Being true to yourself

Hi everyone! It has been a while (I’ve been AWOL for 3 months and will explain why later), so I’d like to cut straight to the chase and talk about this oh-so-cliche but incredibly important topic: Being true to yourself.

I know: “Why Molly? Why must you bring this up?”

Because in today’s society it is to easy to lose yourself. It is SO easy to get caught up in the rat race, to think the hamster wheel is more important to be than beside ourselves. It is just too darn easy to fall into the traps.

The traps are emails sending you sales, convincing you you need that skirt or shoe to feel good. The traps are thinking you need a certain degree to get a certain job to finally be happy. The traps are dumbing down your individuality because society values synchronicity.

It is totally and completely wrong.

Here is the bitter truth: We are all here for a brief moment of life, awakened from an abyss of the unknown. Don’t you want to say you lived the life of your dreams? A life you filled every square inch of with your essence? I know I do. And it took me waking up to the rat race everyday to figure out the race is not where I need to be. Your true self, getting to know your inner core, is not something society or your loved ones will intentionally help you build. It is solely an internal job.

And so guys, I’ve been AWOL because I’ve been doing some deep soul work to get in touch with my innermost self. My last video was on me starting a new job and having to give up time to it, so my posting has really declined since then until I briefly flatlined. I devoted so much time and energy to this job for all these months only to find that I haven’t been true to myself in many aspects. I’m standing at a crossroad, and I’m solely relying on that innermost voice to guide me, and it has taken a lot of energy to figure it all out.

I finally arrived at a good place and I know what it is I want to do. But the key point is how I arrived to this plane of peace with myself.

Here are a few things I learned along the way to being true to myself:

1. Set the intention. You can’t find your innermost self without setting aside the time and effort to accomplish it. Internal dialogue takes a lot of work and patience. So make the time, make the effort, set it all aside at least 5 minutes each day to ask yourself at least 1 deep question.

Which questions?

That is a decent one to start with! I will answer that question with a list of questions.

• What makes you truly happy (as in completely filled with every single good emotion you’re capable of: gratitude, joy, humor. Many people confuse amusement with happiness).
• When was the last time you were truly happy?
• Is this (insert job, paycheck, reputation, etc. here) worth the next 20 years of your life?
• What can you do right now with where you’re at and have to start your journey?
• What is God in your own perspective?
• If you had to be completely honest right now with yourself about whatever you wanted WITHOUT facing judgement or repercussions, what would you say?

2. How fast has time passed since you graduated high school? College? Met so-and-so? Time has flown right? That is what time does. It escapes. Drains away exactly as the sand does in an hourglass. So don’t postpone getting to know your inner core because before you know it, life will have passed already and you missed out on your only chance to know and be your glorious self.

3. Embrace your self-realizations, no matter how harsh, insulting, unexpected, embarrassing they are. For example, it took me a long time to admit to myself that I don’t ever want children. I felt a lot of resistance, fear. It is almost taboo and an expectation in society. But honestly, to heck with that. I am who I am and my life is my own.

4. No more lies to yourself. You can’t continue making these crap lies up to yourself and overselling who you really are to the world. If you work in IT and you hate IT, admit it, make a plan, move on. Don’t lie to yourself anymore thinking you may actually like it one day when all you’ve accomplished up to this point is basic slavery. No more lies. No more complications. Be honest and genuinely sell yourself to the world. Don’t oversell qualities that aren’t there.

5. Wear your armor. You are in a battle for your life (with yourself!) which makes this whole thing extra sensitive to deal with. Strengthen yourself against exterior negativity, develop your backbone, maintain your self-esteem intact. Hold the battlefield steady. Keep going.

This journey to know yourself is truly hard. I won’t even try to sugar coat it. It has been one of the hardest moments I’ve ever had in my life. The fear us enormous and stuns you from taking action. But they key is to never quit. Through persistence, you will succeed at anything you try. This is no different. So, until next time guys, take care. 🙂

xx Molly

 

“All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own.”
Johann von Goethe

Work hard now for a better future

Hi guys! Welcome back to The Bodhi Archives!

