Author: @Lillybochic

I am a professional artist, textile designer, and blogger. I live in Canada with my husband and daughter. I have a passion for meeting people and creating new things. Share my adventures by following my blog at anieksteph.com

5 Ways to Balance Your New Life

Making the decision to pursue your passions is not an easy one. Many people go back and forth for years, or even decades before nailing down the elusive “Start Date” for their dreams to begin. Some people never take the jump, and continue on with the monotony of life until it is too late.

When you make the big decision, it will seem overwhelming at first. You may feel consumed by the desire to “do everything at once”. You may even enter a manic state just trying to organize your thoughts. Until you are properly prepared, you will have to balance your priorities with family life, and your boring day job (until you can escape it!)

5 Ways to Balance Your New Life

photo of woman wearing red boxing gloves
Photo by Jermaine Ulinwa on Pexels.com

Exercise regularly

Exercising regularly allows your brain and body to work at high efficiency. Physical exercise increases your ability to remember things, and plan upcoming events with your family. Regular exercise will also add stamina so that your mind can be stronger for longer.

 

Eat Properly

Eating healthy and nutrient-rich food will allow your brain to stay in top condition. Trying new healthy foods will also expose your brain to new flavors and textures that will encourage balance in your body. Avoid feeling sluggish by drinking Kombucha to to boost your gut health.

 

photo of woman in gray tank top while sitting on bed
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Wake up earlier

Wake up 1-2 hours early to have solitary time to work on your passion projects. If your project cannot be accommodated by waking up earlier, then you can try to reconfigure your schedule to allow 1 or 2 hours during the mid day or on weekends. One hour devoted to your passion each day adds up to over 30 hours per month. That is time that can be spent unproductively if you allow it. Consistency is key, so carve out the time required to develop yourself, and you will see improvements quickly.

 

Keep visual tabs on your ongoing projects

Allow your progress on projects to stare you in the face. Take photos and share them with friends and family. Allow the visual representation of your ongoing project to inspire you to keep going! Look at it every day. Use the time spent looking at it to explore ways you can improve.

 

Involve your family

The best way to balance your new passion pursuit with your family life is by incorporating the two together. Ask you daughter or son to watch you as you set up stages of your project Take your spouse with you to learn things about your passion. The important thing is the time spent together with loved ones. Show them how much you care by involving them in your life as it evolves.

 

The transition into a life where you pursue your passions can be difficult. These 5 ways to balance your family life will assist you in overcoming the growing pains with these changes.

Thanks for stopping by,

Stephanie

by @Lillybochic

10 Things Holding You Back From the Life You Want

For the most part, we are living in an age of wonder. Technology has allowed us to have access to information that can improve our lives, and we know more about our world than ever before.Some of us have been able to harness these advantages to reach our potential and live the life that we choose- instead of a life prescribed by others. You want to achieve this too, but something is holding you back.

Ten Things That Are Holding You Back From the Life You Want

  1. An unfulfilling job or a poor work environment

    Nothing is more draining to your soul than selling your time to a miserable job. Get your act together and figure out a plan to leave a bad work environment as soon as possible!

  2. Watching too much television

    Sure, binge watching shows is fun, and it allows you to stay current with what everyone else is doing. But why are you so interested in doing what everyone else is? Aren’t you searching to pursue your passion because you want to be more like yourself? Take a second look at your priorities.

    closed doors
    Photo by Susanne Jutzeler on Pexels.com

  3. Worrying or thinking too much about what your neighbors think

    Chances are that they aren’t thinking about you. If you hardly know your neighbors, this fear is likely to be all in your head.

  4. A commute to work that is more than 20-25 minutes

    Remember that whatever length of time it takes you to get to work each morning will be at least one and a half times longer after work. Many employers stagger their start times, so morning commutes can be deceptively shorter than the time it takes to get home. Your 45 minute commute to work in the morning is stealing up to 2.5 hours per day from your life.

  5. Eating poorly

    If you put low grade fuel into your body, you are more likely to get poor performance out of it. Skip the chips and eat a carrot!

  6. Spending too much time on social media

    Getting caught in the never ending “scroll” is how these companies keep you addicted to their products, and keep you stuck in a loop. Set limits for your use of social media unless you are using it to run a business.

  7. Not reading enough.

    Your mind expands when it is exposed to new concepts. Set your internet browser to deliver you content from news journals like The New York Times, NPR.com, or TheConversation.com – Firefox has great plugins for this.

  8. Getting too hung up on the details, or looking too broadly at the big picture-

    These actions can derail your main intent and overwhelm you.

  9. Not meeting enough new people each week/ regularly

    Part of personal growth involves stepping outside of yourself and expanding your experiences. Without meeting new people, you will find it difficult to widen your world view.

    photo of man stretching his arm
    Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

  10. Not getting enough exercise

    Now stop reading and go outside for a walk!

