Month: April 2020

It’s been quite a while since I was a Brownie Scout. I’m sure there are many things I’ve forgotten. Here’s one I remember:

When my friends and I “graduated” from being Brownies all the way to becoming Junior scouts, there was a ceremony. The ceremony involved a small wooden bridge in the gymnasium of the local elementary school. Each of us walked onto the bridge and stopped in the middle to say the magic words. Then we walked the rest of the way across, newly minted “big kids”. My mom always swore my dad cried!

Oh! The magic words…

Twist me and turn me and show me the elf. I looked in the water and saw myself!

I’m reasonably certain you’re wondering what on earth brought this to mind, let alone to blog-land. That’s easy! I crossed another bridge today. But, before I tell you more about that, there are a couple of things you need to know.

If you’ve been reading along for a while, you may have noticed occasional mention of a mysterious thing called Motherboard. Translation: Intentional Creativity® Coaching. I’ve been learning and practicing and pondering, not to mention buying markers by the truck-load since late last summer, to be a certified one of those coaches and graduation is looming before us, soon!

I have no idea whether an actual bridge will be involved but there have been plenty of figurative bridges along the way. The one I crossed today was one of the figurative kind.

Here’s the short version…

In the ICC pattern, two real, live people sit down together, often in the mythical world of Zoom, with some large-ish sheets of paper and an assortment of pens and markers. (Paint takes too long to dry. Chalk smears too much.) The photo, above, will get you in the ballpark.

One of those two is the Coach and the other is the Client. (These roles are fluid in the learning stages and may flip flop back and forth.) Today, it was my turn to be the Client.

After a bit of deep breathing and some gold “roots” in an imaginary journey, we moved along to, “What wants un-stuck?”

Wow, did I have an answer! It had to do with talking about what I do in the context of life in the Covid virus days.

My partner, the Coach, offered me a tool that was new to me. Again, the photo, will fill in the blanks.

Bottom line… externalizing (my language) all my inner yelling about what felt stuck. Swearing permissible, but not necessary.

Then, what I’d choose, intentionally, to say, having gotten all the ranting and raving out of the way.

I won’t bore you with the details.

I’m hoping you’ve gone hunting for a piece of paper and something that makes marks. Eye liner, if necessary!

Here’s the bottom line, or what I learned as I crossed the bridge from stuck to un-stuck…

I have lots of the power that gets things done. Starting with a business card, all designed, and a big reminder that the more my girls see me using my power to get things done – to get unstuck – the more they’ll take a chance on having some of that power of their own!

This was an awesome day’s work!!! And I am hugely grateful to Natalie, my partner, and to our mutual teacher in IC land, Jumpin’ Jenafer Joy who introduced Natalie to the magic spiral thing.

I kind of wish the story of this day had ended there, but it didn’t. When I emerged from Zoom land, I discovered that Bernie Sanders had suspended his campaign for POTUS. I wasn’t surprised. I am heartbroken.

You can fill in the blanks according to your particular perspectives.

Here’s what I know. Bernie is a guy with YUGE power to get things done and I’m beyond grateful for all he’s helped me see and learn and live. And I’m grateful for the fact that, in many ways, Bernie has been and will be leading the USA through the Covid crisis and into the future.

A future in which, as Bernie (echoing Nelson Mandela) said, we must believe that we deserve health care and education and civil rights, etc., etc., not just personally, but as human beings. There was more, but I’m crying again.

And holding on to my power, not over others, but to get things done. We have more bridges to cross. And I have a very important hearth to tend in the Red Thread Cafe Classroom this day.

 PS… My friends at Learning Strategies and Centerpointe are offering a free sound meditation for days such as these. All you have to do is click Surviving Chaos and you can download the meditation to your device and listen to it as often as you please. I downloaded mine this morning. Now seems like a good time to go soak it up!

Yesterday was a good day in the way that sometimes happens when the world is upside down and you work your butt off trying to claim what’s true.