I apologize for my erratic posting schedule…. It will become regular soon! I am still in the middle of starting out this new era in my life and a new job, which takes away a lot of my time and energy.

Although I love it, I found myself wondering the other day about how hard these past few weeks have been. I mean, I’ve been literally working 12+ hours every day, barely any time off, I’m sleep deprived, etc. You know, one of those periods in life where everything seems to be taking the hard route. BUT I immediately stopped myself. Honestly, what ELSE would I be doing with my youth, if not securing my career and making a better future for myself?

This goes out to those of you adolescents starting out life: Either you work hard now and play later or you play now and work hard later. USUALLY, you don’t get to have your cake and eat it too, which is play now and play later. Time is more valuable than anything: Make it worth something. Get something out of it. Work hard, spend your time doing things that will benefit you and your loved ones, spend time securing your future. THAT is my advice to you.

So yeah, working hard, as I am doing now, it is rough on you. But it is worth it. Ultimately, you may regret slacking off and not doing what you’re supposed to do, but you will NEVER regret working hard and giving it your all.

For those in a hard time in life right now, whether it be getting a new degree and balancing a job, raising a child, starting your careers, securing a house, WHATEVER the case may be, it will be WORTH IT. Working hard will be WORTH IT. You can never regret giving your best.

The drawings I made during these videos were part of an exercise program I’m following to improve my skills. I drew my hand and a self portrait from a mirror. I was not aiming to make a masterpiece! These videos are meant for you to grow with me as I practice my art skills and I express quick thoughts I have while making them. I thank you all for coming along on the journey with me 🙂

Another video next week! 🙂

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All my love,

Molly

Starting something new/ Starting a new life stage

Hey guys! This week I am simply writing an article related to what I have been experiencing in my current life situation: The start of a new life stage. If you are the kind of person who hates change, this article may just help you.

First, I must say that this is a powerful time, and it brings with it an obvious aura: One of rebirth, renewal. You still are you, but the air circling through your life now carries a new weight and it feels as though it carries you with it. That is how I know I’ve entered a new period in my life. This is how I feel right now.

I have started a new job and it feels tremendous, although scary as well. I have fallen in love with what I do despite there being so much to learn and so many personalities to meet. But I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.

I live for change. Static bores me. I am constantly uprooting and trying out new things and bringing new air into my life to breath.

There are many people who do not feel the same way. They may not like change or react positively to it. I know several people like that.  But with this post and in my telling you my experience, I hope you consider bringing some new air into your life.

Life is ABOUT change.  Life is fueled by change. Therefore, it makes sure that nothing lasts forever, nothing stays the same. Whether you realize it or not, the life circumstances that you’re so comfortable with now do indeed undergo subtle change. Remember how it was when you first started under these circumstances; Doesn’t it feel different now? The time aren’t exactly the same, that’s for sure.

Knowing that life will always and forever enforce upon you its own changes (whether it turn out in your favor or not), does it not make sense to begin choosing which changes you want in your life? What new circumstances you want to welcome and experience?

This is not a blog meant to change your mind: You are who you are. It is meant to help empower you to bring the best to yourself. If life is going to change constantly anyways, why not strive to get the change you wish you could experience?

Starting a new life stage has been invigorating. Hard, unnerving, and scary at times, but oh so worth it. And the good news is, it will change again and again, so it wouldn’t even matter if I disliked my current stage. You, like I, will always have a choice. 

Go for it. Start something new. I can guarantee that although it may be had, and scary, it will help you grow. 

Let’s talk life over art! Acceptance/ DaVinci practice in 4k timelapse

Let’s talk life over art! Acceptance/ Master DaVinci drawing practice in 4k timelapse

Hey guys! Welcome back! In this video, I talk about acceptance whilst I put my drawing skills to the test on a practice drawing originally by Leonardo DaVinci.

It has been quite an eventful 2 weeks! But despite being pleased with where I am right now in life, I was finding my core to still have some resistance. After some soul-searching, I have learned that I still haven’t accepted some things, like events and circumstances I had to go through to get to where I am today. It’s weird and unfortunate that pain works that way: It’s not so easy to get rid of.

