Joy isn’t just part of my name. It is also part of my brand and what I want to be known for. I try to be joyful in my writing and I hope you see that.
One, Two, Three, Four Where is the open door? Is there an opportunity for me? Am I walking closer to you? Are all the right things done? Four, Three, Two, One The race will be won. As I draw close to you my spirit flew each opportunity will set me free to follow the one I adore.
If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.
Every month I do these quick update videos on my YouTube channel. They are my version of video newsletters.
They are focused specifically on my art business, which includes both my visual art and writing. I do sometimes add personal life updates since they may affect my business.
I will be starting to add them here, on my site, so that it is easy for all to access them. Starting next month the updates will post here a bit earlier in the month. However, you can always get notified of them if you subscribe to my channel.
Some say that, the one constant thing in life is change. That is true. Change is chosen or forced on you, either way it will happen. Life is full of fresh adventures and pivots in your plans. Adjust to these redirections. You can either resist and fear the change or accept the new normal and adjust to it. If you resist and fear the change, that may cause more issues though. Not accepting the different way of life can stunt your creative or your general growth. You should not fear change, but embrace it and adjust to the new chapter in your life or creative career. Most changes are a new chapter in your story. They can be you turning down an alternative path on your life’s journey.
This tip goes along with another one; Try different things. Do not be afraid to allow life’s changes to move your creativity into another direction. When you embrace the changes, instead of fighting or fearing them you can grow from them.
Yes, it will be hard. It’s difficult to adjust to adjusting. There will be times when you need to focus on transitioning into this new chapter of your life, whether it is an enormous change or a small one. Transitioning into the new normal will be even harder if you resist or fear it though.
It is easier, in the long run, to go with the flow so to say or at least accepting the needed change. You’ll also save emotional energy when you don’t fear or resist the change. When you allow the changes to happen, you can even learn from the events that brought on the changes into your life or creative career.
This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.
Come easy please with no pain or alarm. Be at peace when you come, a hopeful meoldy one filled with joy. Come to me easy please with no struggle or strife. Calmly enter and be with me. It's all I want all I desire. Come easy please.
Come Easy is a poem about how I would like things to come easy to me. This can relate to both successes in my art business and love life.
If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.
The creative life can be hard and lonely. You will get stuck on ideas and take criticism for your work. This life will be hard, which is why having friends that are creative and a creative community is so important. They’ll be able to lift you up or get you unstuck. They’ll show you you’re not in it alone. There are other artists and creatives in the world going through similar stuff in their lives.
Yes, you will work alone if you are a painter, writer, or sculptor. You must practice alone if you are a musician or actor. There will be alone time while you create. Your creative friends will show you that others are doing the same thing. Everyone will get stuck or come up against an unfamiliar obstacle. That is part of growing and improving. All artists and creatives will have to deal with criticism for their work. Also, every creative person can improve with the help of others.
It may take time to cultivate a friendship that focuses on mutual creative trust and a feedback cycle. It is worth the work. You can find these opportunities in already established groups or events. There may take time and work to find the right fit, but you’ll be able to grow in your creativity when you do.
You will learn a lot from others and they will learn from you. You will improve your art with their help and they’ll improve with your help. These types of relationships should be beneficial to all parties.
This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.
Sub-Letter #30 is the last excerpt from To Love. All the excerpts of To Love can be found on the To Love section of my site. You can purchase the book on Amazon.
Please know that the headers are placed for blog readability and highlighting certain parts. They do not appear in the book.
It has been about 2 weeks since I wrote about online dating. It feels like it was longer. Perhaps it was longer. I didn’t mark down the exact date that I signed up. It doesn’t matter, because I stopped.
Online dating felt like work and more than I wanted to do. My brain related it to searching for a job or a house. It differed from a job or house search tough. Instead of sending a couple emails, then going to an interview that is scheduled days in advance, I found that there should be at least one message a day. Sometimes the guy attempted to schedule them on the same day. That method brought out anxiety and fear for me.
