Category: Art Journey

The Legendary Husband gave me my Christmas gift early. A denim shirt/canvas for the girls to help me paint!

My friends at Michaels obligingly shipped the fabric paint medium so I didn’t need to take it on the plane. (Along with a few other goodies!)

Cat proofing proved to be the first challenge. Well, okay… not proofing, exactly. Not with two 6-month old kittens! A plastic table with the canvas tarp all bunched up so that it didn’t hang over the edges helped. But, yes, they can jump that far. Fortunately, they are easily bored!

The first big question was, What should we paint, Grammy?

Answer: What ever you like!

[Time out for clarifying questions.]

Finally, we were all on board. I did, indeed, want my magic shirt painted with whatever they wanted to do. Any colors they chose. Really!

And while they painted citrus fruit and a bunny in sunflowers, I made fingerprint dots along the collar which was the most accessible place left.

Fingerprint dots which were, of course, prayer dots.

Prayers for health and safety and courage and kindness. Prayers for deep dreams and big visions. Prayers for joy. For all of us.

And, being considerably less flexible than my buddies, I spent a bit of time sitting and sharing some Solstice learning.

Totally new for the girls. Only slightly less new for me. (We did not cover this in nursing school or Seminary!)

We talked about time before calendars and living closely with nature.

We talked about time with ourselves and with others.

And, when there was concern about paint mistakes, we talked about layers and how things got even more interesting as we learned along the way.

Today, somewhere between swim team and field hockey practice (INDOORS!) we’ll paint some more. And find time to meet some more Grammies in my Forest of Grandmothers slide show.

Tonight, there’s a light show in a park!

And time to hold space for Maria, my new teacher – or Shima – which means one who is like a mother, while her mother makes her transition into the future.

For this moment, prayers for health and safety and courage and kindness. Prayers for deep dreams and big visions. Prayers for joy. For all of you!

ps… we’re getting closer and closer to Unsticking Stuck Stuff workshops… starting with big stuff for this moment! Stay tuned!

pps… holiday gatherings? Even the distanced kind? Have some fun with the Intentional Grandmothers’ Archetype Quiz! (And maybe pick up some visions for 2022!)

It has, indeed, been a big day around here. Big in the sense of what’s about to be happening by the time you read this.

And big days, especially ones with blogs to write, often mean food tv. On Tuesdays, that’s Chopped. In one particular episode, when things were down to the final two challengers making dessert, a young woman named Rahaf was, shall we say, stressing about whether her tarts would finish baking.

In a way that makes perfect sense but is actually counterproductive, Rahaf kept opening the oven door until the judges yelled at her to leave it alone.

Wisely, she decided she needed something else to do. (Think Hail Mary moment!)

She grabbed a microplane and an apple which she shredded quickly, and then a handful of flakey sea salt. And, much to everyone’s amazement, tossed the whole batch in the deep fryer.

The judges were aghast. Incredulous. Fried salt… really???

The clock ticked on, as the clock on Chopped always does. I have no idea what the other chef was doing. All eyes were glued to the ecstatic young woman as she took her beautifully done tarts from the oven, plated everything, and garnished the whole dish with her fried salt and apple bits.

As an experienced connoisseur of Chopped, I can assure you that the judges loved her dessert.

Now, you may be wondering why the food tv story in this moment. The answer is simple.

I feel like I’m having a Hail Mary moment, too.

Yep! The Intentional Grandmother Archetype Quiz has been made manifest!

It’s taken a truckload of work and learning and help.

Mostly, it’s taken a whole lot of reminding myself why I care.

You’ve heard me say it before…

Becoming a grandmother changed my life. And my perspective on everything!

I wrote a book called Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope with a lot of the learning stories.

And, just between us, the last few years have convinced me — and I would imagine many of you — that we need even more Hope these days than we might ever have guessed.

I feel deeply called to help.

And, as my friend Sam Bennett would say, we start right where we are.

In this case, I hope, with a bit more awareness about how things we believed just were this or that way are impacting our choices, and the littles we love the most.

So, a quiz, to help us see with different eyes.

It’s short, simple, and fun. It’s Intentional!

And, you don’t have to be, as my friend Natalie says, an actual grandmother… just someone who thinks like one! (Even very brave grandfathers are welcome here!)

There’s immediate brief feedback and a chance to join an email list for a whole lot more noticing and wondering. (This is me, after all!)

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what will happen. The tech elves are being expertly supervised. We’ve been testing. I’m sure there’s some tweaking left to do.

I expect there are still some things to learn. (And that, dear friends, is one of the things I most want my girls to understand!)

I can tell you that there’s a lot of good, empowering information on this journey, from my heart to yours. And it’s easy! Just click this link sueboardman.com/archetype and you’re on your way. Quite possibly, to even more hope.

You’ve already guessed that I’d love to hear how it goes! suesvoice@gmail.com (Or leave a comment, below…)

Oh! What happened on Chopped??? I don’t know. Luther needed rescuing!

ps… should you need a bit of flakey sea salt, I’m a fan of the Maldon brand!

pps… thank you, Mellissa Seaman, Veronica Guzzardi and testing team!

