Category: Tricia’s Picks

One of My Old Blog Banners-Correspondence with the Muses — one of my old blog banners

Returning to My Soul Conversations

August 12, 2025 / Tricia Saroya / 0 Comments

I had a blog in the distant past called Conversations with The Muses…. I loved it so much. It was before platforms like Instagram and TikTok really took off. For many of us creative types, the blogs were how we connected, shared our journey of creating, encouraged, and showcased each other. We would even have “blog parties” where the host would pick a theme and each of us would create our art or story within that theme and post it on the day of the party. The host would link everyone up, and we would then go from one site to the next, drinking tea and enjoying everyone’s contribution, often from all over the world! It was a wonderful way to celebrate and get to know each other. Some offerings were silly and homey, and some were over-the-top creations of artistic brilliance! It really didn’t matter the quality; it was more about fun and camaraderie. For the day of the party, we were all united in enjoying the theme and each other. Vanessa Valencia’s A Fanciful Twist blog https://afancifultwist.typepad.com/ was one of the best! Every year, she would host a Halloween gathering and an Alice in Wonderland-themed blog party. I participated in nearly everything and thoroughly enjoyed myself. She, unlike me, has kept her blog going and continually records her beautiful gardens, paintings, art, home, and her darling fur babies. I miss those fabulous platforms and the fun we used to have. I also miss the slower pace, the attention to detail, the heartfelt content not squeezed into short paragraphs or sound bites or quick flashy images. They were from our souls and were as long and rambling as they needed to be. The bloggers would usually post regularly, treating it like an online diary of sorts. I loved being able to check in periodically, like returning to beloved characters on a favorite TV show. I have been wondering if anyone else out there is longing for that kind of leisurely, online connection again. One that gives a bit more… more beautiful photos, more illustration, more details. More about us, our process, our unique way of being, our hearts… our soul! An individualized home on the web that reflects who we are, allowing us to share as much (or as little) as we would like. An online personalized magazine, if you will.

Two orange Cats at the Tuna and Tea party hosted by the “Mad Catter” — Two orange Cats at the Tuna and Tea party hosted
by the “Mad Catter”

Cats sipping tea at the Tuna and Tea party — Two orange Cats at the Tuna and Tea party hosted
by the “Mad Catter”

All this preamble is to say… welcome to my new Blog! I decided that with the launch of my new website and my various creative offerings, I would also return to the land of blog…. It feels like a lovely antidote to the fast-paced tempo of Instagram and other social media platforms. In blogs, I can take the time to share on a deeper level, to explore my creative and spiritual processes, and indulge myself in writing, which is something I love.

the “My Mad Catter, “Tiger”, and me…

From a Practical Magic themed blog party hosted by “Frosted Petunias” who sadly, no longer has her blog

If people want the fast-paced scrolling, then I have my Facebook and Instagram accounts with lots of pretty content. If they want something more personal, then here I am…. In all my messy, creative, and spiritual ways. I want to slow down and really sink into the process of my creativity, which is really the journey of my soul. I feel like if I share these thoughts and musings, they may resonate with people, opening our hearts to each other.

From a Practical Magic themed blog party hosted by “Frosted Petunias” who sadly, no longer has her blog….

My girlfriend and I dressed as The Aunts from Practical Magic

I have a theory that the more we share our true selves with our dreams, our back stories and struggles, our successes and perceived failures, the more we give permission to ourselves and others to be exactly who we are, with so-called “warts and all”. I want a way to connect to each other without all the noise of division and duality. I believe there is far more that unites us than divides us. I feel like we need more authenticity, appreciation, and acceptance, don’t you think? I feel like the more we do this, the less the world feels so superficial, “air-brushed” and judgmental. Connecting to each other from a heart place is the kind of sharing I am interested in. And of course, for me, I will always try to create the most beautiful content I can, even while I share my vulnerabilities. It is part of who I am, creating beauty while trying to dig deep and discover more of who I truly am, on a soul level. I welcome you along on my journey. Best fasten your seat belt, though. I tend to go off-roading quite a bit… oh yeah, and you might get paint on you.

From an Alice in Wonderland themed Blog Party

I set up an
Aunt’s worthy…

apothecary in my workspace…

“The Aunts”

Eccentricity is a Necessity!

