My very favorite is simply, What am I trying to accomplish?
It works quite well in the plural, too… What are WE trying to accomplish?
And, then, the one that usually comes right after that… What’s the next right thing?
Well, the Legendary Husband and I have pretty nearly worn out the favorite questions this weekend!
I tried wiggling my nose, like Bewitched, when I was a kid. It didn’t work any better now than it used to! And the challenges keep multiplying. You see, we’re hanging art!
Here’s the thing… this weekend is the break between all the painting adventures that have just concluded and the beginnings of the next ones! (And, no… not painting is NOT an option!)
Well, it’s not an option for me. You see, painting is about so much more than stuff to hang on the walls!
This is what’s pasted to the back of my Guardian canvas, drying so it can be hung…
There are voices in my head, whispering that sharing my vision must start here, with Anne Lamott reading from the gospel of Toni Morrison:
“The function of freedom is to free someone else, and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Get it all down…”
The mantle of the Fiercely Compassionate Grandmothers has been passed to me by generation upon generation of ancestors and wisdom keepers. I receive it, as a Guardian, with huge gratitude and honor. And I dedicate myself to continue to express and expand the notion of Fierce Compassion, now – in this context – and into the future.
I will continue to notice and wonder. To weave new learning into the map of reality I claim.
I will find new ways to share the old stories which have been Hope on my path.
I will be one of those five people… listening to our Littles, taking them seriously, and not shaming or blaming them for their questions… for as many people as I am able.
I will invite others to join this crucial pathway of empowering grace and Intentional Creativity®. As many as I am able.
I began, as we all must, by being one of those five people for myself and I will proclaim that Good News all the days of my Earthly journey.
I will stay on the path to the place where I am called… the place my old friend, Frederick Buechner, described as the point where my deep joy and the world’s deep longing meet.
I will use what I have learned to help others claim that place for themselves. To release what has held them back and to claim new perceptions to guide them into the future.
I will invite those I meet to consider adding their own inner Rebel to their journeys.
I will utilize the wonder of Medicine Painting as a doorway to help my beloveds claim their transformations with as much of their consciousness as they are able in the moment.
With every fiber of my being, I will do all these things from a place of commitment and intention – with choice and voice and sovereignty – for it is my time to walk the Way of Love.
(And, quite possibly, sleep even less with this crowd whispering in my ear all night!)
Now I’m going to say the surprising thing…
I’ve been a teaching elder and a pastoral counselor for decades. My medicine basket is stocked a with good grasp of clown ministry and a doctoral dissertation on weddings. Also with Ericksonian hypnotherapy and EMI and NLP and Enneagram work and a whole lot of other really useful things to know.
And Intentional Creativity® painting helps them all work better!!!
There are lots of reasons for that. Here are the two that matter most:
Making art uses our whole being!!!
And that opens the door to whole person growth. Or, healing, if you prefer.
Is it easy? Sometimes not, if we’re working deep.
Is it a next right thing on the path to what we’re trying to accomplish? Very often, yes!!! And NOW is an excellent time to start! Or, start again!!!
So… me. Inviting YOU, Sister! We start really soon! I’ll be right beside you. Just click the link for all the fabulous details…
https://musea.org/red-madonna-celebratrix
ps… in case you want to see some more very cool things art can help you make, do some wandering in the place called FierceArtWithHeart! Original paintings, museum quality prints, mugs… and awesome leggings! Daphne will be delighted to show you around!