I need to prepare and free up time. I can’t change my plans easily in my mind, so can’t drop everything to meet a stranger at a coffeehouse on the same day of being asked.
The first thing I learned is obvious. Online dating is not like You Got Mail. It is not romantic or fun for me.
I am sure it is great for others. There are success stories. It is just not for me, at least not for me right now.
Also, I learned that even though I want to find you and start that part of my life, I can wait. I would rather wait with high standards than lower or change them and marry someone now.
There is no rush, I do not need you right now. What I need is the right you. I am okay with being single. This chick is awesome and a hoot to be around. I can entertain myself and make decisions on my own. Plus, my friends can give me advice and support. My point in saying all of this is that I appreciate that I am loved and I love myself. One day, you will love me and love you. I can have patience and wait for that day.
After I stopped looking for you on the dating app, I thought about how I want to describe you when I am certain you are you. How I would know you are you? In my mind, I was being interviewed. I made it into a daydream that took place after we met and everyone was aware we were in love.
I guess you don’t really need to be an interviewer in this daydream, but that is how this daydream goes. We are both successes and we are doing an interview together, where you are interviewing me. You ask how I knew you were the one for me.
I answer with, “You are the only one for me because you are not perfect, but you are perfect for me. Just like every other human, you are broken and flawed. Your broken pieces do not match mine, just like your flaws are not mine. Instead, your flaws and brokenness complement mine and my flaws and brokenness complement yours. It is like a complicated puzzle. Your flaws either challenge me or are like a puzzle piece that my flaws interlock with and strengthen us together.”
Our life together will not be a “happily ever after” type of life. Yet, we will support each other, push each other, learn from and with each other. Most important, we will journey down the path of life together. We will go through hard times on that journey, but we will also enjoy great times.
The start of our journey together excites me. I look forward to working on our wedding vows and vowing them in front of family and friends when they are done. I can’t wait to find out how your flaws interlock with mine and learn how you will help me grow.
As I write this sub-letter, you are 100% percent real to me. There is no doubt and no fear in my mind. I am enthralled because I get to meet you and love you one day. Finding out who you are overwhelms me with excitement.
Okay, enough about that for now. I don’t want to fly away, and I may with all these happy thoughts. I have another poem to share.
To Love is sold on Amazon and if you would like to read more excerpts you can go the To Love Updates section of this site. Also, I created some fun promotional videos on Youtube.
As you take risks, embrace change, and achieve your goals, reflect regularly on your journey.
Some times it’s hard to be aware of your progress and track valuable milestones. Creating goals often and assessing the goals may not be enough. It is easy to lose track of your overall progress and forget how far you’ve come in your art journey.
We all start somewhere with our creative life and we can get caught up in creating that we forget that we’re making progress. I started with art and writing as a passionate hobby. It would rub me the wrong way when someone called it a hobby, but that is what it was. My desire was for my creativity to be more. However, at the start of my journey it was only something I did in my free time.
I then took actions and plan more time around my writing and painting. The act of planning my time around my creative was the first actual step in my artistic career. It was not my last step, though. I shifted my life more and more so I could make it a business and my career. I’m still working on making it a successful business, but I have been meeting wonderful milestones.
One way I track my milestones is to write achievements in a notebook. This way when I’m unaware of my progress, I can look back at all the wonderful stuff I’ve done. Some milestones are things I can control, like publishing “To Love.” Other milestones are outside my control, like making $100 from “To Love”. It is a wonderful practice to track both what your actions and the actions of your audience.
In the recent past, I’ve also used time tracking apps to see how I’ve increased in my time spent on different projects and on my art business.
My personal journal also has notes on my artist journey. When I journal, I do reflect on how my art has changed and looking at how I feel my goals and dreams are going.