August 7, 2025 / Tricia Saroya / 0 Comments

Mists of Avalon, Practical Magic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Downtown Abby, Merlin, Stardust, Secret of Moonacre Woods, Nanny McPhee

What do these all have in common… an exotic imaginative atmosphere, romantic clothes, colorful sets in beautiful locations, luxurious, exotic vibes, incense, perfumes, drapery, silks, brocades… sigh….I love the scene in Practical Magic where the Aunts and young Sally and Gilly are outside in the garden overlooking the bay, eating a lavish picnic spread out on an old wooden table. I love everything about that! The gorgeous clothes the aunts wear… sumptuous layers of rich, decadent fabrics and beautiful accessories… I want to dress like that every day! I also love the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when they are in the old sooths sayers lair overlooking the city. While the mystic is looking at the magical medallion, Indie and Salla are pacing inside this beautiful grotto-like room overlooking the city of Cairo. It’s moodily lit by pierced bronze lamps spreading intricate patterns of light against the old plaster walls, the air filled with incense smoke, the desert breeze gently blowing in the open window. It’s all so magical and evocative. Or the robes the priestesses wear in the Mists of Avalon as they emerge from the island out of the dense fog… or the gorgeous gowns Morganna wears in the series Merlin, or the ones the Moon Princess and Maria wear in The Secret of Moonacre Woods. I love all this sooo much! And the settings are over the top. Gaius’s study in Merlin, Nanny McPhee’s houses (the color!), Stardust with the market and all its exotic mysterious wares and that beautiful Vardo!!! And my absolute two favorite dream houses, the Practical Magic house and the home of the Little Witch. Why don’t we create living spaces that have this kind of quirkiness and style. So many out there are cookie cutter boxes. Even the fancy ones seem to all look alike. I want personality, uniqueness, something that makes me want to explore all the nooks and crannies, loose myself in the library and have a secret assignation with a wizard in the tower room.

The Aunts, young Gilly and Sally

Practical Magic witches house, my dream house!

The Little Witch, inside her magical home

The Little Witch’s house, my other dream house!

Nanny McPhee

The nursery from Nanny McPhee

Moonacre Woods Moon Princess room

Moonacre Wood, Maria and the Moon Princess

I want that exotic feeling, the mystical magical plots and that rich, extraordinary wardrobe in my life. To drape myself in robes and silks, to read by candlelight, to luxuriate in rose and sandalwood oils, drink exotic teas and spice my food with saffron and curry. I love the poem by Jenny Joseph called “When I am old, I shall wear purple…” It goes on to say I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suite me. My favorite part though is when she later says, “But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So, people who know me are not too shocked and surprised when suddenly I am old and start to wear purple. Yes, definitely, wear whatever we want to know, and who cares if we shock anyone. If my cats accept me then I’m golden, and there far more decerning than most humans I know.

This is what I want to do now! I had a recent health scare, which, as I am sure it does for most, reminded me of how short life is and how precious it is. For me, though, it made me want to become even more eccentric, more outrageous, and generally be who and what I want with no apologies or excuses. I mean, why shouldn’t we be what we want? We are each unique with our own flair.

Who cares who likes it or not, I like it, I will enjoy my life in the manor that suits me. I have always admired Helen Bonham Carter and her outrageous way of unabashedly being herself no matter what the clothing critics say, “how dare she wear that, she looks ridicules”. Well, she dares, and I love her for it. She is quite comfortable in her skin and her personal tastes, and they are not boring or cookie cutter in the least! I am not going to wait until I am old, I am going to allow more of myself to emerge, to be bold and fun and eccentric. to wear what I want, velvet in summer with jeans… Why not!

Gaius’s study in Merlin

Downton Abby, Lady Mary

Downton Abby, Cora Crawley

The priestesses in The Mists of Avalon

Silk gowns to bed when I am only sleeping by myself… How marvelous! Wear an embroidered caftan to go to the post office? Well, someone has to add a little spice to the place! Flowers in my home just because? Absolutely. Life is for living… right now! Not when I am old, or retired, or have more money (thrift stores are my Sacks Fifth Avenue!). Wear rhinestones for day or maybe as much turquoise as I can pile on… but of course! It will require more work on my part but so worth it. I already have all these beautiful clothes and what do I wear mostly? Sweats, or jeans and an old comfy t-shirt. There is nothing wrong with this, and I will of course do this still, however I am going to inject a more lavish luxury in my life, actually a lot more! I will bring out all my beautiful things and revel in them. Wear them for ME. Go to the grocery store in my finery, show up to meetings draped in velvet, put rose oil on every day and burn incense constantly. I want to feel like I have entered a movie set when I come home.

