’tis the season… for integration!

Preferably all sorts of integration! For this moment, though, we’re talking about the kind that happens inside us when, suddenly, a huge bunch of puzzle pieces begin to come together and make a whole other image than the one we thought we were working on.

Teachers, as you may have guessed, are involved! Here’s a list… just hold out your hand for some puzzle pieces!

First, seeing things in the sky. An eclipse. Stars over my deck. (Well, a planet or two and a bunch of planes headed for ATL!) Lots of questions. A bit of fear. All thanks to an amazing Indigenous Elder lending me some new questions. And my finding some new ways to learn.

(Note: The eclipse wasn’t visible from much of anywhere except Antarctica, though there are videos if you’re curious.)

Then, a movie. One you’ve probably heard me mention before. The Help. A hard movie. Amidst all the conventions it would be so easy to claim no longer exist, this movie is about telling the real stories… the kind that change things as they travel from one person in one time to more people in later times.

And, after that, a whole lot of crossing things off my list. Not just because I ought to, but because doing them gets me closer to what matters to me. And maybe, just maybe, what matters in our world.

And then, a Facebook post. Words from one of my favorite teachers, Walter Brueggemann:

There is no final reading of the text. We will always read it again, and it will always take us somewhere else.

Walter’s voice is hugely helpful in this moment as I ponder telling a few more of those real-for-me stories, in this context, and signing my name to them.

And, finally – for this moment – a thought from my time at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Brace yourself…

We get to choose our beliefs!

My inner consciousness feels a whole lot like my favorite stock pot…

… when the bones and herbs and veg are bubbling gently on the stove, making something wholly new out of bits some folks would dismiss completely.

Here’s where the notion of integration comes in, with thanks to a Facebook person I don’t know:

Note to self: Along with all the growth and healing, remember to give yourself time for integration, which is a fancy word for “ALLOWING SHIT to SETTLE.” It looks like doing nothing. This nothing is NECESSARY! – Emily McDowell

It sure feels necessary in my world! Even when part of me is still looking for something to check off the list.

Which might just mean putting INTEGRATION on the list!

There’s more about all of this coming… and a hatching plan about how to share it.

For this moment, though, words from a black woman in The Help, reminding the little white girl she was essentially raising that,

You is kind. You is smart. You is important. – Abilene

Perhaps the challenge of this moment is learning that those three things go together and there might just be a reason kind comes first.

I can’t wait to hear what comes up for you as you ponder your puzzle pieces! suesvoice@gmail.com

The bit of a painting, above, is called Honey in Your Heart.

Keep lighting the lights!

ps… “you is… too!“

pps… the Intentional Grandmothers Archetype Quiz is very near its due date! Watch for baby announcement coming soon! And ask me where Abilene fits! (Beta testers… it’s almost time!)