The moment you say ‘I’m done with this version of me,’ everything shifts. #SelfGrowth #Elevation

Stop shrinking to fit small minds. Expand. Let them adjust.

#SelfGrowth #Confidence #OwnYourSpace #Quotes #ShareInspireQuotes

Lately I’ve been thinking I need to be more intentional with how I spend my time.

Work’s been non-stop for months, and my evenings have basically turned into a loop of eat, tidy up, crash. That’s about it, really.

I really want to start making space for the stuff I enjoy... reading, gaming (video and board!), and most importantly getting outside for a bit every day.

Time certainly isn't slowing down! By the way, it's only 42 days until Christmas.

#SelfGrowth

Lessons in Letting Go: Control Isn’t Clarity

There’s this thing I’ve carried with me my whole life—control.
It’s not always obvious. Sometimes it hides under words like discipline or structure. Sometimes it sounds noble: “I just like things done right.”

But if I’m being honest, most of my control has always come from fear.

The Comfort of Control

The military taught me that structure saves lives.
That being prepared, anticipating what could go wrong, and having a backup plan isn’t just smart—it’s survival.

And that mindset served me well for years.
In uniform, it’s discipline. Out of uniform, it’s the same instinct—just repurposed.

I ran my life, my writing, my projects, even my emotions, like a mission.
If I could keep every piece in line, maybe nothing would fall apart.

But creativity? Creativity doesn’t care about your checklists.

The Weekend That Broke Me (and My Printer)

Not too long ago, I spent a weekend knee-deep in The Ordinary Bruja preorder prep.
I had it all planned: bookmarks, character cards, manifestation inserts—the whole thing.
Everything labeled, color-coded, scheduled.

Then my website glitched.
The WooCommerce buttons disappeared, checkout froze, and no matter what I did, the plug-ins refused to cooperate.

I thought, Fine, I’ll focus on the design stuff instead.
So I opened Canva. Then Canva froze.

And when I finally switched to printing?
My printer decided it didn’t feel like aligning that day. My files were sliding half an inch to the left every time, and I swear I could hear it mocking me.

Hours later, surrounded by test prints, crumpled paper, and cold coffee, I heard myself mutter:
“I just need everything to go right for once.”

And that’s when it hit me—how many times I’ve said that exact same sentence in my life.

The truth? I was exhausted not because things went wrong, but because I kept trying to force them to go right.

When Control Pretends to Be Discipline

Here’s what I’ve learned:
Control and discipline look almost identical on the outside—but inside, they’re completely different.

  • Discipline is about preparation.
  • Control is about fear.

Discipline says, “I’m ready for whatever happens.”
Control says, “I can’t handle it if this doesn’t go my way.”

For a long time, I didn’t see the difference. I thought my tight grip was ambition. I thought my need to fix everything was leadership.

But the more I clung to outcomes, the more I drained the joy out of creating.

Letting Go to Let Life Work

That weekend, I finally stopped fighting it.
I took a step back, wrote down every problem, circled the ones I could control, and crossed out the ones I couldn’t.

Guess what?
Most of them fell into the second category.

So I closed the laptop, went for a walk, and trusted the process.
And slowly, everything started to work itself out—the site fixed, the files exported clean, and my designs came together better than before.

That’s when I realized that control isn’t clarity.
Sometimes the clearest moment is the one where you stop trying to force the outcome and simply allow it to unfold.

Salvador’s Lesson (and Mine)

This idea runs deep in The Ordinary Bruja.
Salvador—Marisol’s ancestor and villain—is the perfect embodiment of control gone wrong.
He wants to possess what should flow, to own what should breathe. And that’s what destroys him.

Marisol, on the other hand, learns that her power doesn’t respond to control—it responds to trust.
And that’s the truth I keep learning too.

When I let go, I create from joy again.
When I stop gripping every detail, magic finds me.

Because sometimes, you don’t need to make things happen—you just need to stop standing in their way.

The Takeaway

Letting go of control doesn’t mean giving up. It means choosing trust over tension.
It’s saying, “I’ll do my best, and then I’ll let life do the rest.”

So the next time your plans fall apart, your printer rebels, or your timeline doesn’t match someone else’s, take a deep breath and remember:
You don’t need control to create something beautiful. You just need faith in what you’ve already built.

The Ordinary Bruja is officially out now!
Order your copy and step into a story about identity, magic, and the art of surrender.

SaleProduct on sale

The Ordinary Bruja: Book One of Las Cerradoras Series – Johanny Ortega

$4.99 $23.99Price range: $4.99 through $23.99

Marisol Espinal has spent her life trying to disappear from her family’s whispers of magic, from the shame of not belonging, from the truth she refuses to face. She’s always wanted to be someone else: confident, capable, extraordinary.

But when strange visions, flickering shadows, and warnings written in her mother’s hand begin to stalk her, Marisol is forced to confront her deepest fear: what if she isn’t extraordinary at all? What if she’s painfully ordinary?

Yet Hallowthorn Hill doesn’t call to just anyone. And the more Marisol resists, the stronger its pull becomes. The past she’s buried claws its way back, and something in the mist is watching—waiting for her to remember.

If Marisol cannot face the truth about who she is and where she comes from, the same darkness that destroyed her ancestors will claim her, too.

Somewhere in the shadows, something knows her name.

And it’s time for Marisol to learn why.

SKU: Category: Books, Books for Adults, Fantasy, Fiction Books, Horror, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Women’s Fiction Tags: ancestral magic, atmospheric fiction, books about brujas, dark fantasy, Dominican folklore, haunted inheritance, Isabel Cañas fans, Latine fantasy, magical realism, psychological horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia fans, spooky reads, supernatural mystery, The Ordinary Bruja, witchy books
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