Do you know the old saying about many things being true and not all going together very well?
I’m beginning to think that’s most of the truth, most of the time! I mean, if we’re paying attention, there’s a whole lot of chaos going on and we need safe places to go. Places to take a break from the chaos. Places to make even a hint of order out of the chaos. Places safe enough to actually allow ourselves to sleep… and dream!
For me, at least, art – and the stories that grow into and from it – helps!!!
It’s a brain processing thing, for sure. The kind that helps all of our powers of perceiving and creating to work together. To make space for newness. (As you may have noticed, this feels like a really good time for that!!!)
And, here’s a bonus! We notice new things when we make art!!! We ask new questions and, if you’ve been reading along for a bit, you know I’m all in favor of new questions!
Now, here’s where we go out on a limb… what if – maybe… just maybe – making art gives us whole new strategies for making choices???
What if we practiced asking ourselves what we could do, rather than what we should do??? You know… actual internal preferences – vs – automatically complying with what we think others expect from us!
And, NO! I am emphatically NOT talking about the kind of coulds filling the news these days. The kind of things that go along with the notion that, in order for X to have more power, all the Y‘s must have less…
Instead, I’m talking about what colors or styles or elements could I choose that would help draw me in the direction of my own highest intentions, whether everything “goes together” or not. Whether it’s “the way we’ve always done it,” or not.
Let’s line it all out… The art we began with is a colored pencil sketch of a tree. It lives in a place I love, and became part of my inner family a while back, when I was up to my eyebrows in an art-venture known as #Guardian.
The same tree appeared previously in a couple of my paintings. In real life, it looks like this:
At one point, in the land of processing new questions, it also looked like this:
All true. All useful in different ways, depending on the questions and the needs. And here’s the punch line:
If a tree can teach me all this – and soothe my spirit at the same time – why would I be okay with needlessly endangering them???
And that, my dear friend, is the thing known around here as one step reframe with a big gold bow! (The reframes are very rarely actually one step, but feel like it when the light comes on!)
And – drum roll, please! – all of this reframing becomes medicine in my basket. Medicine for helping folks like you manifest your biggest, dearest intentions, one step at a time. If this notion sets anxiety/excitement bubbles rising inside you, let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. You bring a cuppa, some paper & a pen or markers… some red thread could be handy, too. We’ll name your next right thing!!!! Just click here and ask the calendar elves to hook you up!
ps… even though we’re running short on shipping time for the holidays, the buy 2 – get 1 free special on A Creation Poem… is still good! Here’s what one reader had to share: “What a gift! My youngest grand-children explored the paintings, simply transfixed, while the teens delighted in the inclusive language…” (Marilyn Washburn, MD, MDiv, PhD) No special codes needed. Just put 3 copies in your basket and they’ll make the magic! (pps… there are lots of other goodies discounted, too! Everything in the collections of Original Art, Archival Prints, and the Special Guest Artist Collection is 25% off the listed price – no codes needed. The elves have got you!)