Adult Autism at Work | Neurodivergent Wellness Without the Hustle with Virginia Rose

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[00:03:05] Welcome to Crazy Fitness by Healthy Living Podcast where we strive to motivate people who are on

[00:03:10] the autism spectrum to live healthy lifestyles. If you think this podcast is only for people who

[00:03:15] are autistic then think again whether you are autistic or not we have a mix of content from

[00:03:20] healthy living to everything in between that makes up a balanced and healthy life. Autism is our backbone

[00:03:26] and we strive to support the autism community by motivating, inspiring and educating everyone about

[00:03:32] what autism is. Please welcome your host Jimmy Clare who is a motivational speaker, autism advocate,

[00:03:38] author and founder of CrazyFitnessBide.com. Welcome to another episode of Crazy Fitness

[00:03:46] Guys Healthy Living Podcast. I got my friend Virginia who's going to talk about pretty much

[00:03:53] everything and everything, healthy living and whatnot and welcome to our show. Thank you Jimmy.

[00:04:02] I'm very happy to be here and I'm very happy to be in your space and to get to be interviewed

[00:04:09] by you. This is a pleasure. Thank you so much. I'm so glad that we got to do this because I know

[00:04:15] we had, I had to reschedule last time because I had an annoying house showing gosh darn it.

[00:04:22] Just kidding. All right, all right. It's all in God's timing right? Yeah. And stay with the day

[00:04:28] and I'm having a good hair day so anybody that's listening to this on the audio just know that

[00:04:32] I'm having a good hair day today. So am I. And you are and you look rejuvenated. You look well so

[00:04:40] here with you. That must probably be because of my spring break that I needed. Oh, you do look

[00:04:45] well rested. You do look well rested. So, well I'm so excited to be here and to be on your

[00:04:52] platform and support you and everything what you're doing. I'm so happy and so proud of

[00:04:57] you and everything so so exciting. Thank you. So tell me a little bit about yourself.

[00:05:04] Well, I live in the greater Washington DC area. I am a 20 year vet fashion photographer.

[00:05:12] I've done some modeling. I've done some acting. I co-authored the international bestselling book

[00:05:18] called Women Who Eliminate and I am the proud host of Lidulce Vita Podcast with Virginia Rose

[00:05:25] that is on eight platforms currently listenership in 31 countries and that is a platform that I

[00:05:32] started to report artists, activists and industry professionals during the pandemic.

[00:05:37] So what made you want to start the podcast? Okay, so this is going to be about at least a

[00:05:44] five minute long story. So you guys stick with me all you listeners out there. So

[00:05:50] I had planned on retiring. I actually did say the words I'm retiring from photography after

[00:06:00] 20, a little over 20 years in the industry. I worked very, very hard. I was published many,

[00:06:06] many times. I worked with incredible celebrities and I was ready to start a new journey that

[00:06:12] I actually started in 2017 with wine making in Italy and I worked very, very hard alongside my

[00:06:22] business partner, Petro Moretti. We had made some beautiful tailor made boutique wines that we were

[00:06:30] planning on launching that was going to take all my energy and all my efforts and 2020

[00:06:36] was going to be our year for this launch. So I was happy to kind of hang up modeling, only do it for

[00:06:42] fun. I wasn't really into too many acting projects anymore, semi-retired, retired from

[00:06:50] photography where I wasn't doing any more art directing and big projects and really put all

[00:06:54] my energy into this wine journey. Well, I don't have to have you guys guess what happened

[00:07:03] when we went to launch the wine. So Italy closed, the United States closed and

[00:07:08] Disney World closed pretty much all in the same like what 30 days less than 30 days. And so that

[00:07:15] caused me to have a major pivot in my course. So I was painting. I had been painting for a

[00:07:23] couple of years but I'm on lockdown. 77 days was the first lockdown that I had my groceries delivered.

[00:07:32] I don't remember leaving the house but two times maybe for like gas or something that couldn't be

[00:07:38] delivered to my home like real real quick you know. It's 77 days on lockdown and I'm painting

[00:07:44] and I'm falling into depression Jimmy. My mental health was starting to deteriorate to a place

[00:07:51] that I did not recognize myself. And I was feeling very sad and depressed and down on myself

[00:07:59] and I started praying. And my industry professional friends, actors, models, filmmakers,

[00:08:06] painters, writers they were sad and depressed. So this all leads me to a very special prayer

[00:08:15] that I started praying in August asking God what do you want to do with me? I can't do

[00:08:20] photography shoots. I can't make my wine and lunch by program. I can paint but nobody's

[00:08:25] going to really see my artwork and I feel a lot of loss to help people and to support them.

[00:08:31] I don't know what to do God. And I woke up on August 15th about 5 a.m. in the morning and he

[00:08:37] just spoke right through me and put it on my heart. He said you're going to start a podcast.

[00:08:42] And I was like what? I told this story quite a few times like I'm going to start a podcast.

[00:08:48] Okay God, I have no equipment. I don't know how to do a podcast. I have been on radio

[00:08:55] on FM radio, WRNR a few years ago. So I kind of know how it works but I'm like I'm not really

[00:09:00] sure what to do here and he just kept filling into my spirit. If you can't find the light

[00:09:06] you need to be the light and be the light around others and support them and give them

[00:09:11] a platform. Just use your voice. Just use your voice and the rest will come. Well I am very

[00:09:17] happy to tell you that by Friday of this week I will have recorded 60 episodes. We are on season 2

[00:09:26] and the podcast is going extremely well. We're continuously growing. We now have not only

[00:09:32] artists but leaders, coaches, experts in their field, psychotherapists, relationship experts,

[00:09:42] doctors, MDs and filmmakers. People from all different walks of life. So I'm so excited to be

[00:09:51] on this journey and that God put it on my heart and he just kind of poured into me when I was in

[00:09:56] a very dark space. So nonetheless you can hear in my voice I'm pretty happy and pretty positive

[00:10:02] now. I'm glad to hear that because I don't think I got into depression during the pandemic but I

[00:10:18] felt like it was starting to take a toll on me just overall just outlook on life. I wouldn't

[00:10:26] really call it depression. I just felt like am I really living through this or am I just going

[00:10:35] through the motions and after a while everything just started becoming a chore.

