

And this is exactly, what I have started to experience partially since January already. And it seems like magic even to myself. :)

How about you? Has anything changed in the way you move in this world lately?

Daily Routine For Creative People

Today, I stumbled upon this article by Sarah Green.

Not that I can agree with author's personal preferences, but I found lots of stuff to ponder in it.

And, to me, the ending seems to be just brilliant:

"Being forced to follow the ruts of someone else’s routine may grate, but they do make it easier to stay on the path.

And that of course is what a routine really is — the path we take through our day. Whether we break that trail ourselves or follow the path blazed by our constraints, perhaps what’s most important is that we keep walking."

There is no doubt it's true in my world. How about yours?

It Might Be Finished

Today, I worked a bit more at the painting from yesterday and it might be finished until I decide otherwise. :)

What do you think?

And I got even a nice byproduct: these stripes of paper towel soaked in dry pigments and acrylic medium. :)

To see more of inspiring creativity jump over to these sites

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

And you know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

Experimenting With Pigments

Today, my youngest son and I are experimenting with pigments again and I'm loving it. :)

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to these sites

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

And you know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

Starting Anew

Hi, my loyal readers!

I'm really sorry for not posting regularly and not at all for the past two months. And I really appreciate your loyalty and understanding.

The case is, I needed some time to dive deep into my core being to figure out what's the next thing to do for me.

It wasn't easy, but I had great helpers, GP Walsh being the most substantial one of them. Hence the logo of his wonderful course on top of my side bar.

The Great Spirit literally saved my life through Greg's teaching a couple of times, and provided me with vital help and understanding of Who I Really Am.

Words fail me to express, how thankful I am for that.

And, now, I'm back here and ready to share regularly again. As I'm more in writing than painting right now, there might be more to read than to look at in the next future here. But we'll see, right?

Actually, I have painted (it was more playing with pigments than painting to be honest) last week, so there is something I can show you this time. :)

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to these sites

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

And, now, I'd absolutely love to hear, what you have been up to lately. :)

Please, leave a comment with as little as one word or as much as a whole paragraph about what has been in the focus of your attention for the first month of this year. OK?

Baby Steps

After months of not touching any art supplies, I'm starting to add color to my plain and boring diary pages and doing it more or less every day.

Nothing fancy, just playing with water soluble soft pastels and acrylic varnish. But it's a start, right? :)

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to these sites

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

And you know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

Loving The Process

So, I have participated in those 2 free year long art journal projects every day so far: pondering the prompts, selecting images, shooting pics, gluing, painting, brayering, layering, doodling, writing, interacting in the respective Facebook groups, and, generally, having much fun. :)

Yesterday, I even stumbled upon this great material about the therapeutic benefits of art journaling.

This is, how my covers and first spreads look for now.

(Sorry for the funny direction of the last one, but blogger wouldn't flip it back :D

As far, as I know me and my style, I'm pretty sure most of them aren't finished yet. And I'm taking my time, as I really love to be in this process again. :)

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to any of these sites

Paint Party Friday

Creative Every Day

And you know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A PIECE A WEEK - DECEMBER 24 - 31

Are you still up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Congratulations! We have reached the final week!

And this is my last post about it here.

It has been quite a journey with ups and downs and loads of lessons to learn.

Thank you so very much for being my companion and supporter even if it was for less than the whole year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!

You know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

P.S.Sorry for the delay of this post! All the holidays made it hard for me to remember, which day of the week it is. :D

She Can Be Back Any Time

Since July, there was a dry period in my creative life. For the first couple of months, I felt really blue.

I wasn't even very surprised about that after a pretty stressful first half of the year with my youngest son graduating and preparing for the art school.

In September, I could at least knit again. But all those months went by almost without painting or collaging.

And I felt pretty bad about all the papers and supplies laying around here and just taking space. It felt very probable, that I could never get back to it. Even this morning.

But, lo and behold! This afternoon I re-started to paint and collage again! And it felt like I would have never stopped!

I'm not sure, if it is back as a daily practice for me or just an episode. But there is something I want to remember for every moment my muse is hiding:

SHE CAN BE BACK ANY TIME!

I would be really happy to hear about your experience with your muse? Does she sometimes hide from you? And how do you handle it?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to

Creative Every Day

A Piece A Week

A PIECE A WEEK - NOVEMBER 19 - 25

Are you up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Let's share and inspire each other! Adding your link to the pool is easy-peasy: just follow the instructions! And if you want your blog visitors to see all your pieces together don't forget to tag your posts with apieceaweek!

If you'd like to steal the badge, you don't have to. It's for free! :) Just save the image from  my side bar to your machine and connect it with this link wherever you put it on your blog.

Everybody is welcome, but only with post related to this challenge, OK?

Do you like to connect and chat?

Join our closed group on Facebook and let's see, if we are the right match!

And you know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A PIECE A WEEK - NOVEMBER 5 - 11

Are you up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Let's share and inspire each other! Adding your link to the pool is easy-peasy: just follow the instructions! And if you want your blog visitors to see all your pieces together don't forget to tag your posts with apieceaweek!

If you'd like to steal the badge, you don't have to. It's for free! :) Just save the image from  my side bar to your machine and connect it with this link wherever you put it on your blog.

Everybody is welcome, but only with post related to this challenge, OK?

Do you like to connect and chat?

Join our closed group on Facebook and let's see, if we are the right match!

And you know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A PIECE A WEEK - OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 4

Are you up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Let's share and inspire each other! Adding your link to the pool is easy-peasy: just follow the instructions! And if you want your blog visitors to see all your pieces together don't forget to tag your posts with apieceaweek!

If you'd like to steal the badge, you don't have to. It's for free! :) Just save the image from  my side bar to your machine and connect it with this link wherever you put it on your blog.

Everybody is welcome, but only with post related to this challenge, OK?

Do you like to connect and chat?

Join our closed group on Facebook and let's see, if we are the right match!

And you know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A PIECE A WEEK - OCTOBER 1-7

Are you up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Let's share and inspire each other! Adding your link to the pool is easy-peasy: just follow the instructions! And if you want your blog visitors to see all your pieces together don't forget to tag your posts with apieceaweek!

If you'd like to steal the badge, you don't have to. It's for free! :) Just save the image from  my side bar to your machine and connect it with this link wherever you put it on your blog.

Everybody is welcome, but only with post related to this challenge, OK?

Do you like to connect and chat?

Join our closed group on Facebook and let's see, if we are the right match!

And you know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

A PIECE A WEEK - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23

Are you up to A PIECE A WEEK?

Let's share and inspire each other! Adding your link to the pool is easy-peasy: just follow the instructions! And if you want your blog visitors to see all your pieces together don't forget to tag your posts with apieceaweek!

If you'd like to steal the badge, you don't have to. It's for free! :) Just save the image from  my side bar to your machine and connect it with this link wherever you put it on your blog.

Everybody is welcome, but only with post related to this challenge, OK?

Do you like to connect and chat?

Join our closed group on Facebook and let's see, if we are the right match!

And you know I always love to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv

Back on the Creative Track

OK, folks, I'm back on the creative track. YAY!

My sister wanted a green lacy scarf for her birthday. So, as soon, as I finished and delivered a huge translation project (on Tuesday), it was almost only knitting and TV shows. :)

I'm a fast knitter, but, as I hadn't done it for a while, it took me about 10 attempts to figure out the right design. :) Today, we had a small family party, and I could give it to her. She liked it! Phew!

Now, to other projects!

To see more inspiring creativity jump over to

Creative Every Day

A Piece A Week

And you know I'm always happy to hear from you, right?

Please, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me at ritajc(at)inbox(dot)lv