It started with an Intentional Creativity® livestream event called Magi, and led by Shiloh Sophia and Jonathan McCloud. You kinda had to be there, but you can! www.amazingmagi.com

We meditated and moved. We pondered things like etymology and history and legends and messages for the future. We listened deep inside and drew images of some of the things we hold most dear… the things we most long for.

It was daring work. Especially when we gave the pens to our Muses.

I learned a whole lot. And I’ll tell you more about it soon.

For this moment, though, my Muse asked for the pen (okay, the keyboard) again and I agreed.

She led me to a post from the past, tugging at my sleeve and insisting that these were words (and music!) for today, as well.

I’m not going to change them at all. (I promised.) I’ll simply ask you to notice the date this was first published and read with ears for then and now and the now that is still to come. I trust you!

(Oh… there were some technical problems with posting this which have something to do with updating my version of WordPress. Very scary!!! Also in progress, in hands more experienced than mine. All you have to do is click below where it says Continue reading. (After you click, when you get to the place where there’s a book title and then a blank square, keep scrolling. There’s a whole fabulous story, just past yet another tech issue…) Please Click!!!!

https://sueboardman.wpengine.com/we-shall-not-be-moved/

One of my theology professors had a decidedly un-Reformed sign outside his study door. It read “Confessions heard Wednesdays 4pm.”

At least I think it was Wednesday at 4:00. Which, coincidentally, it will be, here, in about 10 minutes!

I’m pretty sure George got the sign at a junk store. I’m also pretty sure he was kidding.

I, on the other hand, am not kidding. Here’s mine…

On Monday, seemingly out of nowhere (as long as “nowhere” is code for divine inspiration) I had an idea!

An idea for a way I could actually help people doing a whole bunch of adapting in the midst of the Corona virus chaos, one of whom is me.

The same idea has the potential of letting a wider web of people know what I do, which seems like a good thing.

And, even better, it was an idea I actually believed I could just go POOF and make happen.

Today, with the help of a dear friend, I was ready for a test run.

Enter a bit of reality.

Let’s just say the technology was not quite as intuitively obvious as I dreamed it would be! (And yes, if you know me you’re welcome to laugh!)

The photo bears witness to the one line I actually managed to get on the demo paper. It’s a great line. Some of you may even recognize it as the beginning of a face!

And the really, really good news is that the dear, helpful test run buddy could see it! (This after about half an hour of camera, sound, signal and, undoubtedly, user error sorts of challenges!)

My friend, who probably would much rather have stayed to play with me, had to go see a guy about a leaky basement.

Here’s the confession part… I was ready for an old fashioned Southern comeapart. I blocked off half an hour on my calendar, until the canine fine dining event, busted out the really, really dark chocolate, and sought comfort in my magic chair, complete with my favorite quilt.

Giving her enough time for me to eat one row of chocolate squares, I let my Inner Critic have her say about how clueless I was and how old my toys were and how nobody ever actually answers the way-out questions I ask.

Then I tempted my Muse out of hiding with two rows of chocolate squares. She reminded me that my idea was actually a good one and people really did need this process. She also mentioned that there are a whole bunch of diplomas with my name on them hanging in the basement which might suggest that I’ve learned some hard stuff before. I was breathing more normally by then so we took a break to feed the beasties who want you to know that they were very polite and grateful.

Back in my chair, I invited my new imaginary friend, the Storytelling Ape, to help me tell you about my day. The Storytelling Ape uses her powers for good and is undoubtedly related to the Muse. (Thank you, Sam and Veronica, for the introduction!)

Just then, a surprise happened!

The Legendary Husband came wandering in with today’s batch of mail and a box I didn’t recognize. Who did I find inside but the embodied Storytelling Ape who used to live at EBay but has, clearly, now taken up residence in the Studio, ready to help!

And now that the Storytelling Ape, the Legendary Husband, and I all know a great deal more about what I didn’t know I didn’t know, my idea is a whole lot closer to becoming real. And, just for a bonus, I have progressed, in the last few hours, to the point where seeing myself on Zoom has actually started feeling like a good thing!!!

I’ll keep you posted! For now, hugs and much love from all the gang at my house to you and yours. Be safe. Be well. And check around for your Storytelling Ape!