[00:10:42] I went through some phases where I kind of stepped away from social media just as a break,

[00:10:50] not a whole big break, but I started getting rid of accounts. I went through

[00:10:57] different services that started deleting one by one and said I don't need this anymore,

[00:11:02] don't need this anymore and I didn't know that. I was like, that was waiting on me for what?

[00:11:09] I was like it feels so good. It's like some of these services that I bookmarked

[00:11:15] and I saved in my secured password manager. I was like, I don't remember even using this service.

[00:11:23] It was like I had to save. The internet can be a distraction place. It's full of distractions

[00:11:30] like social media, shopping and so many more websites that are very distracting just like

[00:11:37] video games and whatnot but it is all over the place. So much noise going on. Well with a block

[00:11:44] tool like Freedom Blocker, it can block all those distraction websites that you find distracting.

[00:11:52] I block Rinscape, Facebook, Twitter and all those social media marketing tools. Without Freedom Blocker

[00:12:01] I wouldn't be able to run crazyfitnessguy.com because I'd be distracted all day long thanks to them

[00:12:11] so I'm no longer distracted. Go to visit the web link in the show notes for more information about

[00:12:19] Freedom Blocker for more information about what they do, what they are and whatnot and you can

[00:12:28] in the best part about Freedom Blocker you can use it on all of your devices Apple, Windows,

[00:12:35] Macs, tablets and more. Visit them to follow more information.

[00:12:43] Right well good time for cleanup to clean up your space, clean up your home, clean up your

[00:12:49] official medias, clean up maybe your friends like it was a good time for cleanup for sure

[00:12:54] organization those type of things so that's good that you did ice cream and alcohol.

[00:12:59] Yeah I'm like I didn't even know what half the accounts I was using for

[00:13:03] I was like, do you sign up for this? I don't know I was gonna do something with this

[00:13:10] and then I just slept now I don't know. Wow. So what do you discuss on your podcast?

[00:13:20] Okay so it depends on the guest. I will tell you that I do pre-screen my guest

[00:13:29] in the beginning I was contacting other people inviting them to be on my podcast

[00:13:35] my industry professional friends and people that I had known that were very well respected or

[00:13:41] you know people that were acquaintances that I respected their work but now people are

[00:13:47] contacting me from all over the world and I interview people in Mexico and Australia and UK

[00:13:56] and the United States I mean just all Greece all over but I would say so Lidlce Vita the name

[00:14:03] Lidlce Vita means the sweet life and when I say the sweet life I don't mean just eating cookies

[00:14:09] and cakes and Bill Day you know. I interview people on things that are sweet in life

[00:14:18] and that can be many things relationships can be sweet. I interview Dr. Tranquillity

[00:14:27] from she's been on the view about relationships. One of my episodes was with Michael Loria where we

[00:14:33] talked about what's your love language and how to identify that and what if you're in a

[00:14:40] relationship or you're married or you're dating what is your partner's love language so that

[00:14:45] if you're stuck in a house during the pandemic and you know each other's love language maybe you

[00:14:49] can get along a little bit better or if you're new to the dating scene after being on lockdown for a year

[00:14:55] how you can connect with others. Another episode we did was about testimony I interviewed a gentleman

[00:15:04] about sharing the power of a testimony and healing through abuse and mental health awareness

[00:15:09] suicide prevention. I interviewed a gentleman by the name of Jason Cisneros who from the

[00:15:15] Bald Avenger podcast who is with certain ministries who goes in and saves children

[00:15:21] victims of human trafficking and gets them to a safe place through certain ministries. So really

[00:15:27] all different people mainly artists okay incredible singers like Dabora Ballad and Mervyn Mayo

[00:15:34] and Monique Moffay-Hester just all different types of people painters that paint in Chicago

[00:15:41] huge beautiful murals and do activist projects so if you go and listen I assure you that there's at

[00:15:48] least one episode for everyone that they can enjoy and that they can learn it's it's definitely a

[00:15:54] platform where you can where you can learn something as well and I guarantee you by the

[00:15:59] end of the show you're going to feel so beautiful in your heart space you're going to

[00:16:03] feel uplifted um and you're going to feel really good about what you just heard we don't

[00:16:09] talk about politics we don't um talk negatively about others um and we don't talk about things

[00:16:17] that are going to be majorly controversial like should you take the vaccine should you not um

[00:16:23] should you wear a mask should you not because I don't want to argue with people I want to

[00:16:26] tell their stories. I totally agree uh that's one of the rules that when I created this park

[00:16:33] my own podcast that it was not going to be any politics it was not going to be anything that is

[00:16:41] controversial because I didn't I didn't want to argue with people I was like you have your

[00:16:47] opinion I have my opinion and I don't and when it's no one has asked me this question but

[00:16:55] if somebody did ask me what my politics are I would say I don't have time for that.

