Month: August 2023

You know… the whole indictment thing has been feeling far too familiar for comfort. And that got a whole lot more true when it went big in my neighborhood!

I confess to being glued to the news, gnawing – figuratively – at my nails. At least when the power is on!

Between the big trees down and the construction next door, many things feel if-y these days.

Or maybe it’s more like things feel if-y all the time and it’s just more in my face these days.

For this moment, I’m going to skip over most of the headlines on the assumption that you know what you have space for.

I do have a neighborhood story to share. Along with the usual bit of art-in-progress. And, eventually, some music!

First, a bit of context.

Georgia did a re-districting thing a year or so ago.

The Legendary Husband and I used to live and vote in the GA-04 Congressional district, represented by Hank Johnson. I relate to Hank. And to his wife, Mereda Davis Johnson, who is one of our county commissioners. Let’s just say that big hearts and Oakhurst roots run deep.

These days, though, we live in the GA-05 district with Nikema Williams as our representative. And yes, she now holds what used to be Congressman John Lewis’s seat in the US House.

I’d been hoping Ms. Williams would pop by MSNBC for a wee chat and she didn’t disappoint!

Please hear me say that what I’m about to share is what I heard and scribbled fast as she spoke. What made it through my filters, if you will…

She was speaking of the legacy of John Lewis and all she had learned from him. Then she said:

This is our civil rights moment. Our civil rights movement. If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done in the 1960’s, this is our turn!

And here’s the thing… I have wondered!

I am old enough to remember some of the big events and not old enough to have been a part of acting in those moments.

I vividly remember when Dr. King was killed. We lived in a Chicago suburb. Our school field trip to the Museum of Science & Industry was cancelled. There were National Guard troops camped on the museum grounds, trying to deal with the riots.

A month later, Bobby Kennedy was killed.

Despite my deep Republican roots, I knew, at the age of 10, that the world was somehow changing.

Then, as I grew up nurtured in the embrace of an amazing summer camp community, my role models were guitar playing, peace & justice ballad singing, slightly-less-young women.

If you’ve been around a while, you already know that it was my job to know all the words to all the songs from one summer to the next. And, yes, I know them all, still.

And tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to Rep. Williams saying that NOW it’s our turn.

Which begs the question…

What will we do with OUR time, now???

I’m asking. Really!

And, I’m also offering to help.

I started with Joan Baez. (Surprise!)

Then, my Filters videos-in-progress started editing themselves in my head. (More news to follow!)

You see, Nikema Williams’ question is really close to the notion I love from Frederick Buechner. It goes something like this:

The place where we are called is where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

And, yes… that’s why I’m making Filters videos. So that I can help more of you claim that place in your world. And figure out how to get from here to there!

This is our moment! And Joan left this in my Medicine Basket!

ps… Curious??? Great! That’s the best state for learning new things… Ready??? 45 min. My gift. The calendar elves are ready!

pps… the layers of Legend 2023 go on… Spaces are now open for the Intentional Creativity® teacher training known as Color of Woman 2023! Click to learn more!!! (I’d hurry!)

Yes, perceptive reader… the game goes on!

The big green bookcase into the studio, ready for art supplies!

The rolling metal bookcase into our room. (It’s not really attractive but it’s handy and easy to move!)

The Noah-table beside the bed. At least for now. (It’s a long story…)

Lots of the kind of dusting that doesn’t happen except when big things get moved.

It’s not that we’re bored… just the opposite!

Instead – for me, at least – it’s a reflection of the Soul Yahtzee adventure going on inside me!

And it is, indeed, all happening in context.

When I’m doing the thing known as Filters, context gets symbolized as right angle brackets in the top left and bottom right of the drawing. (Hand signals work, too… in Zoom meetings!)

Most of Thursday and Friday turned into about a dozen pages of sketches and arrows and exclamation points, all having to do with setting the filters loose in the world. (Stay tuned…)

Then, Saturday morning, I fixed a cup of tea and flipped on the news to find myself in the midst of a flashback.

Charlottesville, Virginia. Six years ago. The tragic, deadly Unite the Right rally.

My kids are UVA grads. Charlottesville is among the homes in my heart.

One thing led, as it often does, to a whole lot of others. White supremacy. Politics. Madam Secretary. The Department of Justice. Human rights. Arranged marriages. Global warming. Fair elections. And, kind of surprisingly, poets, with the notion of the American Experiment.

Experiment!

(Time out for massive mental weaving… and many more pages of scribbling!)

Which brings us to the art you see, above… the bottom left bit of my recent painting, Revelation!

