Today is kind of an odd day in my world. My Legend painting is finished. (I think!) We haven’t started painting yet in Forest of Grandmothers. Taking Her Place Among the Matriarchs, who is also finished, has volunteered for the upcoming Musea show’s call for entries. Also among the sisterhood, a peek at my first Our Lady of Guadalupe painting who’s eager to meet her forever Mom, and an older friend, What the World Needs Now.
My day is full of meetings. And a massage!
It’s Work-in-Progress Wednesday and I am washing brushes.
That feels like a really good thing!
A reminder that the journey is at least as important as the finish line. That I am the work-in-progress.
And that reminds me of an old quote. With the miracles of technology, I tried to look it up.
Turns out that searching Desert Fathers scrubbing floors/washing dishes doesn’t get much but some sad faces from Google.
If you happen to be one of my buddies from seminary, or a mystic of another sort, feel free to help me out!
For now, I’m foregoing chasing that particular mental rabbit for the actual meditation of Castile soap and well loved paint brushes.
I like the scrubby kind the best. The ones that are a bit gunky even after they’re washed, with the stiff bristles so good for glazing. Some of mine have paint flaking off the handles.
I’m grateful for an amazingly cool silicone scrubby do-hickey which makes brush washing a whole lot easier. It was a gift from a dear paint sister and is still going strong a couple of years later.
Then, time to clean the sink and find a new sketch pad/journal for The Get It Done Lab which starts today. Which kind of goes along with the theme of me being the work-in-progress.
Here’s what I’ve realized, lately. When “work” is also passion and calling and what some traditions would refer to as sacred promise, washing the brushes is all part of the journey.
Now, I know that many of you reading this are paint sisters and other folks who will find these musings of mine familiar. Possibly even redundant.
But, there are many of you who may still be searching for that sense of place and purpose in the world. I’ve been there!
I took several detours along my path that might have been failures but turned out to be huge learning opportunities.
All that learning has led me to a place where I’m thrilled with the blue index card that has my best-ever answer to the eternal question:
What do you do?
It goes like this…
You know how the world feels upside down and the littles you love like crazy are struggling and you’re not sure how to help in ways that are real for you?
Well, I help wise Grandmothers like us to discover and claim the gifts of our special archetypes for empowering ourselves and each other, and the ones we love the most, to survive and thrive!
Stay tuned for more to follow!
For now, I’m so hoping you’ll claim where you are on the journey and have some fun with whatever version of washing brushes works for you.
I cleaned my art table. Does that count? Figured the great grandmother me would do better with a clean flat surface. The meditation of Castile soap is real.
Indeed, always a work in progress.
It totally counts, dear Fran! Hug that sweet new little one for me as soon as you can… they’re why we do the work!
I’m unsure of the exact quote you’re seeking, but I think Brother Lawrence is the reference to finding the sacred in everyday things, even doing chores like washing dishes and scrubbing floors.
Thank you, Dear Shirley! Brother Lawrence rings lots of bells for me… I’ll check it out. Thanks for reading and adding your wisdom!