[00:17:00] I don't understand stupid. At this current time um as an American citizen um born in the U.S. my family

[00:17:13] is Italian um on my mom's side um but I I have to do my my duty as an American citizen and I do

[00:17:23] use the power of my voice but I don't want to ever butt heads with anyone um I mean we just agree

[00:17:31] to disagree if it's something that I hear and I'm like I'm not sure unless it's something that's against

[00:17:36] my moral compass you know then I'll speak up but I I'm here to be in the entertainment industry

[00:17:42] I'm here to be an amazing host I'm here to support others and so that's my really my

[00:17:48] primary focus I don't care who they voted for for president if they're a good person and spiritually

[00:17:55] you know they're on their their purpose driven life I want to support it. Exactly and plus I always

[00:18:03] liked uh my dad used to watch his uh talk show host when he was younger Johnny Carson and he

[00:18:12] always said like why would I want to piss off like 50% of the audience and so I was like and I was like

[00:18:19] even though I'm not that high up on the food chain as he was it's like why would I want to piss

[00:18:25] off my audience and it's like um and it's like I don't even need to why why why even talk about

[00:18:33] that stupid topic. Well there's one person that I really love a lot and that I have a lot of

[00:18:38] respect for who has had um I believe a four if not five decade successful career and that's Dolly Parton.

[00:18:46] Dolly Parton um when asked about any type of uh politics or her view um like to choose one side

[00:18:53] or the other she always makes a sweet cute little joke or she says hey I'm just here to sing a song

[00:19:00] darling you know or something cute like that and she she kind of deflects from it and she stays

[00:19:05] away from that area she knows that she's in the entertainment business she's not here to um influence

[00:19:12] people in that way she just wants to be a good person and um she has donated millions and millions

[00:19:19] of books so that children can learn how to read and she supports charities and does wonderful

[00:19:25] things why would she want to lose the support of the people by saying one comment about who to vote

[00:19:31] for or whatever we have the power and the ability to do our own personal research about who we want

[00:19:37] to vote for um you know you can always write to congress there are many things that you can do

[00:19:42] in your own space you don't need to unless you're in politics uh and that's you know that's the

[00:19:48] direction of your career that you want us to go you don't need to be getting on there

[00:19:52] and there's no need to bash other people or anything like that and on a podcast my podcast is not

[00:19:57] political it's spiritual so uh so uh how did you come up with the name for your podcast well I really

[00:20:08] thank god put it on my heart but um so l'edolce vita is like it's like kustang in italy like you

[00:20:15] know the sweet life the sweet life and I wanted to name the podcast something that that was from

[00:20:22] you know my italian heritage that was an italian saying something that was probably familiar with

[00:20:28] even english speaking you know people a lot of people that are you know american or any you know

[00:20:34] other places in the world has heard the saying oh l'edolce vita right so um and I wanted it to

[00:20:40] be something that people knew instantaneously that this is going to be a fun show or this is

[00:20:46] going to be a spiritual show um if you're talking about the sweet life then you're probably not

[00:20:52] talking about politics right or you're probably not talking even though we do speak about very serious

[00:20:58] subjects the subjects that we're talking on are to raise awareness or to raise funding for charities

[00:21:04] or things that are going to support and help people or like art and music and I have this quote

[00:21:11] I think you'll love it jimmy that the world without artists would be an asylum

[00:21:17] I don't know if i can agree with that

[00:21:20] so if you took away architects and fashion designers and musicians and and painters and

[00:21:26] models and actors and all these different types of artists filmmakers would be a pretty boring

[00:21:31] world and we'd probably go crazy without ways to express ourselves so it kind of all fits so the

[00:21:38] name of the podcast l'edolce vita the sweet life that's where it comes from and then the quote

[00:21:43] world without artists would be an asylum comes from virginia rose it comes from me and it's like

[00:21:49] hey come support art otherwise there won't be any I can totally agree with you on that because

[00:21:57] it's funny I was I was telling this one person that I met in person once uh and he says like

[00:22:05] as I don't listen to music he was like huh he was like yeah I just didn't really care for

[00:22:10] music well it was in your life boring I didn't say that to the person but I was like how do you

[00:22:17] not listen to music and it's like as I'm bored in the car when there's no music I'm I'm bored

[00:22:25] when I do my marketing my everyday marketing idea for my brand and everything I'm always

[00:22:30] listening to music I'm afraid that my parents are going to tell me to shut up with the music

[00:22:35] or something it's like come on it's like like bring it down it's like it's not like I'm blessing it

[00:22:41] like 10 decimals like 50 decimals high at night and it's like I'm just listening to some ACDC

[00:22:48] before I go to bed maybe it's not that great maybe it's not the best thing to listen to

[00:22:52] it before you go to bed because you don't need to feel like uh continue doing stuff but I just

[00:22:59] I like listening to ACDC yeah well music is life for me um so I am an artist but I wouldn't

[00:23:07] be the artist that I am if it wasn't for music Jimmy and I and I I do put a lot of beautiful

[00:23:15] tranquil um music into my podcast and it's so funny because a couple of people have told me

[00:23:22] that I should do a guided meditation app because they love to fall asleep to my voice when they

[00:23:27] listen to the interviews and I find that so beautiful and amazing because music gets me in the spirit

[00:23:35] before I do the interviews um I paint to music like I I I actually sometimes name my paintings

[00:23:43] after a song or a lyric that I was listening to at the time that I painted them I was a

[00:23:48] figure skater and I did ballroom dancing and I was also a belly dancer so I now I'll be listening

[00:23:55] like what a belly dancer yeah I did belly dancing for like five years as a part of my fitness journey

[00:24:01] in shape after three children and I love music I love almost every type of music the only thing

[00:24:08] that I can't get into is heavy metal and it's no you know nothing against other people that

[00:24:13] listen to it but it kind of like hurts my head a little bit but I can always listen to

[00:24:17] anything from classical to a good rock song so I have to agree with you on the ATV beach

[00:24:22] though super often doing yeah um I'm not a big fan of metal heavy metal either because it just

[00:24:29] feels like a headache going off in the back of my brain well like it's it's kind of like it's