Do you have any more examples of things that are holding you back from living the life you want? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!Stephanie

by @Lillybochic

5 Reasons Why I Save My Old To Do lists

5 Reasons Why I Save My Old To Do lists

One of the ways I like to stay organized in life and professionally is by writing down everything that I need to remember. My to do lists are no exception. I love to do lists because of the endorphins I get from crossing the completed item off of my list. I also save my to-do lists once I have completed them, and here are five reasons why…

  1. I am able to track what I have completed- the completed list contains an itemized description of what I have accomplished during the time period.
    woman in front of her computer
    Photo by Retha Ferguson on Pexels.com
  2. I am able to highlight my accomplishments-I can own the feeling of progress! Yay! I’m getting stuff done!
  3. I am able to make new goals for the future- You start to think “If i just did all this, I can surely move on to…(insert bigger plan).
  4. I am able to remind myself of how amazing I am- Give thanks to the greater self image and bigger story of your life.
    man with fireworks
    Photo by Rakicevic Nenad on Pexels.com
  5. I can follow up on anything I was unsuccessful with or unsatisfied with- What you failed on, you will prevail on! Keep going.
    Have you tried this? What are your thoughts? Thanks for reading, and please subscribe for more!

Stephanie

by @Lillybochic

Three types of people you will lose when you start to pursue your passion

Three types of people you will lose when you start to pursue your passion

As a person growing into your chosen life, it is important to understand that some of the existing structures in your life are based on what was prescribed FOR you by others. To achieve the life you want you will need to consider the changes necessary to get to where you want to be. This includes thinking about the type of person you want to be.

Some relationships in your life will be like branches on a tree. The strong and important ones will grow with the tree; while the less important or unbalancing branches will need to be pruned, or worse yet- will get destroyed by a lightning storm.

3 People You Will Lose When You Start to Pursue Your Passions

Illustration by Stephanie Konu of Three types of people you will lose when you begin to pursue your passion
Illustration by Stephanie Konu

  1. The Becky’s and Tatiana’s

    These are the flaky friends who would often share in your misery when life was not as good. They usually spend more money than they make, and live their lives in bank overdraft. The world exists to give them things (in their minds only of course) and they frequently fail to follow through on anything.

    How to know if you have a Becky or a Tatiana?

    Set up a mental test for your friendship. When you see them next, suggest a S.M.A.R.T goal (Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Time Based goals). This could be something like asking them to meet you on Saturday to take photos at the park. These photos would improve your friend’s photography portfolio, and ultimately help them book more work as a photographer. If your friend initially agrees to the plan, but cancels or flat out flakes on the date without a very good excuse, then you know you have a Becky, Tatiana, or Tom or Billy on your hands!

  2. The people who boo you from the cheap seats. Alternate alias: the Haters.

    These people have a very negative outlook on life, so they are easier to spot from farther away than the earlier category. They are fueled by a negative and self-defeating mindset. For them the question is: “Why bother? It won’t be any good” for pretty much anything in life that doesn’t serve an immediate survival need. Fun and enjoyment only exist within their narrow purview of life; so if you look to them for validation in your pursuit of your life passions, you will be very disappointed.

    These people do not want you to succeed for a simple reason: misery loves company, and why should you accomplish what they never could? Do not pay attention to them because they will soon become your supporters when they see how well you will emerge from your transition into the life you want.

  3. Time Wasters

    These people can have similar traits to the previous categories. Becky and Tatiana waste your time by never following through. Haters also waste your time when you focus on their negative energy. This specific type of time waster is a person who will want to associate with you because of reasons that add to their own self-esteem. These people will ask for your time, and favours in exchange for some far-off reward (large gifts, promising to promote you, etc). When you give them what they want, all you end up with is a bill for your expenses and time lost from pursuing your passion.

    These people are dangerous because of one main reason: time is the only resource that you can’t ever get back. You really don’t have much of it to spare on meaningless associations that lead you nowhere. Spending too much time with these people will never lead to new opportunities, or to new ideas. Just to dead end nights where the only thing you have time to do before bed is to look longingly at your projects and sigh. Wasted time. Take back those minutes.

Living the life you want is not impossible, but it takes work and conscious observation of who you are. Keep going. You will get there. – Stephanie

Thanks for stopping by,

Stephanie

by @Lillybochic

10 Ways to Become Inspired

Creative blocks can occur at any point in the process. Whether you are writing a thesis, painting, or have to perform, you may suffer from the ability to become inspired.

Inspiration is one of those elusive things- we know that inspiration leads to creativity; but what are things that spark that fresh and new idea?