I don’t have a grand solution for this as I am still working on it, BUT the good news is, some factors do come into play. The older you get, the easier acceptance comes. After getting pushed round so much, you kinda just learn to take life as it comes and leave the rest behind. This is fortunately a skill that should come to everyone with time 🙂 Another factor may be your personality: If you are easy-going you may benefit from having acceptance come to you easier. I only recognize these from experience and observation, but does it make them any less helpful?

In the end guys, what I do to calm my resistance and have acceptance come to me is to stay conscious with it. I attribute any ounce of my hesitations and resistance to my inability to accept what is. Recognizing this, I put it in its place: meditations, affirmations, talking to myself in the mirror, WHATEVER it takes.

I’m still struggling with this, but if I weren’t I wouldn’t be human! We ALL struggle or have struggled from acceptance issues. If you have any advice on how to achieve acceptance, comment below! Would love to hear from you!

I have missed you all!! Only a short time before I’m back to the routine 🙂 Love you guys! Take care 🙂

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All my love,
Molly

 

Structuring your time for success/ Channel update

Hi guys! This video talks about how I am in the process of restructuring my life to give time to important things and how sometimes to be successful, that entails borrowing time from other areas of your life to make that happen.

There is not enough time in the day to do it ALL. You need to divide your time between things that matter the most and to be honest that division won’t always be equal. Different things take importance at different times. What is important now won’t always be the most important at all times (unless it is your family or health). It is a delicate game of balance and poise when it comes to priorities.

That being said I am on the brink of starting a very BIG career opportunity that will challenge me mentally and professionally. And given the nature of my job, as I am in the medical field in a position of high autonomy, I can definitely kill someone if I don’t get my stuff down right and packed. SO, because I will be devoted heavily to that for the next couple of months, I am going to be posting new videos every other Thursday.

I know… I would miss me too 😛 jk

But I will be back to posting weekly once this is all over, maybe in about 2 months.

As well, I am going to be making a lot more “Let’s talk life over art!” videos because I get to do the 2 things I ADORE! I will still be making montages and regular videos occasionally, BUUUTTT I think the art time-lapse may become a central focus to the channel. Let me know what you think about that! I like the idea because you guys get to grow with me as well, seeing my skills as an artist improve and perhaps this will serve as even greater motivation to do what you love too. 🙂

As always, you guys can comment, message me, email me, errythaanngg if you want some advice on a subject or want an upcoming video to be on that subject!

Love ya’ll and thanks for growing with me 🙂

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All my love,
Molly

Social anxiety with art time lapse: Let’s talk life over art! in 2.7k

Hey guys! This is Molly and welcome to The Bodhi Archives!
During the course of this drawing, I found myself thinking about social anxiety. It is a problem, and a more common problem than we believe it to be.

Social anxiety, in my description, is a shame, self-doubt or embarrassment towards yourself in social situations. You know that feeling of not wanting to be called on in class, approached by others or feel forced when you have small-talk with other people? These are all manifestations of social anxiety.

Today’s society doesn’t make it any better either. Compared to the “good old days” when it was easy to go under the radar, now we are insta-connected to every single person in our social circle at all times, making it hard to escape the social pressure. We are constantly exposed to other people’s business and images of the ways our lives should look like and all these comparisons, causing a rift in our self esteem and identity. We get buried in it all.

A way to make this bearable is to take the time to develop your sense of self. Take the time to stop yourself from deriving your identity from what you see and start deriving it from how you FEEL when your alone. It may seem counterintuitive, I know: Improve your social anxiety by regressing into solitude and getting to know yourself. BUT as most of our problems are, this is an internal one, and must be fixed internally. Encase your core in a shield so strong, that none of these social pressures can penetrate it.

While many people may experience severe social anxiety on a level that requires intensive treatment, this tip will hopefully help you survive until that next social gathering comes up and hopefully well after that 🙂

Thanks for watching me give my art a go! Practice makes perfect 🙂

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All my love,
Molly

Pessimism and Optimism: Let’s Talk Life Over Art! in 2.7k

Hey guys!