[00:24:34] also screaming too it's like what is that lyric yeah it's like I almost it a lot of people that

[00:24:40] work out to it they like to work out to it because it really gives them like a good

[00:24:44] punch but for me I'm much more of a JLo girl give me some pit bull give me some jojo give me

[00:24:49] something you know Lee well I don't think I can listen to pit bull uh because I mean I'm just not

[00:24:57] I'm not a big hip hop kind of person but uh but the heavy metal like I could see people working

[00:25:04] out to it but I'm just not that into it I probably probably because my parents always

[00:25:13] play in either classic rock or rock and roll in the car never like super

[00:25:21] loud obnoxious music now when ACDC comes on we play a little high in the car but it's not like

[00:25:29] oh uh it's not like we I don't even know any heavy metal bands but it's like it's not like

[00:25:35] we're blasting it over the radio some of those people blast stuff over the radio is like uh

[00:25:44] surprise your eardrums having like blasted out your ears yet thanks to our sponsorship with deep

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[00:26:26] a daily learner like me and like to learn new stuff I don't always have time to to read

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[00:26:41] to them on the go while I'm driving the car or on an airplane etc so go check out my friends at

[00:26:49] deep stash you won't regret it that's how my ears feel like after a concert yeah yeah you got a rest

[00:27:01] yeah take good care of your ears so you don't uh struggle later with pain or loss too late for me

[00:27:10] I had a terrible ear loss I had terrible ears since the day I was born so

[00:27:17] you gotta take good care of your stuff you gotta take good care of your stuff

[00:27:21] so what's next what else do you want to ask me jimmy I'm an open book here

[00:27:25] so uh uh how long uh have you been uh you what kind of artwork do you make

[00:27:37] okay so I am an international fine artist um I create uh works of art photography works of

[00:27:45] art that are um photography prints that I have like a limited edition collection that's one type

[00:27:53] of art that I do and like I did um I went to this photo shoot in Chicago and we did uh mariantonet

[00:28:01] like recreation and it was like from 16 17th century it was really really beautiful like

[00:28:09] kind of rococo type of art uh venetian style of art with the lady with the wigs and the masks

[00:28:16] and the beautiful ball gowns and dresses and things like that and people can order it on like

[00:28:20] metal or on acrylic or like pearlized camisous stuff like that and then there's another

[00:28:27] type of art that I do and that's paintings and I never know what the painting is going to look like

[00:28:35] because I do abstract art I do I've painted a cat before I've painted wine glasses wine bottles

[00:28:43] instruments all different types of things so I'll tell you I do prayer and meditation every morning

[00:28:52] and uh God gives me like visions and I can see what I'm supposed to paint

[00:28:58] and he always I feel like it guys like so mindful that he he usually gives me the vision when you

[00:29:04] know that either at the day off and actually time to paint um or I'm in a space like really

[00:29:09] inspired space and I and I will be able to paint to that day and I really really enjoy

[00:29:15] painting it was meant to be a hobby and to like have some downsize but what ended up happening

[00:29:22] is people saw my work and then they asked me they wanted to commission me and they started

[00:29:26] buying my art and so when things open back up I really want to get my paintings in the galleries

[00:29:31] because a lot of my paintings um have a message of hope behind them um about not being afraid or

[00:29:40] pushing forward or crashing waves or um honoring God throughout the storms uh the painting that um

[00:29:49] is in my office the painting um is called hope and it's all about being hopeful

[00:29:54] so that's that's a lot of my artwork and then I do write as well and I co-authored a book

[00:30:00] women who eliminate um and I am going to continue to write and hopefully write more books in the

[00:30:07] future. I wish I had your art skill because like I'm good with uh I've created many different

[00:30:16] pieces of art myself I've I'm uh I think some of the lessons with my I think this story might be funny

[00:30:25] some might disagree but uh I think it was pretty funny uh so one of my uh art classes that I

[00:30:33] was taking in uh when I took into high school just because I needed I needed a place to

[00:30:41] work and let my emotions out and instead of like talking verbally talking to someone I just wanted

[00:30:49] to make stuff and create stuff and one of my art classes uh I want I created multiple different

[00:30:58] sculptures and everything for my last and final project uh I wanted to I took it up a notch

[00:31:07] to to make it a little bit more um something everyone could relate to so I made a small little school

[00:31:19] and I turned it into like sort of like a prison and had different um like little bars on it

[00:31:28] like from paper clips and I'm not saying my college or anything this was high school and

[00:31:34] middle school uh that I was aiming it at uh it was funny uh I had this principal who I uh known since

[00:31:46] middle school when she eventually transitioned to the high school and me and her had a history

[00:31:55] not I wouldn't say a bad history we just had a history of she knows me I know her

[00:32:02] she helped me do a lot of different stuff and most funny uh so my my art teacher said like

[00:32:11] Jimmy I think that's your going to the art show is like you're kidding me right and it's like no

[00:32:16] it's that good as you're going to the art show so I go to the art show put it in there

[00:32:22] my principal uh saw it and said Jimmy I think that piece looks wonderful and say

[00:32:27] I thought you would be offended by that piece and it's like no I truly know how much you really

[00:32:32] dislike high school and middle school I was like wow I didn't have to mention that to you I was like

[00:32:40] no it was pretty random much all over your face back then and it's like thank you

[00:32:47] well you saw it with an outlet for you I mean that was how you were feeling

[00:32:51] you were feeling caged at the time and you were break free and be out into the world so

[00:32:57] I don't think it's inappropriate at all I think it's it's um an honest uh dictation of how you

[00:33:05] were feeling physically emotionally mentally um I was not a fan of middle school and high school

[00:33:14] in middle school I did love bands music there you go chorus music there you go I loved my band

