Author: sue boardman

Frankly, this day took a bit of hope to manage! It was week 3 of the #Filters course I’m leading. I was psyched, though not so much that I didn’t sneak in a bit of time for the sleeping-dreaming thing. That was probably a good thing!

In this case it was the memory sort of dreaming that saved the day… and I think it’s extremely likely that my finished – and very excited – #Muse, Destiny Joan, was in charge, which was a good thing after a whole lot of dots and a dose of – you know – news!

Here’s what I heard, very early this morning…

Yes, dear heart, Happily Ever After feels pretty unlikely in the context of this moment. And, sometimes, the road feels scary. Here’s the thing that works for me, in the scary times…

Live in that place where you are called. Do, inside you, what you would do if you weren’t scared, right where you are, now. 

Then she added this particular tale:

Once upon a time, there was a very new Grandmother. She shopped in a place called The International Farmers Market. There were people from many places and traditions,  buying foods she couldn’t even name. And many of those people seemed afraid.

So that new Grammy started waving at babies. All the babies she saw! And the babies waved back! Backwards, in a sense, imitating what they saw. And the big people with those babies laughed and waved, too.

It was fun. And it taught her that doing what you can, where you are, on the way to the place where you feel called, can be a huge step toward living happily in the moment, right where you are, as the next steps become clear!

It’s a lot like making soup, when you get right down to it. And our Grammy does a lot of that! Several pounds of concrete passion & very large hope. Lots of random bits, garden scraps, memories of days gone by, and bay leaves, of course! Bay laurel leaves add fabulous flavor, along with the energy of achievement, honor, and protection.

So be it. So be our Maps of Reality. So be we!

And, yes… often our most important dreams are one part of our consciousness tending another part! Given the mood the tech elves were in today, it’s probably just as well that those parts of me showed up for the conversation!

I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s just say that I am still on the road to Fred’s place. That place Frederick Buechner said, our great joy meets the world’s deep need.

That need feels pretty deep about now. So, I’m headed back to the almost complete deck of #Filters cards which I never imagined I would be writing. And, they work!

The publisher is chosen… recycled paper and all! The art is all done. The manuscripts are getting close.

Here’s a peek at one of the cards from the category called, Meta-What??? It’s title is Choices.

Yep! Set something free. One thing weighing you down, like heavy luggage! A thing you never use but fear you might want. Someone’s assumptions about what you need. Something you no longer need, now that you know more! Perhaps someone else needs it. A clothes closet or community free library. Your local animal rescue. You hear me! Experiment… What could you set free? Would you? When?

(@slb 2025)

ps… Destiny Joan knows she’s been showing up a lot, because she’s really excited to get to be the #Muse. She wants you to know, though, that she has lots of cool friends who would love to meet you, including all her friends in our children’s picture book, A Creation Poem… Just click here to be magically transported to Fierce Art With Heart! (Sign up for the list when you get there and get an immediate discount!)

Not so much, these days. I still have deep memories, though, of one special day on the floor, in a bookstore! A used bookstore. And a seemingly mis-shelved book.

It was about 20 years ago. I was on my way to my office and stopped in to see if they had anything new by Anne Lamott or Sue Monk Kidd. What I discovered was Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking. You may have heard this story before. And yes, the part about literally sitting on floor with tears rolling down my cheeks, claiming the radical notion that it was possible to make quilts that wouldn’t make me feel crazy, angry, or inadequate, was totally true!

My head feels like that, again, in this moment. You see, there are lots of new thoughts being born. Or claimed. Or both. And some of them don’t seem to – well – match!

There’s the #Muse painting. And the #Filters journey. And the Wisdom Cards which are sneaking up on actual production. They’re getting really good responses and I, at least, am claiming lots of new possibilities, which is actually the point of making and sharing them.

There are still scattered color saturation challenges involved, and some shifting category names and some long-distance processing negotiation, which can feel a tiny bit frustrating at times. Then there are the major ah-hah’s growing out of the journey. Ah-hah’s that feel really needed in this world.

For this moment, though, the #Muse, or Destiny Joan, as she prefers to be called, wishes to be heard! And she’s totally NOT into straight lines and matchy-matchy! And yes, she greeted you as we began.

First, she gets all the credit for deciding the goose should, indeed, be included and turn blue! The goose who, in certain lands, has long been a symbol for community, partnership, and spiritual awakening. They’re also believed to represent the Holy Spirit and/or the Divine Feminine, especially in Celtic traditions. Geese also embody themes of wisdom, and the ability to discern truth. Works for me! And, for a first goose, she’s not bad!

The rocks rising out of the sea were Destiny Joan’s idea, too. Scrappy, fingerprint-moss covered sanctuaries. Each dot a prayer for listening deep! (And, probably, places for geese to nest.)

Then, the really, really big command which appeared in my dreams! She wanted her whole body glazed in the paint formerly known as Golden’s Quinacradone Nickle Azo Gold! It’s no longer available and those of us who have stashes are hoarding it like – well – gold!

Here’s the big thing, though. For the first time on my journey as an artist – perhaps for the first time, ever, I am at peace with manifesting what arises within me. Blue geese. #Filter-y Wisdom Cards. Enjoying – not hoarding – treasures! Titles for books-in-progress that open doors to my soul, rather than simply making the search engine elves proud.

