What do writer’s cramp, trees, and sisters have in common?
I hear you pondering! Take your time…
If you’ve known me a while, you’re probably not surprised that it has something to do with learning. And it does.
The other thing, which you might not have thought of, is that they all have to do with Intentional Creativity. (At least in my world!)
It happened something like this…
On Wednesday I put up a Facebook post with a bit of a story about a painting known as either Legend 2 or Chosen, Safe, and Loved, along with a glimpse of the painting, which looked like this:
I was really excited because she had been selected for an up-coming juried, virtual museum show.
Later, I realized just how excited I was when I noticed that the image I posted (above) was, in fact Legend 2’s little sister, aka Legend 1 or Follow Your Heart! Pause for embarrassment! (And huge thanks for all of you who rejoiced with me 😉 )
If you have a little sister, as I do, this may bring some been-there-done-that stories to mind. I know it does for me!
(This, clearly, is one of those times my Granny had in mind when she told me it wasn’t necessary to tell everything we knew!)
All of which brought me to yesterday, when I still had no notion of the graceful way to admit that I, the very excited artist, couldn’t tell my paintings apart!
A for creativity. C- for intentional!
There were, however, other things on the list.
Writer’s cramp chief among them. You see, Louisiana is getting ready for a special election for a Representative to the U.S. Congress and I have an opinion. (An opinion I borrowed from Stacey Abrams!)
Opinions, in politics, often turn out to mean writing postcards to registered voters who haven’t made it to the polls in a while. Lots of them. In pretty blue ink with some extra swirls and flourishes.
B- for creativity. A+ for intentional!
And still no blog post!
Then, I did a couple of new-ish sorts of things. A meeting with some folks I’d never met before, but somehow knew immediately, and a timely bit of advice from Mother Mary.
And still no blog post!
The next right thing was becoming obvious. Take all my new-ish stuff and questions and wander off to the land of dreams with a pencil and an index card on the night stand.
It worked. (It usually does when I get over myself sufficiently to remember to try!)
I woke with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ voice in my head, reminding me of what I already knew about trees and danger…
“The word danger in its oldest form meant to protect, “You. Stand in my danger, in the aura surrounding me that is funded by my heart, my soul and my spirit that says certain things of this earth are so precious they can never be allowed to be harmed or made to vanish.
“You stand in my danger because I will protect, I will help, I will create, I will defend, I will unleash, I will hold back, I will restrain, I will open up, I will carve doors in walls, I will do whatever it takes.
“You stand in my danger. She is the protectress, the one who takes care of those who have been conquered and raises them back up again. She is not only passionate, but she’s observant and experienced. She will protect anything of goodness, anything that has the merest spark, the tiniest spark at the end of the wood, she will breathe on it and bring it back to life.
Just that. Words I had not heard for years. And an image to go with them.
You guessed it! This story begins with my first (incomplete) effort at drawing a Celtic Tree of Life. It surely won’t be the last! (It was hard to pull myself – writer’s cramp and all – off to the laptop to make these words!)
There is surely more of this story to come. For this moment, a glimpse of the big sister, the actual Legend 2 or Chosen, Safe, and Loved, standing in the danger of another sort of Tree of Life.
Legend paintings, as they exist in my world have everything to do with Creativity and Intentionality, done with a tribe of sisters helping us learn, sometimes by not laughing at us!
And, often, by helping us learn that danger isn’t always the bad thing we might, once upon a time, have believed.
ps… Details on the virtual museum show to follow.
pps… Check YouTube videos for hints on the Celtic Tree of Life!
ppps… If you’re up for a bit of the good-danger as we all move from one season to the next and, metaphorically, from one world to the next, I have a plan. Literally, a plan plan. And you’re invited! Details this week…
I just love your dots and how you make them into something beautiful.
“I will carve doors in walls. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Sounds like all that feminine energy: a mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, teacher, nurse, lover, friend……..
Thank you, Mary Ann, for reading and for hearing. I spent several years listening to Dr. Estes in the middle of the night after knee surgeries! Hugs…