[00:33:22] friends um and I really really enjoyed it but my favorite class of the day was either band or

[00:33:27] chorus like I didn't I didn't care about any of the other classes and when I became a figure

[00:33:32] skater and I was figure skating I barely even wanted to get to school because I was like I'm

[00:33:37] going to be a famous figure skater what do I need all the science and math stuff well

[00:33:41] nonetheless I graduated anyways uh which you know everybody it's good to apply your studies to your

[00:33:48] life but Jimmy I had a completely agree with you I felt like it was a privilege I wanted to break free

[00:33:55] I want to go out into the world I wanted to do photography and skating and modeling and dancing

[00:34:00] and none of those really have classes at school or a space at the school so uh I completely

[00:34:05] understand where you're coming from with that part piece and thank you for telling that story

[00:34:08] January well what's what's funny though um uh and our critic came into uh every year our critics come

[00:34:19] local critics come around just to uh view uh local pieces and everything and my piece won an award

[00:34:29] and I still have it I still have it pasted on to the uh the piece as well and it was like

[00:34:38] like yeah it's like it's a great piece it's like gee as I after all the stuff that I made

[00:34:46] previous years never got in but this piece took the icing on the cake it sure did well

[00:34:52] congratulations on that award and that just shows that art is all in the eye of the beholder

[00:34:58] and obviously someone's doll uh you invoked an emotion in them Jimmy and you made them stop

[00:35:05] and the judge and say hey he expresses feelings in an art piece and me they pay attention to this

[00:35:12] and so that's really awesome what a cool story I was terrible you know what I was terrible in art

[00:35:20] in school because I never wanted to do the art projects that they gave us like oh make a mosaic

[00:35:26] or do this clay project or make a black and white sketch of yourself it never translated for me I don't

[00:35:33] like to be told what to do I'm an Aries Taurus for anybody that believes in uh horoscopes or you

[00:35:40] know the zodiac signs or whatever but Aries Taurus's do not like to be told what to do

[00:35:46] if you ask us we'll do anything in the world for you but if you tell us we're like oh no

[00:35:51] I don't want to do that so my teacher like commanded me to make a certain type of artwork

[00:35:55] that didn't speak to me I have very hard time translating it so now that I have my own art

[00:36:02] studio and my own photography studio my own space and my imagination can run wild and I can

[00:36:08] create anything I want rather be creating a dress making my own dresses making my own

[00:36:13] backdrops my own sets my own bringing my visions to life and that's what I did with models for years

[00:36:20] it's such a wonderful space because I feel like it's never ending journey though art is such an

[00:36:25] important piece of the world and it and it lives in front of us and we need to get it out though

[00:36:31] super awesome as I was never a really good drawer at all I could barely even draw a stick

[00:36:40] figure but I could paint stuff I made oh I have something right here I made this

[00:36:50] oh he's down a cool bowl and you know what that looks like it's from

[00:36:56] nightmare before Christmas the jack with the swirl yeah it looks really neat you have to

[00:37:02] put it on your website so people can see I might there is this what's funny though

[00:37:09] I got this idea from one of my favorite shows called avatar the last airbender and I wanted to

[00:37:19] there's was one scene

[00:37:23] the scene was he was visiting the northern water tribe to get a waterbending master

[00:37:32] to learn waterbending and when they were getting attacked and everything

[00:37:39] in the second part of that

[00:37:44] they he hanged the avatar had to get to this

[00:37:51] where he meet these koi fish and they were black and white

[00:37:55] and it was and they always circled around each other and so that's when I got the

[00:38:01] kind of this circle well I wouldn't say it was really that circle but it would just swirl swirl

[00:38:07] around each other and love koi fish I love when you know sometimes um I don't know if you've

[00:38:13] ever been down to Florida but where there's different there's different places because

[00:38:16] we're very delicate to my understanding but I think koi fish are so beautiful when

[00:38:22] you can go to like a tropical type of restaurant and they have them like in the little like ponds and

[00:38:27] and you can sit next to it and you can watch them I can literally sit there for hours I feel

[00:38:31] like they're the most tranquil uh fish neat looking fish and I hope someday uh you know what

[00:38:38] I'm going to just say it's gonna happen that I can have my own koi fish pond like at my home

[00:38:43] somewhere because I think they're actually amazing and I can see the translation and your artwork

[00:38:48] how that spoke to you so really really neat

[00:38:53] it's funny I like uh I'm always trying to look for some cool different uh

[00:39:00] like different apps for or on my Chromebook or my phone because uh since I'm out of since

[00:39:10] I don't think there's any art classes in my college I've took a photography class but

[00:39:16] I haven't gotten to do much of anything it's funny they offer for college at the moment like

[00:39:24] they have so many different um

[00:39:28] what's the word I'm looking for electives that I could choose from but none of them had to

[00:39:34] deal with anything art is like you can take a class in art history and it's like

[00:39:39] yeah that's our history is is fun but that's basically um you're gonna need to retain information

[00:39:46] and then you're going to be tested about the Renaissance period about the Rococo period about

[00:39:51] different artists that painted different things and and where they were from and where they

[00:39:56] philosophers and and different things so I mean art history is great to know if you're really

[00:40:03] into that but if you want to create that's not going to do anything for you it may inspire you

[00:40:09] but um because I I love art history I love watching documentaries I love studying not

[00:40:15] because I'm going to copy the work but I want to be inspired by the great but for me I'm like

[00:40:20] oh my goodness like I eat it up like on on my down days or like my days off when I really

[00:40:25] need to unplug my brain and just rest and relax I will watch the history channel for

[00:40:30] like hours like my phone is on silent people are trying to contact me they're like where are you

[00:40:35] Virginia I was like if they really knew though they would be like you're such an earthy and