And the assumption that Walter Brueggemann will be okay with my including artists among his notion of poets!

If you squint a bit you’ll see the book, Finally Comes the Poet, there among the ones that have changed – and are changing, still – my view of the universe.

Here’s the punch line…

I want the experiment to work!

I want to live like all people were created equal. (They were!)

I want power for rather than power over.

And, while we’re at it, I’d really, really like a healing planet, too!

And, yes… I have 2 granddaughters growing up in this world, so I’m all in!

Since I have one vote and limited funds, that seems to mean proclaiming. Teaching. Sharing. Caring out loud in the best way I can.

And that means helping people just like you to do the same. Your way!

Fortunately, I’ve been filling up my medicine basket with a lifetime of good stuff and I have a new way to share the options coming just as soon as my inner poet and artist sign off. (Like, by Wednesday!)

If you’ve read this far, you have a bit of the puzzle, too. We’ll start with the questions… for YOU!

What inspires and empowers ME?

How do I most long to MATTER?

What do I need to be READY?

Wait! Go get something that makes marks and write these out with your very own hand. And leave space for the answers to come!

Then, take a deep breath. Listen to the poetry and art whispering to you. And show up again Wednesday!

ps… can’t wait??? The calendar elves will hook you up. 45 min. My gift. You bring your answers and a bit of red thread if it’s handy!

pps… the Hebrew word I added to the palm of the hand in the painting means here I am. I’m just sayin’!

ppps… if you haven’t read it already, my Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope is a really good intro! (It’s in the painting, too, but you need better eyes than mine!)

to be hit by an apple!” (Andrew Johnstone)

First, please hear me declare that I am not behind on my Legend painting journey. I am exactly where I need to be, even though others are considerably further along the way!

(Which could be a consciousness thing…)

Then, a bit of orientation for those of you who are not quite sure where this is heading!

Legend has been an annual Intentional Creativity® adventure for years. This is my fifth time on the wild ride that tends to call many things into question. (Possibly even gravity!)

Or, as our amazing leader, Shiloh Sophia McCloud, would say… It’s a place for hanging with catalysts and instigators! Like Shiloh, herself, and so many of our IC® ancestors, and this year’s bonus leader, artist and astronomer, Andrew Johnstone!

That hanging out place is why I keep showing up – investing time and money and energy – in a place where I’m actually choosing, metaphorically, to be hit on the head by an apple.

I have long loved questions more than answers!

Harry Potter, if you’ll recall, played riddle games. And – auditory/digital processor that I am – I can still hear with my teenaged ears, Gollum taunting Bilbo Baggins with questionssss… Then there were the stories about the Riddle of the Sphinx…

In this moment, though, it’s all about allowing ourselves to wonder and learn new things. Since we need a place to start, we’re wondering about creation and consciousness. Really!

Because embodied wondering is even more fun… we’re wondering with paint. And, in my case, Joan Baez!!!

So, going with heavy body paints for this adventure (Think toothpaste!) I squeezed some magic on my reused sushi container palette and pushed the buttons which reliably summon Ms. Baez into my space. Wow, was I in for a surprise!

Painting the beginning surrounded by the amazing percussion of Darling Corey was light years beyond my imagining. (Keep reading for now, if you would. The music video is, indeed, below!)

Here’s the thing…

I literally wound up dancing at my canvas.

Slinging paint and swinging hips. Tears on my cheeks and no pain in my knees. Or shoulders. Or awareness.

Really!!!

And then I heard another voice… startling at first. And, then… duh! The voice of C. S. Lewis’ Puddleglum, speaking to the Dark Queen…

“One word, Ma’am,” he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things — trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.”

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair, The Chronicles of Narnia

All of which leaves me with a few questions for you, if I may…

Think of something you’ve created… What does it feel like?

What do you long to create next?

What does the world need as it becomes more conscious?

Really! I want to know. (Leave a comment below, or email me! suesvoice@gmail.com )

Even if there’s a voice inside you, shouting that you are not creative… you are!

And I’d love to help!

So, hang for a few with Joan and the gang. And then, if you’re even hoping you’re ready, consider letting the calendar elves hook you up with 45 minutes. My gift. Lots of possibilities.

ps… yes! You might actually have squinted just right and noticed a 6-petal rose in the middle of my painting! More to come about that!

pps… if you’re on the blog list, watch for an email on Friday with big news from FierceArtWithHeart! Those elves have been busy, too! (If you’re not on the list yet, or you haven’t been getting emails lately, now would be great!)