Welcome to The Bodhi Archives, and this is the first of a series I call “Let’s Talk Life Over Art!” where I will practice my drawing skills on various subjects and let you see them in time lapse. (I am not DaVinci and this is not meant to be a drawing tutorial, but I love drawing so here it goes!) When I draw, my mind goes off onto these grand ideas and adventures, which I will also be talking about as you watch!

The picture I draw and the words I say won’t always be related, but it is more about what the drawing instills in me that I will talk about.

I LOVE both art and self-help so this is something I’m REALLLYYY excited about. It’s fun for me, so I hope it’s fun for you and you enjoy!

This week I talk very briefly about choosing your attitude relating to the “glass half empty, half full” philosophy. For the longest time I thought I was a pessimist, until I realized that there is no such thing pre-defined within us. You always have a choice in attitude. You must choose your attitude everyday the same way you choose your clothes. This is totally empowering and also very important to realize.

THUMBS UP and SUBSCRIBE if you like this new series already! Can’t wait to embark on this new adventure with you 🙂

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All my love,
Molly

The truth about pursuing your passions

Hey everyone! This video is my take on the truth behind pursuing your passions. I list 3 things among other tips on things to think about when you decide to pursue what you love. My goal was to be realistic on the matter because I feel like the reality isn’t spoken about too often.

In pursuing your passions, I urge you to think about 3 things:
1. Decide what it is you want to do.
2. Evaluate society and the cultural aspects surrounding you.
3. Evaluate yourself to determine how you will best move forward.

Other topics I mention include:
– Being realistic and having a back-up in case you fall
– There is no set way to get onto the path to doing what you love.
– Don’t compare your successes to other people’s successes.
– Using love as the driving factor, not money.
– Your passions have promised you happiness-nothing else.

I hope you guys enjoy the video! Subscribe to stay updated with my videos every thursday! And if you want to hear about a certain self-help subject, just ask 🙂

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All my love,
Molly

Deciding what to do with your life

Deciding what you want to do (or experience) in your life

Hi guys! This is Molly and as always, welcome back to The Bodhi Archives!

We may think we are born into a situation or lifestyle and have no choice but to live with it BUT the truth is, if you aren’t happy, you have EVERY right and can make the choice to change your life. That is what you’re alive for: to experience whatever the heck you want!

In this video I challenge you to take the first step to living the life of your dreams: Choose what it is you wish to experience or be. (BTW, so often we are told to decide what to be and we have no idea. Rather, look at it as what you wish to EXPERIENCE in your life. It will make the decision-making a lot simpler.) Making this choice is often the hardest step, but the most important. Everything you do afterwards as you pursue your dreams will be by the guidance of this very important decision.

In this montage, I pieced together some clips of the things I’ve chosen to experience in my life, from boating to sightseeing, to just driving around with my loved ones at the beach or skateboarding and being goofy. Images like these are what I choose to surround myself with daily and thus what my life experiences are made of. My wish is for you to find the inspiration you need to make this important decision and eventually work to make it your reality.

Click here to SUBSCRIBE if you want to stay up to date with my videos every week – I make a new video every Thursday 🙂 I would love to have you guys become a part of my subscription family :3

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All my love,
Molly

4 books that have helped me through tough times

Hi everyone!

I have found that throughout most of my life, I have solved troubling thoughts and powered through tough times by reading. But not just reading anything, instead reading from the right sources for inspiration. Some say that when you really need something, the universe will create the opportunity or instill in you the inspiration for you to have it. And I believe this wholeheartedly.

These books targeted troubles that I have had in my past very effectively. I recommend them highly. (BTW these are my opinions, I have not received any incentives for doing this review.)

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This book is one huge spiritual metaphor. It is a spiritual lesson sewn into a fable. The story is about a shepherd named Santiago who embarks on a quest to find a treasure promised to him through a dream. As you may suspect, the quest is both entertaining and difficult to read and it escalates pretty rapidly and dramatically, so it keeps your attention all the way.