[00:40:41] so I don't like you know it's how low but I'm watching you know the history channel for six

[00:40:45] hours watching documentaries about you know Leonardo Benci but I think you should check

[00:40:50] into um one of your local uh YMCA um wine and design they have like some type of wine

[00:40:58] design places you don't have to drink the wine you could just go take a class for about $30 to $40

[00:41:04] and you can learn um uh Bob Ross videos on YouTube uh because I'm a self-taught artist I watch many

[00:41:11] headbutt tutorials and and things to get inspired uh and I'll tell you how I started Jimmy and

[00:41:17] this might inspire you and some of your listeners I kept having dreams of different

[00:41:22] color paint that was on paint brushes rushing against different canvases and it made me really

[00:41:27] happy when I woke up and I was like but god I'm not a painter and I don't think he was asking me

[00:41:34] to paint I think he was just telling me like putting on my heart like you're gonna paint so I went to

[00:41:40] the art supply store and I asked the the nice lady there that was working that day um where the

[00:41:46] paint supplies were and what I'll and I and she kind of helped me a little bit and she left me

[00:41:50] to it and basically what I did was I bought some canvases I bought some paint and I bought

[00:41:56] some brushes and then I came home and I went on Pinterest and I looked at different types of

[00:42:01] beginner paintings and different things that I could start with and I just found one that the

[00:42:05] color spoke to me and it was a wine glass and it was really beautiful so I just I just started

[00:42:10] painting Jimmy and I did it with no expectations you cannot have expectations because if you do

[00:42:16] you're gonna be like oh this looks like crud I don't like this paint whatever Jimmy wants to paint

[00:42:22] if anybody who's listening to this podcast and you want to start painting paint whatever you

[00:42:26] want to paint it's all in the eyes of the beholder I have paintings hanging up in my office that

[00:42:30] my children made me when they were seven eight nine ten eleven years old and they're like mom that's

[00:42:34] terrible take that down no I love it it inspires me so if it inspires you and you love it you

[00:42:42] could put it in your home you can give it as a gift to someone and just let it out let that

[00:42:48] creativity out and don't worry about any type of you know meeting the expectations of Leonardo

[00:42:53] da Vinci or you know some sort of a famous painter Monet or van Gogh just do it for you and you'll get

[00:42:59] better and better over time so Jimmy I'm gonna have to check back in when you're on my podcast

[00:43:04] on April 2nd and see if you have started your creative journey painting no pressure or anything

[00:43:11] good Lord oh I want to check it out I I want you to do it only if it's in your heart but

[00:43:16] I think you want to start creating a little bit more things and you're very talented with that

[00:43:20] bowl that you created with the Koi for the Koi fish I am what you call an indie podcaster if I run out

[00:43:31] of money there's nobody backing crazy fitness guy how you can support crazy fitness guy

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[00:45:12] subscriber click the links in the show notes and see which plan is right for you thanks it was

[00:45:22] and I can definitely I can definitely relate to that that it shouldn't be pushed or feel

[00:45:30] like you have to do art or something because there was times when I was in my high school art class

[00:45:40] I was lacking the creativity one day where I didn't know what I wanted to do

[00:45:45] my teacher came over and said Jim what are you gonna make this week I don't know and

[00:45:50] as like well you gotta think of something it's like I got nothing and so like I just

[00:45:57] sat there literally the whole class staring thinking I just couldn't think of anything

[00:46:03] I think that went down for like two or three days in a row and it finally hit me and it's like

[00:46:10] I'm gonna make a small school and create a prison and my teacher says something interesting

[00:46:20] and I was like I don't think the principal will like it very much and he's like I'm not like

[00:46:27] I hurt not like I'm hurting anybody I'm just sharing my feeling well art doesn't always have to be

[00:46:32] bright and shiny there's a lot of healing and and therapy that can come in art and you probably

[00:46:41] felt a bit therapeutic with sharing your feelings about how you were feeling inside of that school

[00:46:47] and you um I don't want to say forced but kind of guided people to pay attention

[00:46:55] that as a student it's not so warm and fuzzy that's not I'm not feeling uh like so happy

[00:47:02] and joyful I'm feeling um some negativity in this space and I want you all to pay

[00:47:07] attention and understand so therapy for me most of my paintings I would say 90 to 95 percent

[00:47:14] of my paintings or my artwork or my photography work is what you would call bright and shiny

[00:47:20] and happy and colorful but I will tell you I have painted an abstract painting of a heart

[00:47:26] being ripped out of its chest with black and reds in very passionate colors um last year

[00:47:34] I had a friend that um was killed and I didn't know what to do to work through that so I

[00:47:42] immediately went to my canvas and my paint brushes and I painted uh a fire because that's

[00:47:49] what I felt in that time I felt fire I felt the heat of the situation I felt like the walls were

[00:47:55] closing in on me I felt like she was here with me in spirit but I couldn't um I couldn't reach her

[00:48:02] and I and I and I painted that and you know a psychiatrist bought it and put it in her house

[00:48:09] and I did a fine art print of it and I have that hey in my art gallery but um or in my in my artist

[00:48:16] studio in my space but art can be anything you want it to be you just have to break free

[00:48:21] and allow yourself to begin the journey of creativity excuse me that's what I think uh

[00:48:31] I feel like colleges should like definitely have more art classes because like

[00:48:36] it was like it was really funny uh they have they built this new building on my campus

[00:48:45] and and it's a very nice building and and they have this uh a gym there and and I don't think

[00:48:55] I've seen anyone outside of a of a class or a sports team uh besides a sports team in a

[00:49:03] class ever going there to use it and I feel and it's like oh we want students to use this uh the

[00:49:12] gym and everything as like well first off uh when I was like we never have time between

