Category: Art Journey

I suspect I’ll always hear that voice thundering in my ears. I was about 30 years old, and Walter Brueggemann was exhorting a room full of wannabe preachers!

I felt like I was being handed a terrifying thing I’d been seeking all my life! And, I feel even more like that now!

Maya Angelou put it this way:

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Thus, the glimpse of a painting, above. She was a total surprise. Literally. And she didn’t begin to appear until I set reason aside and followed my heart. Months of under-layers disappeared under the biggest, scariest glaze of my life.

Well, almost disappeared!

Once everything got purple, I began to see things I had not noticed before! And, rather than putting new things in all that space, I brought forward what I saw.

Their name is Choice, Voice, and Sovereignty!

Frankly, it was terrifying. Especially for one who is only beginning to have access to visual processing!

It’s the Voice thing that brings them here, today, because this moment is feeling a whole lot like time for speaking out. For showing up with all of ourselves. For finding our authentic voices. And, if you’re at all like me, that may not be what you learned as a kid!

I had a chance to practice, yesterday. Yep, Social media! Somebody who thought I should say things the way they would, instead of the way I did. I imagine you can relate! And the whole inner debate about leave it up/take it down/walk away from disagreement, etc., etc.

Then, I walked down the hall, past the place where this 48×60 inch canvas hangs, waiting patiently to be noticed again. To be helpful!

And I left my post the way I wrote it. Not because I wanted to win… but because it grew out of the top part of the painting. The part that looks like a huge moon. The part that carries some of my deepest chosen beliefs. Here’s the whole deal…

The teal blue place, above their heart, is their voice. And their hands are part of my code for power. And, perhaps most urgently, in this moment, their heart is painted in the chakra-green of compassion.

And all of this – as you’ve realized – is happening in the context of this world, now. A context that perhaps even Walter hadn’t anticipated when he was helping so many of us claim our calling to tell the story.

Then there’s the other story I’m telling. The one for our Littles. All of them. The one of belonging and mattering. It’s very, very, very nearly done!

And that, dear heart, means book launch! Which feels like a whole lot of voice! Mark your calendar, please, for September 22. And stay tuned! It’s time to cause some Good Trouble, and you’re invited!!!

For now, though… grace, peace, and blessings!

You know how sometimes you learn something new… realize one new thing… let go of one limiting belief… and everything feels different???

Well, that happened in me, this week!

But, before I tell you that story, I need to introduce you to a neighbor of ours, way back when I would have been a pre-K kid, if we’d known about such things in those days. Fern lived across the street from us in Pittsburgh. I liked her. And, she had a fashion thing going on that drove my mom nuts! Let’s just say that Fern hadn’t learned the same rules about what goes as my mom had!

In fact, Fern became code, in our family, for You’re wearing too many colors. Or, flowers don’t go with plaid. As in, Go try it again, Fern!

My recovery began gradually when I discovered Blue Fish brand clothing, much to my mom’s dismay. And made quilts with too many colors!

These days, I wander the world covered in paint. Intentionally! Today, a lot of it’s pink after some work with my #CuraArchetype painting!

Recently, I began to notice some new things. You see, there’s a whole lot of new going on! (Like the new book I’m about to launch and the two I’m already writing to follow it!)

And, I’ve been hanging out with my teacher/sister, Julie Steelman, and a whole bunch of women working on getting out there.

As you’ve probably noticed, I have this thing about context. And there’s been a whole lot of that coming from Chicago this week. And, in places I hang out, like the land of Intentional Creativity® there’s a whole lot of conversation about the rising archetypal feminine. We might even go so far as to say, She’s Risen! And, if we did, we might think that has a whole lot to do with context in this moment!

You do you!

Here’s the thing… in the midst of all that, I realized…

I am ready to be seen!

In fact, this particular Dangerous Old Woman is ready to be more dangerous than ever!

And I mean that in the way Dr. Estes did, when she talked about sheltering under the danger of a tree. A place where those gathered were safe. Honored, even. And, as far as I’m concerned, we need as much of that as we can get!

I am, inherently, an introvert. Between the challenges of 6 knee surgeries in 9 years and the pandemic, I got pretty comfortable at home. Nobody calling me Fern. You get the drift…

Except, I have things to say. Things to help change. People to support as they look for ways to set their SuperPowers free in the world. And a future to help protect for all our Littles.

Besides, I like bright colors! And patterns!

You, clever soul, have already realized why chartreuse ferns have just appeared in the #fleursavage #innerwilderness painting with which we began…

So, today I weeded the closet. Donated a bunch of things I thought I should have, but never enjoyed, to a church that operates a clothes closet. And ordered myself another bright denim jacket, which will also be delighted to become a vest/accessible purse. One with flowers and swirls and something that just might turn out to be a mandala! All of which should make it easier for Daphne & me to share!

Then, I hatched up an idea for a reading in a local bookstore, and asked some dear souls for book reviews. And I made a list of more exciting ideas! All of which – as you might imagine – involve some sense of being seen.

And, drum roll, please… I had fun!!!

ps… all that pink, above, is a path of sorts. A 6-petal rose. Wonder where it will lead???

pps… are you ready to learn something new… realize one new thing… let go of one limiting belief??? Or more??? Let’s talk! Just click here and the calendar elves will be delighted to hook you up with 30 minutes, my gift!

ppps… curious about Intentional Creativity®? Got dreams? Check this out… Abracadabra! I can’t wait to begin!