I do also have an art business notebook where I take notes on ideas, research, and plan out my business and career. I can go back and examine how my business has morphed and changed over time, which is helpful in keeping me moving forward.
All this regular reflection has kept me motivated and recharges my inspiration. I have evidence written down that I’m already making progress, so I want to keep going.
This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.
Let me be in the warm summer air hugged by loved ones with their children near. Let me be in the lovign garden without a single care with smiles on the faces of those I hold dear. Let us be together for now and always.
I wrote “Let Me Be” in July 2020 while I waited for my delayed summer vacation. I was missing my family and longing for our annual summer vacation, which is always a time to relax and be surrounded by love.
If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.
I currently work for a church in the Santa Cruz Mountains called Elevation. Elevation has been around since early 2009, and I joined the church family in late 2009. Throughout the years I have seen how God shows up at Elevation. This will be more of a background to what Elevation is rather than specific stories of God showing up.
It was the second church I went to as an adult with my friends, and we quickly became a part of this wonderful church. After a few major life changes with me, I became the admin for Elevation in 2018. That is not where the story of Elevation starts, though.
The story of Elevation has to start with the pastor, Chuckk (yes, spell check it has 2 k’s). His openness to share his past, personality, and love is one reason everyone involved with the church feels safe to be themselves.
It is a beautiful thing when a group of people can be authentically themselves as they journey towards a personal relationship with God the creator. When there are no walls or barriers to break through, you can then learn and grow with people on the same journey as you.
The quick answer are the people. Like every church, those involved and belong to that church makes the church what it is. Church is not about the building or even the weekly service. The church is the people who make up the community of believers we hang out with.
The skill of musical people and other creative people are part of the culture of Elevation. This is also one reason I fit into this church. We are weird creative people who love God.
We must be cool because we meet at a nightclub. The actual location of the building doesn’t matter. We just need a space to meet. Plus, more people may be all right going to a nightclub and not a cathedral or other church building.
I’ve learned a lot from being part of Elevation and see God show up a lot throughout the years of being part of Elevation. It is such a beautiful group of God-loving people.
For more information about my amazing Church, you can go to Elevation’s website.
For more blog posts in this series, you can visit my God Shows Up page. I also have a YouTube series that goes hand in hand with this written series.
It is important in your creative life to try different things. You should experiment with different mediums, styles, and subjects. As you explore unique aspects of art or creating, you’ll find what you enjoy and also your own style. You will learn what does and doesn’t work for you. As you try unfamiliar things, you’ll also grow in your understanding of art and as an artist.
Trying new things is also good in life. With each unknown experience, you can learn more about who you are and life. Do not shy away from what is new or foreign to you. It’ll grow you as a person and artist if you let it.
I have many experiences where I tried unfamiliar things. A lot of them had to do with jobs I had. I tried out 9-12 jobs that could become a career. Funny enough, besides the ones I have now, I would only go back to cleaning dog kennels or theater carpentry. I just didn’t fit well with the others. Trying the different jobs I realized being creative was an important aspect in my career path.
I also experimented in my writing as you can tell if you look at my older writings. I’ve done short stories, poetry, articles, and even my memoir called To Love. In doing all this exploration I learned I am a fiction writer, poet, and love sharing what I’ve learned throughout my life.
In my visual art life I have drawn, sculpted, painted, and do digital art. I have done more than just those few things, but that has been my main focuses. In doing all that I learned that it is easiest and highly fulfilling for me to do digital art, but I also love painting. There is almost a need for me to paint. That is why I sculpt and draw less. My focus is on painting and digital art.
I have noticed recently that as you experiment and try new things, certain elements will remain. I will always be me, and my art will always reflect who I am. An example is that long before I focused on hearts as a series I have put or painted hearts in most of my visual art pieces. This is most likely because I focus my art and core on spreading love, happiness, and sharing my heart. I shared this focus of my life before I even realized it or spoke it.
Learning about your core and more about yourself are the 2 primary values of trying new things.
This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.