Here are my ideas for:

 

10 Ways to Become Inspired

 

 

  1. Go for a walk in the great outdoors. It doesn’t have to be a perfectly orchestrated event. If you live in a safe neighborhood, grab your keys and take a stroll outside.

    photo of woman wearing yellow dress
    Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com
  2. Visit a friend. Go and check in on your friend who lives up the road. If you haven’t seen them in a while, bring a small token to renew the friendship.
  3. Drive or ride your bicycle to a body of water nearby. If you are lucky enough to live near a lake or an ocean, take advantage of how fortunate you are! Go and see it!
  4. Purchase a small item from an independent retailer. “Mom and Pop shops” and other small businesses need your support. Without them, the world would be full of stores like Target and Walmart. We need to support the originality of the dreamers who dare to do something different. Kind of like you, right?

    man standing beside man holding gray club
    Photo by Jopwell on Pexels.com
  5. Make conversation with the cashier or salesperson the next time you buy something. Be friendly. You never know what you might learn from someone else!
  6. Clean every reflective surface in your home. It sounds weird, but follow me on this one. Reflective surfaces will usually allow you to see yourself when you polish them. If you focus on cleaning and polishing all of the reflective surfaces in your home, what you are also doing is spending time looking at your own reflection. What better way to become inspired, than by practicing positive self-talk in a mirror? You go and you get it!
  7. Empty the junk drawer in your house. You know the one I am talking about. Take the contents out to sort and organize. Something could pop out at you that is unexpectedly inspirational.
  8. Review calendars from previous months. Highlight your accomplishments. Own those moments of achievement.
  9. Clean out your Gmail inbox. Delete those email offers from Hello Fresh. Enough is enough already!
  10. Read an article about an upcoming holiday or event. The more obscure the celebration, the better. Learning about the customs of other people will spark creative questions and make you want to understand more. The more you understand, the more inspired you will feel to try other new things.

 

Finding that spark isn’t easy, but once you have tried these 10 Ways to Become Inspired, you will have a fresh set of eyes and a rested mind feel your inspiration come through.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Stephanie

 

by @Lillybochic

Stephanie’s Art Roll Call

I recently shot this video to feature the beautiful way my recent artwork carries on from one piece to another.

On a gorgeously sunny day I staged my artwork in the sunlight, and kept them organized by size/ style.

By arranging them in this style, the consistent use of a golden sun is highly prominent. One can also easily see the iridescent quality of each work, as they are very reflective in the sunlight.

The colours just pop! It’s hard to believe that there are no filters, or after effects on this video- this is raw footage of my work in direct sunlight- radiating positive vibes into the universe!

I think that a series of prints featuring all of these images would do well- and I will happily make these available if asked. I hope that my message of positivity is conveyed as an overall theme when this video is viewed, and that it brightened your day/ week as well.

Thank you for stopping by,

S

by @Lillybochic

Illustrated Poetry

Greetings from the void!

I am continuing to create illustrations of my early writing. I used to write poetry daily, often during times of boredom or stress at work. Since beginning this recent project, I have found poems written as far back at 2011- one year after finishing university and starting my life in the working world.

I once promised myself that I would publish a book of my poetry, and now that I am adding illustrations, I feel like they are more “finished” when paired with imagery.

When I wrote this poem I was very occupied with the concept of love and longing. My early post entitled “The Sun Who Loved the Girl” touches on this subject. I think it is an area that I would like to further explore for future writings.

Right now, I am working on illustrations for a book that my company is publishing. I did not write the books, but I have created unique illustrations for the cover art. I will post updates when the books are released on Amazon.

The following image is an illustrated poem that I wrote in 2011. It is entitled “Yearn”. I hope you enjoy it.

 

an illustrate dpoem featuring a woman drinking from a glass in a seductive manner
An illustrated poem written in 2011.

Thanks for stopping by, and please leave comments if you like my work!

 

-S

by @Lillybochic

Blue, Gold, and Turquoise Acrylic Art

My latest work is a 24 x 24 inch gallery wrapped canvas with beautiful colors.

Entitled “Bliss”, this work was completed in 2020 by myself using acrylic pouring techniques.

As usual, my artwork encompasses an experimentational aspect- with the mixture of water into acrylic paint, it is never fully certain what the end result of a painting will be.

Starting with a brilliant blue background, I layered variations of blue and turquoise on top of one another to build a deep field upon which to place the iridescent full turquoise colour.

Where turquoise is layered underneath the gold field, a head-like figure emerges at the top of the image. The figurative head is facing west, and looking toward the direction that the sun is emerging from.

The gold fields of this work are so dramatic, and bring immense warmth to the feeling of this piece. In sunlight, as seen in the photos above, the reflective surfaces are magnetic, and draw the observer into the piece.

The splashes of gold add drama to the lower left area of the image. It is evident here that the deep gold field was poured against the brilliant blue background .

I would be immensely pleased to recreate this artwork on a very large canvas. Larger artwork always allows the details and nuances of my work to be displayed easier. I would happily make prints available for this piece in the future if asked.

I love the positive and exciting feeling this emitted from “Bliss”- it truly is blissful to spend time appreciating it. 

Thank you for stopping by,

S

by @Lillybochic