Category: Art Journey

This afternoon, I was thrilled to be in a group of wise women, celebrating the energy of the Grandmothers.

The literal ones. The archetypal ones. The past ones. The future ones. The cosmic ones.

At one point, we were reflecting on memories that mattered deeply to us. Memories of relationships with our own generations.

The first thing that popped into my awareness was my current journey with my family’s genealogy. It’s quite the trip! (And a nice use for the miracles of modern science in these days!)

As of two nights ago, I have officially made it back 37 generations of direct grandmothers and grandfathers. Back to people born in about 900 CE.

I’m trying to grasp the stories, as well as the names and dates and places.

That is, as you might imagine, a whole lot of stories!

But then there was another voice in my awareness.

The voice of my younger granddaughter.

It came from some special memories around the Christmas of 2017.

We were on a cruise with our kids. It was amazing in so many, many ways.

One of the big ones for me was the time we spent waiting around tables for food to appear, especially at dinner.

The dining room on the ship was not conducive to energetic, excited mini-women. Distraction was in order.

The first or second night, the littlest of the littles put her hand on mine and said, “Tell us a story, Grammy. One from your mouff!”

I had lots! Many of them by way of my own Story-Gramma, Elsie, who happens to be the link to the big branch of the family tree in the way back machine!

The girls listened with huge eyes as I recounted a story which fascinated me at their age. Elsie swore that three or four of her older sisters were at home in the farm house when a major Mid-west tornado interrupted a mandatory afternoon nap. They were rolled in the mattress by the storm, pulled out a second story window and deposited, terrified but essentially safe, in a corn field, just in time to witness the family piano flying over their heads!

This particular tale has made the list of “from your mouff” best sellers!

What the girls probably don’t realize yet is that from the earliest of times, women and children have gathered in circle and told the stories that helped make them who they are. Stories that help interpret events in the moment and through the ages.

There are other stories, of course. Some they’re just beginning to be old enough for.

But the tradition is there. Around bar-b-que grills and enormous soup pots and ovens and tables, we gather.

We gather to learn more about who our people have been and how the world works and who we might become.

Together.

ps… a rare appearance by Grampy. (Well, almost!) And some really excellent Key Lime pie!

pps… stay tuned for more info on this year’s Red Madonna journey. There will no doubt be room for you!

It’s been one of those weeks.

You know… like when you get new glasses and eventually you’ll be able to see better but, for a bit, your feet can’t quite figure out where the floor is and your neck hurts from trying to figure out which part of the lens to look through…

Sometimes, though, when the news – and a new/old book or two – are the new “lenses”, there might just be the tiniest sense of how did I not know this before lurking in the shadows.

Or, maybe, a really huge sense of all that.

This is not a bad thing, though it can lead to some WTF-ing.

For this moment, Charlotte, the resident Muse, has convinced me that there might be another way to tell the story. We’re going to try it her way.

Let’s begin with a favorite quote attributed to German theologian, Karl Barth…

We do theology with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

Or, to modernize things a bit, something more like some very abbreviated writing on our hearts and CNN!

There is, though (as there so often is) yet another hand!

In this case, the Legend paint journey just beginning with brush wielding sisters from around the world.

And, no, that’s not Legend in the photo above. It’s the one formerly known as Ritual which has insisted on becoming the backdrop for my video work, as is and far from officially “finished”!

Legend is, in my case, a dream along with some very scribbly journal pages and a blank canvas which, together, are changing me already.

Here’s the thing…

The whole point of the legendary adventure is to explore the possibility of allowing old stories that aren’t working to become new with the help of some new perspectives. Making, as it were, new stories of old.

And turning, as Paul Tillich might have said, while he was reading the same newspapers Barth was, to the Ground of All Being.

Which is exactly what’s been happening in my head!

And I’m choosing, at least for today, to skip the (highly appropriate) ranting as it will probably only make my blood pressure go up in a way that my healing tribe would not like, and scare the Studio Angels.

Which, right there, is another bit of newness.

And here’s still another… with the energy I didn’t use turning all red in the face and swearing at people past hearing, I did a bit of shopkeeping last night. The special collection in my Shopify store which features the art of the very talented Gloria Venuh is now open! And, in celebration, the rest of the gang got together and voted to have a special automatic discount offer. A big one… for the whole shop!

I’m hoping, with the time and energy you’ve saved by not listening to my proposed rant, you’ll stop by to visit. To dream a bit and listen to some new voices. And feel free to invite your friends! THIS IS THE LINK!!!

ps… just in case you’re curious, the special discount offer is 25% off on purchases over $100! The elves are standing by to make it so. All you have to do is put things in your cart! (Nobody would hold it against you if you started holiday shopping early!)

pps… the painting above has been re-christened Holding Ritual Space which is, clearly, exactly what she had in mind!

