Hi! I’m Dr. Sue Boardman… expert in the old notion that, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up someplace else!” Sometimes, even when you think you know where you’re going, you wind up someplace else. At least that’s been my experience!
After a journey from single mom to nurse to student (a lot!) to pastor, I wound up needing to learn to be a contemplative. Years of orthopedic challenges demanded that I learn to be still, to embrace—or be devoured by—change.
I also wound up a grandmother. One of my deepest hopes fulfilled! My contemplations have more focus. I discovered that in, through, and under my prayers and wishes for the world, is the notion of Grandmother. Love big enough that my girls are the faces for all people in all places. It’s been kind of a surprise in the way that one day we notice our deepest truth somewhere outside us and realize with a bit of shock that it’s been true all our lives to the very marrow of our bones.
“Retirement” from active ministry in the Presbyterian Church has turned into a bigger change than I expected. My decades of preaching and counseling and writing, along with 35 years as a Developing Capable People leader, have turned into a whole new universe filled with images and words.
In 2017, I signed on for a journey known as the Black Madonna Pilgrimage in the land of Intentional Creativity®. Fortunately, it was the kind of pilgrimage that required paint brushes instead of hiking boots. To say that I am changed is the understatement of a lifetime!
Contrary to an old family story, I learned that the smart kid can, in fact, also be artistic. In 2018, I graduated from Color of Woman and became a certified Intentional Creativity® Teacher, working with individual clients and leading workshops that involve the transformative power of creating images. These days, those workshops are online.
While I was learning the magic of Red Thread circles and 13 Steps, my teacher, Shiloh Sophia McCloud, was learning new things, too. Or, rather, inventing them. One of those new things goes by the name of MetaCognitive Drawing.
The (short) official explanation is thinking about thinking while moving a pen. Or, in my language, …unsticking stuck stuff!
In fact, I’ve unstuck so much stuff, I have received my certificate in Intentional Creativity® Coaching and work privately and in groups with people ready to free themselves for the dreams they most value to come true. Pandemic or no pandemic, with paper, markers, and a Zoom link, we’re on the way!
All of which is to say that, my work is to nurture fierce compassion in the world by helping people turn struggles and things that have hurt into images… and new possibilities.
Grandmothers Are In Charge of Hope and WE GATHER TOGETHER…holiday feasts with the family you have! are, in the way that virtually all books are, autobiographical.
My husband, Bill, our kids, Dave and Kelly, and our granddaughters, Kenzie and Taylor, have graciously agreed to be characters in my learning.
My third best-selling book,
Let’s Boil Bones…and other yummy things! is available in a Kindle edition.
I’m also passionate about Newfoundland dog rescue and the local, sustainable food community. Along with teaching and speaking commitments, my blog, …situational angst and stardust soup at www.sueboardman.com is where my contemplations become conversations.
Dr. Sue Boardman is a Graduate
of the Intentional Creativity®
Color of Woman Teacher Training and
a member of the Journeywoman Guild.
She teaches locally in Atlanta and works with individual clients.