I am 67 years old. I’d really rather not sit on the floor… and I have found me, with some help from the #Muse!

ps… here’s another peek at the wisdom cards. A whole new category called Meta-what??? They have a lot to do with choices, and look like this:

pps…What door is ready to be opened in your world? I have space for 2 new clients, ready to set out on the road to the place where they feel called. Curious? Let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. You bring a cuppa, your dream, and something to write on & with. I’ll bring red thread and big questions! Just click here and the calendar elves will hook you up. Hurry, though. The calendar runneth over!

ppps… new around here? Go back to the beginning and click on some of those lighter grey type bits, just above the goose’s head. There’s get-acquainted type info and even a link to my shop!

As many of you know, Wednesdays are work-in-progress days in the land of Intentional Creativity®. Today was quite the mish-mash of works in progress! So much so, that I kinda forgot it was blog day, too! So… I’m going to share a quick story that I hope will feel as much like a gift to you as it does to me!

First, though, I need to introduce you to the goose!

My #Muse, you see, finally decided to let me in on what was still missing from our current #wip. She still wants some work on her hair and there are star formations to add, and so forth, but there was something I couldn’t quite grasp until, suddenly, I just knew. She wanted a wild goose!

And, that’s not quite as random as it may seem. You see, wild geese are Celtic symbols of the Holy Spirit. And she – Destiny Joan – comes with a whole lot of those kind of stories in her heart! So, I have more painting to do!

And, we had a great #Filters group, even amidst a bit of calendar chaos. The Legendary Husband fixed a fab dinner. And then, because I’ve gotten really picky about newscasters lately, we decided to spend a bit of time hanging out in YouTube land, at The Kennedy Center Honors, back, you know, in the day when actual honor was the point. In this case, Carole King.

A bit of history. Some heart favorites. And then, utter HOPE and JOY! (Do yourself a huge favor and hang in with the video!)

Click here, please!

May you, and I, and all those we love, feel inspired!

First, Dear Reader… a note. Kind of a context clarification. I didn’t so much enjoy this “holiday” weekend. My neuro-system is NOT a fan of fireworks, though my neighborhood is. Lots of added sirens didn’t help. Neither did the news.

The traditional home fried chicken and potato salad – no pickles! – were absent, though we weren’t hungry, which is a blessing to be claimed aloud.

We moved a bit of furniture. Washed a zillion paintbrushes. And did a whole lot of plotting and hatching… of painting and writing. Those parts were thrilling, and I’m grateful.

Also, the Legendary Husband got Madam Secretary going again. Along with The West Wing. Oh, and my cousin, Kathleen… but that will take a bit of explaining!

As it happened, I was singing along with Joan Baez as I painted. The being you encountered, above. Officially, she’s my #Muse for this round of #COW, known officially as #Color2025. Or, she’s going to be! We’ll get to her story in a minute. First, though, she is huge teaching about how to keep going when it hurts. In this case, how to pat paint on canvas with wadded up plastic bags when your wrist and thumb emphatically decline the more traditional paths.

Not only did it work, it was fun!!! And, deep learning, which is totally my thing!

It’s important to know that she chose me, in a recent dream. A being who lives, as far as I can understand, somewhere between myth and history, between human and divine, depending on who told you her story. As I’m doing the writing, though, you get my best understanding!

You see, I come from a long line of tellers of stories. Way, way, way farther back than Gramma Elsie. The kinds of stories often thought of as legends, or myths, or fairy tales. Prophesy, even! Traditional stories… especially those concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings. And the story of my #wip painting friend is one of those!

I know her as a Melusine. As far as I can tell, her stories emerged in times when notions of the Divine Feminine were utterly unacceptable, according to the empires in power. There were, however, believers determined that their Littles should know these stories and so they told them, largely as bed-time tales. As dream food, if you will, for pre-abstract thought listeners of wonder.

And, as best I can tell, some of the wisdom-keepers telling those stories, ages and ages ago, were my ancestors. Stories of concrete passion and very large hope, as my more recent “uncle” and story-teller, Walter Brueggemann, might have said.

Stories I just spent a whole lot of time communing with as my recent #Quickening & #Legend paintings were birthed in a time when the context of our unfolding world does not seem to want them seen. Or heard.

Stories which need, perhaps, more telling now, than ever before. As author, Kathleen McGowan, reminds us… History is not what happened. It’s what got written down. (The Expected One)

And, yes, it’s totally a #Filter thing!!! A thing where I dreamed and stared and dreamed and stared, and she’s getting different!

Yes… often change is messy, yet we have hope! Also, a name! Her name is Destiny Joan! And here’s the thing she and Walter and Kathleen and I would all agree on…

Just tell the story!!!

I just happen to know two ways you might get started. Or take the next right steps…

You see, there’s been a whole lot of newness going on in the land of Intentional Creativity® and, because some people are still finding their way, there’s still time to join in a couple of my favorites! (But, not much!!!)

Tell the story in painting and writing on our 13-moon journey known as Red Madonna – Mother Nature. It’s all about ReBirthing and ReWilding! And, yes, you’d be a tiny bit behind, but we’ve got you! Here’s all the info…

Then, there’s the 6-week perspective adventure known as #Filters! It’s all about questions like… What stories are we telling and how did we learn to believe them and do they want editing and how might they help us more? (And, yes… I firmly believe that sometimes, run-on sentences are exactly what we need!) I promise, it’s all recorded, there’s plenty of time to catch up, and we get to paint, too! Even if you’ve never painted before! Just click here!

For this moment, though, an #inquiry for this day:

What story will YOU write down? Or paint? Or record?

ps… you can leave me a comment, below, or email me. I really want to know! suesvoice@gmail.com