Meet Martha Scharyj-Douglas

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Martha Scharyj-Douglas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Martha below.

Martha, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

My father left Eastern Europe as a young doctor right after World War II. He read an ad in a Paris newspaper which announced the need for doctors to work in newly constructed hospitals in Venezuela, South America. So, he purchased a ticket and crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the bottom tier of a freighting ship. Arriving with approximately $8 in his pocket., he moved to Barquisimeto and founded a medical school. While living there, he married my mother and I was born. Three years later, we moved to the United States and he was required to repeat medical residency and internship training for U.S. board certification and citizenship. Over the next four years, my mother, infant brother and I saw him one day per month. My mother had studied basic English in high school and unapologetically put it into practice.
I remember her optimistic outlook toward everything . She modeled her positive determination to begin a new life in a new country with joy and laughter. Through the years, my parents raised us with a positive attitude by teaching us to look for solutions rather than dwell on problems.
When faced with hardships, my first response is to consider my choices then eliminate what doesn’t feel right and turn towards the improvement. I practice this strategy by writing daily positive affirmations and repeating them as I exercise and do daily tasks. I find many different ways to incorporate these affirmations into my everyday activities then I express these uplifting thoughts and feelings through my artwork, songs, poetry, and motivational writing.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I was born in Venezuela in 1955 and moved to the US at the age of three. Throughout my childhood, I used creativity (drawing, painting, writing songs, and poetry) as an avenue to handle and discipate my experiences of the “blues” in all its disguises. Having overcome an insecure self image and eating disorder in my teenage years, I was motivated with a strong desire to assist others with similar challenges. After college graduation, I worked in the health field as a behavior modification therapist and nutritional coach at several health spas and fitness centers in Florida and California while continuing to freelance as an artist. During my thirties, motherhood elevated my passion to pass on the knowledge I had acquired to younger generations. So, I began teaching at the elementary level of a special education program in the public school system. I have invested 27 years in the field and I am still going strong. Back in 2018, I was encouraged by my son to create my Calligraphy Woman 🖋🖌 website, post weekly messages on Instagram, and open an Etsy shop so I could publicly share my inspirational writing and artwork creations. Throughout all this, my daily practices of meditation, coupled with exercise (50 + years) are the core ingredients which keep me positively centered, balanced, and connected to receiving and delivering inspirational messages which are expressed through my artwork. Presently, I continue to serve as a full-time caregiver to my husband of 47 years who’s been wrestling colon cancer for 10 years. I’m writing a motivational book and consistently introducing new inspiring products on my Etsy shop. I wholeheartedly embrace my role in this life as an uplifter and motivator by allowing positivity and love to flow from my heart through my hands and words.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First and foremost is the skill of self-discipline; which is the greatest strength one can develop. Self discipline is self love in action. The more it is practiced, the more self aware and powerful one becomes. Will power gives us the ability to overcome our bad habits, our fears, our distractions, our insecurities, our procrastinations and our imagined limitations. The second important factor is a desire to keep growing and refining what is learned. We are, by nature, growth seeking beings. Our curiosity is the wonderful tool which aids us in our personal quest for improvement. The third crucial ingredient is pure, unconditional love. This is the clear intention to make the place where you stand, and the road you’ve traveled a little better because you came and cared; cared for others, cared for a cause, cared for this planet.
These three components are achievable and can be integrated into our lives by being tenacious and never giving up no matter how many times we fall or miss the mark. Our failures give us clarity of improvement. We’ve got to keep on keeping’ on!

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed and weighted down by what seems to be monstrous problems, I stop and go outside for a power walk. I go where there is no ceiling or walls to contain me. I repeat out loud or silently, a positive, relevant word or affirmation. With the motion of each step, I place emphasis on those words and allow emotions to spill out of me through tears, grunts, groans, or whatever expressions may surface. I keep an intentional rhythm in my gait and take full deep breaths as I physically move forward from my inner conflict. When I complete my power walk, I feel lighter, calmer, and empowered because I have emptied my stress bucket and can enjoy the benefits of the endorphins produced from the exercise.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.calligraphywoman.com
• Instagram: calligraphywoman
• Facebook: Calligraphy Woman
• Other: Etsy Shop: CalligraphyWoman