I was doubtful when I first picked up the book because the storyline seemed boring to me at first glance. (A shepherd story?? Not my cup of tea.)  However, you get unbelievably sucked into the story and before you know it, you are cheering and aching for Santiago. The author wrote the book in a way that is easy to read and understand. The book is written in chapters with small breaks within the chapter. He also wrote it in a vivid way which made me feel like I was accompanying Santiago on this trip and learning these spiritual lessons with him. It touches on spirituality concepts such as fate, chance, having the courage to leave your comfort and follow your dreams, and how the universe works its magic to make things happen for you.

Overall I loved this book! I read it at a time in my life where I had lost my faith in the universe and this book restored it. Let go of all doubts about it! Even if you don’t like reading or you read even one thing this year, this is the book I recommend.

May help you with: Finding inspiration to fulfill a life purpose or a dream, highlights the confusion in finding a life purpose, helps for those experiencing a loss of faith/spirituality, helps to open your mind to the possibilities of the universe.

2. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

This book is an intelligent read, and it is an eye-opener for the truth about success. It brings up different topics, i.e. the aviation industry, hockey, etc. and brings to light certain fact patterns about them in relation to why some succeed, and some do not. For example, the most successful hockey players’ birthdays will most often be in the first quarter of the year. Why? This book explains it and other phenomenon that attribute to success.

 I enjoy that it was written in sections, not long chapters, so it made it easier to read in my day-to-day. However, being that is a non-fiction psychology-based book, the read is a bit more complex than your average fiction book. It includes facts, statistics, scenarios, expert opinions, etc.

Despite this however, it is an excellent read. It truly helped me because I read this at a time in my life where I wondered about my abilities to fulfill my own dreams and high expectations. You know, that little voice in your head that doubts you will make it? Yeah that. Well, this book helped in setting that little voice straight. Calling all entrepreneurs! This book is for you.

May help you with: Seeing the truth about how someone achieves success, helps you to analyze your own potential for success and make the changes you need to achieve it, opens your eyes to how coincidence and destiny play a role in success.

3. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

This book is a spiritual staple. The essence of every spirituality is the concept of mindfulness, and so I consider this a rudimentary book for all spiritual enthusiasts to have on their shelves. This book talks about being mindful (staying in the present moment) and everything around it. The author is knowledgeable about this subject: He is a spiritual teacher and suffered from depression in his past, only to have found solace through converting to mindfulness. I can resonate with this because I read this book at a point in my life where I needed to ground myself again. I was feeling burned out and too involved with the future and not enough with my present. I would say that reading this solved my issue and I can see myself referring back to it as necessary.

It is written in a question and answer format. He answers pretty much every question you can think of when it comes to mindfulness, including when it comes to staying present in relationships, at work, raising children, etc. This one again is written in sections within chapters, so it is easy to read in between day-to-day activities.

May help you with: Finding inspiration to remain present in the moment, convincing you that it is worth letting go of most of your worries, brings you more peace of mind from moment to moment, reminds you of the importance of staying mindful.

4. Why Smart People Hurt by Eric Maisel

I have had this book for YEARS. I am so happy I read it at a time in my life when I felt like an outsider. I felt like I was different, didn’t belong, I saw life differently, thought differently from everyone else, etc. I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, and gave it a shot. And boy, has it been helpful.

This book is like that best friend who understands you. It really does venture deep into the issues creative individuals face, the depressions we may feel from questioning life, and all the struggles unique to us. You know how Van Gogh was a highly creative individual who suffered from depression and was marginalized by society? Sound familiar to you? It did to me. After reading this book, it felt like a fresh breath of air, like I was finally able to look clearly at myself in the mirror and finally put words to my confusing, troubled thoughts.

What this book did was let me know what I am feeling, and that I am not crazy for feeling it. Then it guided me back down to Earth and made me feel human again. Warning though, some of the guidance may come across as harsh or like it is “dumbing” these strong feelings down, but if you really practice what he says, it really helps. For those of you feeling like your questions and perspective on life are getting in the way of your happiness, or if you feel different and that is getting in the way as well, this is my recommendation for you.

May help you with: Accepting your uniqueness, explains why you feel so different from everyone else, reassurance that you aren’t insane for being so different, lets you know that it can get better.

Thank you all for reading! Add these to your arsenal this year and comment below with your own thoughts on these books or any others you think I should read!

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All my love,

Molly