[00:49:22] classes or anything and and and as I can ever do we have tons of tons of homework

[00:49:30] and and and it's like uh and it's like and you never know when you could go into that gym and whatnot

[00:49:38] and if you're even allowed and so and it's like man why can't we have art classes and it's like

[00:49:44] I would love to have just as like you can make anything or you can do anything and it's like

[00:49:52] it's like some of my classes that I that are in my major that they take is like marketing is

[00:49:57] like well marketing is a form of art and because as the algorithms or social media changes each

[00:50:06] generic time and you can create uh two different posts with gypses etc but I was like really why can we

[00:50:17] have some um why can we have some uh uh electives that we can uh are electives that we can choose from

[00:50:28] like even our on a computer let us do photoshop let us do some things but this is like this is

[00:50:36] you know that might be a good thing uh jimmy for you to talk to your um

[00:50:41] uh college guidance counselor or possibly write a letter um perhaps you could be a leader uh or with

[00:50:50] the help of some friends maybe that you have and start an art club because sometimes that they don't

[00:50:57] have a course for it like a class for it you could you could start a club and you can invite

[00:51:02] different artists uh from your community perhaps through a facebook group or through a board

[00:51:08] a community board you can invite different artists to come and teach like a technique like maybe one

[00:51:14] artist does pottery maybe uh one artist does you know abstract painting but something I'd like

[00:51:20] to offer you and I know it like it's on the podcast it's recorded so you gotta hold me to it if

[00:51:25] you would like we could do a video zoom um art project together you have a painting I have a

[00:51:33] painting we can like a canvas and a canvas and uh we could uh paint together via zoom and you

[00:51:40] could keep that going and invite other friends to paint with you through zoom and then maybe like

[00:51:46] at the end you can do a reveal and you guys can both show each other your paintings so it's

[00:51:50] a way to interact uh build bond friendships keep people engaged and to do something fun so if

[00:51:59] you'd like to do that with me jimmy I just got the idea for it and I think I'm gonna start inviting

[00:52:03] some other friends to do it too they'll hopefully that'll inspire you and help you with your creativity

[00:52:09] it is man I'm gonna have to join in on that uh yay the big dining

[00:52:16] uh so uh what uh so I was just curious uh do you have your website and everything too

[00:52:27] I do jimmy so I have two websites currently www.virginiarosefineart.com that's where you can

[00:52:34] find those fine prints of like the marianne twinette and um there's a very special celebrity on

[00:52:39] there that's an advocate you guys can go check it out mermaids and different cool things and then

[00:52:46] no I have a 20 year over a 20 year photography career so I cannot fit my entire portfolio on one

[00:52:52] website but there's some wonderful images and I would say a good 25 chunk of my portfolio on the

[00:53:01] rhphotography.com and soon to come is a little chanvita podcast website that is also going to have

[00:53:10] connectors for my paintings because like I said my paintings were just supposed to be for me

[00:53:15] I didn't realize that people were gonna want to buy them and buy prints of them um so we're

[00:53:20] working uh with some marketing people and some advice on some e-commerce stuff so and I do have

[00:53:26] notebooks and also signed books so if you contact me at Virginia Rose Fine Art at yahoo.com

[00:53:34] and you would like to purchase a signed copy of the book you can contact me directly and

[00:53:38] get that through you and uh where can people follow you on social media okay so I have VR

[00:53:47] Fine Art and by the way that VR for Virginia Rose Fine Arts um you can follow me at Lidl

[00:53:52] Chavita Podcasts and you can also follow me on Facebook on Lidl Chavita Podcasts with Virginia

[00:53:59] Rose or under Virginia Hodges parentheses Virginia Rose you will find me so message me

[00:54:06] and let me know who you are and that you listen to this episode and I will gladly approve you

[00:54:11] and that way we can touch face and be in connection and I'm always looking for podcast

[00:54:16] guests to support but please recall me but thank you for letting me share that Jimmy

[00:54:21] you're definitely welcome and uh before I let you go uh what would you say uh if you have a

[00:54:30] um I'm lost for words uh um how to before you um how do you think art has changed your life in

[00:54:45] some way shape or form do I think art has changed my life yes Jimmy art is my life

[00:54:54] Virginia Rose the name the grand the person the mother the being the child of God

[00:55:01] would not exist without art in every form of it um I am surrounded and supported by beautiful

[00:55:08] artists in my life who have been there for me in my darkest hour um painting is not only something

[00:55:17] that has been therapeutic for me but it's also a celebration photographing people and showing

[00:55:23] them their inner beauty and their outer beauty and just finding a way to impact the world and I hope

[00:55:31] that long after I'm gone from this earth that my art and what I stood for as an artist will

[00:55:40] be a legacy and it will lift people's spirits for years to come I don't have to be a

[00:55:46] Leonardo da Vinci but what I want people to know out there is anyone can be an artist anyone can be

[00:55:53] created just start just just you know wake up in the morning and go out and get a couple of art

[00:55:59] supplies invite a friend over to have a glass of wine with you as long as you're over 21

[00:56:04] and you drink responsibly uh and and paint and just and enjoy or do some type of art

[00:56:10] you know maybe you want to be a fashion designer whatever it is just believe in yourself

[00:56:14] and it absolutely has changed my life for the better and I'm so grateful to be an artist a podcast

[00:56:21] host an author a dancer I mean just all different types of things all forms of art so thank you

[00:56:27] for that question it was a great question and I can definitely agree it's like uh art doesn't

[00:56:33] just have to be painting and drawing and and uh it can be writing like I'm from my website uh so

[00:56:43] though sometimes I don't feel like the website is uh so that's for me though writing on my website

[00:56:51] is not that I don't feel like that it I don't really feel like it's that artsy to me uh I'm