Preferably all sorts of integration! For this moment, though, we’re talking about the kind that happens inside us when, suddenly, a huge bunch of puzzle pieces begin to come together and make a whole other image than the one we thought we were working on.

Teachers, as you may have guessed, are involved! Here’s a list… just hold out your hand for some puzzle pieces!

First, seeing things in the sky. An eclipse. Stars over my deck. (Well, a planet or two and a bunch of planes headed for ATL!) Lots of questions. A bit of fear. All thanks to an amazing Indigenous Elder lending me some new questions. And my finding some new ways to learn.

(Note: The eclipse wasn’t visible from much of anywhere except Antarctica, though there are videos if you’re curious.)

Then, a movie. One you’ve probably heard me mention before. The Help. A hard movie. Amidst all the conventions it would be so easy to claim no longer exist, this movie is about telling the real stories… the kind that change things as they travel from one person in one time to more people in later times.

And, after that, a whole lot of crossing things off my list. Not just because I ought to, but because doing them gets me closer to what matters to me. And maybe, just maybe, what matters in our world.

And then, a Facebook post. Words from one of my favorite teachers, Walter Brueggemann:

There is no final reading of the text. We will always read it again, and it will always take us somewhere else.

Walter’s voice is hugely helpful in this moment as I ponder telling a few more of those real-for-me stories, in this context, and signing my name to them.

And, finally – for this moment – a thought from my time at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Brace yourself…

We get to choose our beliefs!

My inner consciousness feels a whole lot like my favorite stock pot…

… when the bones and herbs and veg are bubbling gently on the stove, making something wholly new out of bits some folks would dismiss completely.

Here’s where the notion of integration comes in, with thanks to a Facebook person I don’t know:

Note to self: Along with all the growth and healing, remember to give yourself time for integration, which is a fancy word for “ALLOWING SHIT to SETTLE.” It looks like doing nothing. This nothing is NECESSARY! – Emily McDowell

It sure feels necessary in my world! Even when part of me is still looking for something to check off the list.

Which might just mean putting INTEGRATION on the list!

There’s more about all of this coming… and a hatching plan about how to share it.

For this moment, though, words from a black woman in The Help, reminding the little white girl she was essentially raising that,

You is kind. You is smart. You is important. – Abilene

Perhaps the challenge of this moment is learning that those three things go together and there might just be a reason kind comes first.

I can’t wait to hear what comes up for you as you ponder your puzzle pieces! suesvoice@gmail.com

The bit of a painting, above, is called Honey in Your Heart.

Keep lighting the lights!

ps… “you is… too!“

pps… the Intentional Grandmothers Archetype Quiz is very near its due date! Watch for baby announcement coming soon! And ask me where Abilene fits! (Beta testers… it’s almost time!)

Okay… truth?

About the time you read this I will be – or will just have been – reading one of my poems out loud in a Zoom group.

And, yes, it’s scary!

I write what I feel in the deepest parts of me. Those parts which are often connected to tears. Tears which don’t help the – you know – reading in public thing.

While I write these words, though, or something closer to typing what’s written itself inside me, The Voice is on TV.

I’m fascinated with the diverse group of people with dreams… with hopes so big… that they actually stand up in front of who knows how many strangers, and those who love them the most, and SING.

Trust me when I tell you that what they’re doing feels way bigger than the nightmare most preachers have had which involves standing up to proclaim the Word and realizing that they’re standing there naked. (Really!)

One of those people on The Voice this season is the same age as my older granddaughter.

This – as you’ve probably guessed – blows my mind entirely.

It also causes me to wonder what you’re dreaming that you want enough to do that kind of figurative showing up naked.

Trust me when I tell you it changes life.

And knowing that leaves me wondering what my girls might find in their worlds that matters like that to them.

I’m just hoping, with all my heart, that they will.

And I’m all in for standing beside them and encouraging them and loving them for showing up in whatever way they choose.

And that means protecting them from things they’re not ready to handle yet, while absolutely resisting the urge to protect them from opportunities to learn. (And having an endless supply of tea and Kleenex!)

So, yes to reading a poem on Zoom.

Not because I’m longing to, in and of itself.

But, because it might – just might – open a door for a sister who has been longing to and just hasn’t yet.

Meanwhile, it’s still Giving Tuesday in the USA, which is a great chance to do some good. (Though, in my case, not in nearly as many ways as my emails today suggested.)

I’m just saying there are other ways to do some good, too.

And I’ve got a closet full of tea and Kleenex!

ps… in the spirit of showing up, I’m inviting you to drop by FierceArtWithHeart and check out my work. (The elves have been busy with holiday pricing!)

pps… the mixed media image, above, is a glimpse of my work-in-progress for this Wednesday… the Co-Creator (and co-created!) emerging from the Vivid/Tapestry journey in Intentional Creativity® land. Can’t wait to find out what she wants next!