Once upon a time…

I needed a business card. Brand new in private practice as a pastoral counselor, I debated over the usual alphabet soup after my name.

Office address and phone number, no problem. Color, no biggie. Paper, in those days!

It was the title that was the challenge. Pastoral Counselor was the obvious choice, but it didn’t say enough!

I fussed and doodled for a couple of weeks. And then I just did what I wanted to do!

A whole list of things. Counseling. Weddings. Liturgy. Couples. Well, you get the idea.

My talented friend did the typesetting. Different fonts. Different grey scales. Some bold. Some stealthy.

My favorite part of all was in the top left corner.

Questions that make all the difference.

These days I have wise teachers explaining the concept of choosing a niche and I get it.

It hasn’t gotten easier.

And I really have a thing about questions! Here are a few of my favs…

What are they learning from the decisions we make?

What are we trying to accomplish?

What might get us closer to that?

What haven’t we asked yet?

If we believe what we say we believe, what, then, shall we do?

That last one is the big one for today.

If I believe that my #Insight painting will help me see things I need to see, does she need me to listen deeper? To stick with the journey? To trust my heart to hear the answers when they come?

Apparently, all of the above.

And so, covered in paint, I use all my powers of knowing… kinesthetic, auditory/digital, visual, intuitive… and I stay on the path. About half an hour ago, we had a breakthrough, she and I.

And she gently suggested that I take a few minutes to tell you about it while the paint dries.

Just in case, you know, there might be something in your life that’s searching for one of those full-body yeses.

Nothing is all wrapped up with a bow just yet, but things that seemed separate now feel connected and, through it all, there is my Big Why!

I have two granddaughters growing up in this world!

I’d love to know what your Big Why is! You can leave me a comment, or email me at suesvoice@gmail.com

She and I have some more noticing and wondering to do. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

ps… Those swirly things shaped like honeycomb in the top left corner (!) are the things she and I are doing, together!

pps… If you’d like to see some finished work, come by for a visit at fierceartwithheart There are lots of great questions hiding in the corners there. You just have to listen. Looking is good, too!

Once upon a Sunday morning, quite some time ago, 11:00 arrived as it almost always does, and it was my turn to preach. There were a few challenges, that particular day.

It was a Sunday in October. A Sunday for which the Lectionary (complicated calendar of which scripture passages are “for” which day) was utterly unprepared!

You see, in addition to it being the whichever Sunday in Ordinary Time, it was also Stewardship Sunday, on Pink Ribbon Sunday for breast cancer awareness, in National Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Yep! Money, sex (well some people think so) and power all cued up for Sunday morning.

The three things you learned, if you were raised right in the time and places I was, not to talk about!

But I did. Because I couldn’t have lived with myself or faced the Creator of my understanding if I hadn’t. I mean, those people were sitting in our pews and not talking about those things wasn’t going to help anything!

This time feels just like that, somewhere deep in my raised right heart which has learned a whole lot of new things.

One of those new things, since then, is Grammy-ness. Elder-ness.

I’ve also learned that flying our Real Me flags is the best thing for us as humans-in-progress.

And, it’s what I want for my girls!

So, Grammy Camp! There’s still time for you to join us.

We’re also to make it more manageable in a stewardship sense. (Less of an investment!) Give us a day or so, please.

And you don’t have to be a Grandmother in the traditional sense to join us. Elders, teachers, youth leaders, even Grandfathers, and folks who don’t necessarily claim any of those choices, whatever your faith tradition. If you’re even a little intrigued, Grammy Camp is the place for you.

(That was, indeed, the money and sex – well, gender – part!)

Here’s the power part…

Trade in the loneliness, the fear of being irrelevant in this world, the terror of watching or imagining your kids entering a world that that looks deeply dangerous and foreign.

Come, sit in an (online) circle with the Dangerous Old Women – in training, of this moment! Practice your GranAlly skills.

Practice teaching and living the empowerment our world so deeply needs – from the smallest grandchild to the global community – and create the life you long for doing it, whatever your gifts or mediums, for yourself, but also so they can see you doing it.

Raised Right is no longer enough, if it ever was. Intentionally, together, we can make a huge difference. But you have to show up. The table is set. Hobby Parent and I are ready!

So, in a moment or two, when you click the thing, you’re going to find a handful of really fun/helpful bonuses that come along with Grammy Camp. Everything from soup recipes to dots of hope! And you can bring a friend for half price!

This is one of those moments. We are up to bat.

CLICK THE THING!

ps… my YouTube music is providing background inspiration as I write. No joke. Kumbaya. Just now. It means come by here!

pps… the art is along the lines of something known as Metacognitive Drawing which helps people make the changes they most long for faster and more easily by trying less hard. (Really!) The one at the top is me on that Sunday morning back when. The one just below is me on this Sunday morning, complete with my purple feather boa! We’ll do some at Camp. And kids can do it, too!