[00:56:59] currently working on a project that I'm not telling anyone about uh yeah secret project

[00:57:05] yeah i'm a secret agent

[00:57:09] I had to be rodeo by jerry claire uh soon maybe 2025 the way I'm going

[00:57:18] but but uh I feel I I write in my journal a lot so I feel like that's uh that has been helping me

[00:57:28] and that's sort of art to me but uh the writing for my website sometimes just feels kind of like

[00:57:36] work related a little bit because that's what I do for my work and podcasts and everything

[00:57:42] but I like podcasting more than I do writing on my website uh if I can be honest because

[00:57:49] it's not that I hate what I do writing on my website but just with all the gosh done

[00:57:54] algorithms it's like eh gosh done google yeah I read a I born a statistic now google I think

[00:58:05] they said the article said that they update their algorithms like 400 times a year I'm like

[00:58:13] overkill yeah it makes it difficult so it's hard to stand out in our space sometimes

[00:58:21] and I really appreciate you giving me this platform jimmy to talk about what I do and why I do it

[00:58:28] and why I do the podcast because I think the best way to create visibility is through your um

[00:58:37] friends and through your your support system because google all right there that isn't a

[00:58:43] necessary tool yes do they care about jimmy claire and virginia rose no they don't

[00:58:48] should so they should care about you and they should care about me too but do they and probably not

[00:58:53] so we have to make our own way and the best way I think to create visibility about anything that

[00:58:59] that is important to you any business any type of a marketing and I'm not a marketing strategist

[00:59:05] I mean do I do marketing do I know some things about it yes but I honestly look to mentors

[00:59:10] mostly for that but one of the best ways to get yourself out there and to have people pay

[00:59:16] attention I believe is to be yourself and to uh how to support system and to just continue to say yes

[00:59:26] and now don't go against your moral compass but yes meaning yes I'll be on jimmy claire's podcast

[00:59:31] yes I'll do copy with clingman yes I'll be on the warrior woman you know just just just saying yes

[00:59:38] just saying yes yes bright I'll be on your mastermind yes I'll do well and blinded

[00:59:42] just different types of projects that are going to get you out there and people are going to see

[00:59:47] you or hear you so they know what your passions are and they can go follow you so please uh I'll

[00:59:53] just ask please go and follow and support ladle chavita podcast it's not about me it's about

[00:59:58] supporting others and I'm on Spotify and seven other platforms you can literally just google

[01:00:03] ladle chavita with Virginia Rose and you'll find it and real quick yes I I literally I found what's

[01:00:16] really funny uh what you said uh what was gonna say uh what's funny uh I I feel like that there's some

[01:00:30] um with uh how I just said that I feel like google should uh care about care about who I am even

[01:00:38] on the that fame's yet and it's like that's how I got my name out there just by saying yes to a lot

[01:00:44] of different things and um uh I got into 61 different podcasts so far and um I my mom's like

[01:00:54] don't you feel like you're gonna be old like become redundant and uh old and like no one wants to

[01:01:01] hear your story anymore and it's like that's why I found this other opportunity for this other

[01:01:08] podcast as a guest appearance uh and I was going to talk about uh some um marketing tips for um

[01:01:18] nonprofits and and and I'm not saying I'm I even told the person I'm not a marketing expert

[01:01:26] there's always something better than me out there who's who's got degrees in this but like

[01:01:32] I took in for my major I had to take some marketing courses uh last summer or my two

[01:01:39] summers ago I took a marketing course um uh from HubSpot so I've learned honestly I must have uh I

[01:01:48] learned quite a few the few things from um marketing uh I've I didn't get just get 800 twitter over

[01:01:58] 800 twitter followers overnight uh so I must be doing something right I don't know uh

[01:02:05] I think you're doing a lot of things right and you know even if google doesn't care I care

[01:02:11] and I'm very happy to be on your show and I'm so happy you're gonna be on mine

[01:02:15] and so I think you're a wonderful person I I love who you are I love how honestly you

[01:02:22] that you are I love that um even though there was some obstacles um in your life that you have

[01:02:29] overcame them beautifully and that you're just a cool guy because you're that crazy fitness guy

[01:02:35] so I'm excited to have you on my show and we're gonna be painting together soon we'll have to put

[01:02:40] uh up on facebook or on our websites uh whatever we create that day so super excited so thank

[01:02:46] you for letting me be here and thank you for giving me the space again Demi's super awesome

[01:02:50] oh it's welcome and uh and I hope you can come back on the show again I would love to

[01:02:56] I would absolutely love to and let's continue to raise awareness um about art therapy and

[01:03:03] about being creative and just encouraging people and supporting them uh we're gonna be on the other

[01:03:08] end of this pandemic very soon and we're all going to need uh support you know getting back to

[01:03:15] the world we're all gonna need each other so definitely and uh thanks for being here

[01:03:21] um I stay in touch okay thank you and have an awesome day you too

[01:03:51] hope to see you again next time

[01:03:55] hydroflask is the best water bottle in my opinion because it gives my water nice cold and refreshing

[01:04:02] throughout the day and yes I do drink a lot of water throughout the day so even though it stays

[01:04:08] colder for longer I still like uh having a reusable water bottle like hydroflux because it just

[01:04:19] sits on my desk and uh it just sits on my desk and reminds me hey you gotta drink water and

[01:04:27] and hydroflux uh it keeps it cold longer which makes me want to drink more water throughout the day

[01:04:34] because you know there's nothing worse than drinking warm water go to hydroflux.com

[01:04:43] and use the link in the show notes and yes I do get a small commission from hydroflask so

[01:04:52] which also helps support the show so uh tell them I sent you use the link below and uh yeah

[01:04:59] check out hydroflux.com for more information