Beautiful Outfits

I can’t wait to see another eccentric, outrageously dressed woman in line at the DMV…. I will wink at her in solidarity and together we will splash a little more color and personality in an often-beige world. Don your finery my mysteriously exotic friends, lets add our unique color to an often black and white world!

Creativity, Playing and Processing Through Depression

August 5, 2025 / Tricia Saroya / 0 Comments

So, as you may or may not have noticed, my website has been reborn. It feels very reflective of my own personal rebirth, showing who I am slowly returning to. I think I have taken a lifetime (62 years!) to figure out who I knew myself to be when I was a kid. A playful, creative cat-lover, with a mushy heart that loves to share and help. My journey is waaaaaaayyyyy too long to relay in a single blog entry, but what I can say is that because of my journey I am settling into what I want to be when I grow up. Someone who helps people find their own soul’s unique creativity while playing and expressing my own. Somewhere along my winding path, I lost touch with that. Life got serious, as it can, and I forgot that I also needed to look for the fun, the beauty, and the love. I got so focused on working on myself, keeping my head above water and getting through the grief from the hard times, that I worked myself into a depression.

In the last year and a half, I feel like I have been through an initiation of sorts (not quite out of it yet) that steadily stripped away layers of who I am not, to start to reveal a more authentic me. She really is closest to my child-self which is more reflective of who my soul is. In trying to be/do/cope/make-a-living/etc./etc. I lost touch with her. All my praying and spiritual activities keep showing this to me. I am so grateful that I never lost my spiritual connection with Source/God and my guides in all their various forms.

If I had, I have no doubt I would be addicted to something that eased the pain or quite possibly dead. Every time I reached out for help, Spirit held me and loved me and kept guiding me back home to myself. This happened in a myriad of ways which I will share over time. The more I dug into my shadows, the more I understood that those were layers I put on to cope with a world I didn’t fit into. What I absolutely know is that creating art is generally the medicine for what ails me, it sooths my soul and is a form of meditation for me. What I have been learning recently is that playing is equally important, and they frequently go hand in hand. Because I have made my living creatively most of my life, the line between art-for-me and making a living can get blurred. I tend to need a healthy dose of playtime, of lightheartedness to bring me back to my sacred child, who tends to be my muse and creates art for the pure joy of creating. When I ask her to constantly work, she looses her spark and ability to enjoy life. On the surface that seems pretty logical but putting it into practice I have found a little tough. Especially when I am also down from the kicks that life can deliver.

I also have a healthy dose of human doing-ness as opposed to human being-ness so goofing off is challenging for me. That tends to mean when I hit a wall I go into stagnation and depression. At those times making myself do simple things like go outside, paint for fun, get some exercise, just feels like climbing up an impossibly steep hill. The last couple of years have been a long process of understanding that my need for playtime is really important for my wellbeing…. And my creative productivity. I wish I could tell you I’ve got it down, but I am still getting a handle on striking a balance. One thing I do know is that when I am playing and doing the things I know my inner child loves, she is lighter, which makes me lighter. She is the one with the brilliant artistic ideas and so the happier and more balanced she is the better my artistic flow. This does not mean that art from angst isn’t a fantastic alchemy. It is, and after much gnashing of my teeth I have created from that dark place. It has helped me both get a handle on what’s going on for me as well as just being purely cathartic. However, those creations are not generally what I love to do. I will say that the more I have created from this curious place of pure cathartic expression, the more gifts I discover about myself.

There is extraordinary gold within the shadow and grief or anger. When I allow my soul to speak through art, profound messages come through. It is also a huge relief as it brings understanding for both myself and my child self. Basically, art in all the ways I create it are just different aspects of me expressing themselves. I have found huge value in this as I went through some deeply challenging times. It also releases the weight my child is carrying and frees her up to be more playful and create from that beautiful place. Art for me is simply the expression of my soul. Playing and laughing helps to lighten the worries I carry so that my soul enjoys the creative process more. It’s also just soooo much nicer to exist from a playful lighthearted space. I’m not totally there yet. But I am getting better at helping myself out of the depression and stagnation. I have developed some programs based on what I am learning. If youre curious, have a look at the “play-shops” I am offering. I can teach you how to express yourself through art and also how to find your own unique creative voice. It sure makes life more enjoyable!