In case anyone is wondering…

I haven’t been posting because I got a full time teaching job teaching elementary art!  Yahooooo!  More to follow.

Happy New Year!

For 2013, I hope to:

1) Worry less, especially about job search and finances.

2) Be more productive around the house

3) Do at least one creative project a week.

4) Pay off my credit card debt.

5) Spend less money on material things and save that money for experiences (trips, concerts, events).

 

I believe I kicked off the New Year right by attending an amazing Coldplay and Jay-Z concert on New Year’s Eve!

Advertisement

A Week of Gratitude for Tuesday November 20, 2012

Today for my Week of Gratitude, I give thanks to the people around the world who read, liked, commented, and followed my blog.  Without you guys, I never would have continued writing so THANK YOU!

Readers from around the world 😀

Related links:

Motivational Mondays: A Week of Thanksgiving

Follow up on last post— a blog post following a particularly “woe-is-me” post about myself. 

Motivational Mondays: Wreck-It Ralph’s message was exactly what I needed to hear…

Over the weekend, I saw the movie Wreck-It Ralph starring the vocal talents of John C. Reilly as Ralph, Sarah Silverman as Vanellope, Jack McBrayer as Felix, and Jane Lynch as Calhoun.

Plot Summary

Ralph (Reilly) is a villan in a fictional old-school video titled Fix-It-Felix.  Ralph is constantly under the shadow of the hero of the game, Felix (McBrayer) and aspires for a better life where he’s the hero and wins shiny medals for his accomplishments.  His quest for a medal messes up the eco-system of the video game universe (the arcade in which the games are set in) and leads him to a Mario-Kart like racing game called Sugar Rush where he meets Vanellope Von Sweets (Silverman). Vanellope is ostracized by her community for being a glitch and isn’t allowed to race in the game. In order for both Ralph and Vanellope to get what they want, they got to work together.

I’m not going to give away the ending of the movie (even though it’s easy to predict endings for a Disney movie) but the lessons I needed to learn were:

1) That being a hero or an all-around respected person is not measured by how many awards or medals you get.  It may not even be based on whether or not your dreams come true.  Instead, being a hero can mean making someone else’s dreams come true.  Self-respect comes from building others up.

2) You may not be able to change your situation but you can change the way you look at it.

Moral of the story: If you’re feeling down, change the way you look at the situation or take the focus of yourself and focus on making someone else’s dream come true.

Wreck-It Ralph Trailer

 

 

Sandy Update

I’m writing to let my readers know that I am safe and sound after Hurricane Sandy.  My family and I only lost power for a few days and I spent some of the time making some art.

However, the people in Lower Manhattan, Breezy Point, Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey need help!

You can donate to Red Cross here. 

Also, NBC Universal stations (MSNBC, NBC Network, USA, CNBC) are broadcasting a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy starting at 8pm ET.  Music Acts include Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, and Jon Bon Jovi with appearances from Jimmy Fallon and Matt Lauer.

One of many NY anthems:

 

Follow up on last post

I think life is funny sometimes.  My last post was probably the most negative thing I have ever written yet somehow I’ve gotten my best day for “follows” from wordpress and gained 5 more followers.  I don’t think it’s because people want me to keep writing negative posts.  In fact, the post starts out negative and then I spin into something positive.  What I learned here is that people want to read something real, honest and personal which I admit I don’t do that often on this blog.

So to all of my followers and those who liked my last post or other posts before, thank you for listening and understanding.  Because of you, I will keep on keepin’ on!

Why I haven’t been posting

Usually every Mondays, I have Motivational Mondays and every Friday I have Instagram Fridays.  I like writing this blog but lately I’ve been going through a lot on my mind when it comes to my job search looking for work as an art teacher.  On a personal note, I’m going through some financial difficulties which mostly hails from not being called often to substitute teach.  This has bought great stress to me and with encouragement from friends and loved ones, I’m trying to stay more positive and take steps to ease the burden of my current situation.

Another thing that added to my stress was me putting pressure on myself after an interview for a long-term sub position for an elementary art teacher.  I convinced myself that I HAD TO HAVE the job to the point that because I wanted it so much that I started to believe the universe wouldn’t give it to me.  When I was at the interview, I couldn’t tell what the vibe was.  It was just neutral.  Nothing bad happened but nothing amazing happened either.  In fact, I haven’t even heard back but I’m praying hard each and everyday to get myself out of a hole I dug myself in.

To be honest, I probably haven’t been following my own advice from my Motivational Mondays post.  While I won’t stop posting Motivational Mondays, I need to learn to practice what I preach.

The only way I can be in the right state of mind is to remind myself of all of the great things I do have: God, friends, family, fiancé, my health etc.  I am eternally grateful for all of those things.  When I have such an amazing support system like my family, friends, fiancé, God etc, then I really have no reason to worry.

I am working on this everyday.  I thank all of you for taking the time to read this.

From livelifehappy.com

Zentangle Inspired Abstract Watercolor

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. If you look at my menu bar, you can go directly to my Etsy shop 🙂

New Paintings in Etsy Shop!

As you all know, I recently announced the opening of my etsy shop.  Here are two of my latest additions:

Stay tuned for future additions to my shop!

Motivational Mondays: Childhood Time Lapse Collage

This video is a reminder in that every once in a while, we should approach our creative endeavors like a child.

Children are not afraid to try anything and somewhere down the line, we stop acting like children. next time you’re feeling stuck in your work, try to approach it like a child without fear or doubt.