Entering the Intentional Unknown…

Gulp! As I suspect you’ve noticed, it’s been quite a week, at least in the land still known as The United States of America!

First, please hear me say that I’m going to assume that you’re doing whatever sorting you need to do with the stuff my Social Studies teachers used to call current events, according to your Filters. I am, too! And, even being aware of that is huge!

There’s another thing happening in my corner of the world, too. The Legendary Husband and I actually have an entire weekend with no external obligations or expectations!!! This is a very rare event at our house and we took some time to choose – intentionally – what would be most helpful.

As I write these words, Bill is napping. Blessed be! We’ve had no shortage of stress and not-knowing lately. The rest of our plans are organized around the notion of making what we have work better with what we need.

Blessedly, a friend will help with actual furniture shifting, tomorrow. (Not my best thing!) Then there’s the fact that shifting furniture goes hand in hand with shifting artwork! And that means not only a lot of measuring, but also which paintings whisper from the walls and where they need to be.

And, no… I’m not crazy. I’m just more tuned in to how I actually process things than the 5-senses bit I learned in nursing school!

So, left-over Strategy Soup for dinner. (The food kind!) Comfort and yummy healing in a bowl. And super easy!

Paintings to re-wire so they’ll hang at different heights. Sheets in the dryer. Quick review of the Feng Shui book! (Intention counts!)

And, yes… it hasn’t been too long since we had a similar adventure in other parts of the house. Here’s the thing… our needs change. Our dreams change. Our intentions for our life change. And, if nothing else, the context around us often makes it harder to ignore what we long for!

In a rather odd way, I find that comforting! Now, you can skip the next paragraph or two if you’re not in a space for real deal chatting. Fair warning that I am in such a space!

First, take a glimpse, please, at the photo we began with. From my recent #Quickening adventure. (The same adventure in which the Wisdom Cards were conceived!) It’s Creation-esque, for sure. And I love it.

What you can’t see, though, is all the layers of trying and trying again! Trying to get the energy I felt inside to appear in the world. And – here’s the big thing – I think Creators get it! I no longer think that they snapped their fingers one week and the whole world appeared as we know it, now. Instead, I believe that there was a whole lot of hoping and learning and loving along the way.

And, just between us, that feels like the best plan I know for this moment in time! One right thing after the other, hoping and praying that – one day – we’ll all join hands. In the meantime, though, I have some other strategies!

ps… ask the elves to hook you up with a batch of Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards and they’ll be delighted to email you the soup recipe, too! (It really is easy… and ever so adaptable!) Order your cards now, while they’re in stock, before the Decatur Book Festival coming up October 4!

pps… while I’m making space, I still have a bit for a couple more 1:1 coaching clients! And a very special offer! Get 6 sessions for the usual investment of 4… and a set of Wisdom Cards, as my gift! The Next Right Thing is getting on the road to the place where you are called, and you don’t have to enter the unknown alone!

There isn’t a box!

As you’ve probably heard, I’m a bit of a Madam Secretary junkie! Okay… maybe more than a bit! I suspect, like my similar fondness for The West Wing, it has to do with wanting to fill at least some of my intentional awareness with what I choose, rather than what’s in the news.

So, a couple of nights ago, it was time to circle around to MSec, season 1, episode 1 again. President Conrad Dalton is standing in Elizabeth’s kitchen on the farm, asking her to be Secretary of State. She is, shall we say, surprised. Perplexed. More than a bit curious. When she asks, Why me? she gets a great answer from her old boss.

You don’t just think outside the box, replies Dalton. You don’t even know there is a box!

Now, I’ve seen this episode more times than I can count. This time I HEARD it! Yes… it’s a Filters thing! And, from my perspective, the news is way too full of people trying to convince us that their box is the only one we can have.

I’m not buyin’ it!

Which led me, sometime in the wee hours when my head was full of #Taliswoman paint plans, to wonder if there are any boxes! Or, perhaps… there are only the boxes we choose!

And, yes… this has a whole lot to do with all the hanging out I’ve been doing in the land of Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards!

What if we choose consciously??? Really! Me. And YOU. And help our Littles learn that they’ll be able to choose, too, though a bit of brain growing will help along the way…

As you may have heard, we moved a lot when I was a Little. One of those times, when I was just three, my okay-to-move box was all about whether there would be corn on the cob and Romper Room in the new place!

In some ways my world has gotten considerably more complicated since then. What I’ve realized, though, is that my main box – my most precious one – is pretty simple.

Concrete Passion and Very Large Hope.

Choose it. Have it. Be it. Do it. Write it. Paint it. Teach it. Share it. And, yes… vote for it! Even on days when it feels a lot like the image at the top… shifting, vague, and not too clear, yet!

The red blotch, over to the left, is my mark. My intention, if you will. My determined presence.

As boxes – or non-boxes – go, this one feels like a really huge start!!!

There’s room for you, too! Keep reading along. Root around a bit in the “archives”.

Get yourself a deck of cards. (And, yes… the Calling Cloths are in stock!)

Ask me about 1:1 coaching. (There’s a really special offer going on just now!) 45 min. My gift. Your questions!

Stay tuned for the latest Filters class, coming soon! Better yet, leave a comment, below, and let me know you’re interested! Or email me: suesvoice@gmail.com

My calling is to help you find – and claim – the place where you are called! It’s going to take a whole bunch of us!!!

Where might YOUR magic Tardis door lead???

Worldview Ancestors!

Does that give you chills? It does, me! And here’s a glimpse of one of my personal Worldview Ancestors… She’s my Artisan/Taliswoman painting from my first Color of Woman adventure in 2018.

In many ways, that was a birth year for me! Really, really new at painting. Even newer at thinking art might be something WE could do. You see, that was not a belief I learned as a child.

She looks familiar. Draped in a quilt, which is very much a WE thing, instead of the suggested veil which is utterly not a WE thing! (I’m guessing you hear me!) And, she is whispering from the walls, again. You see, yesterday I opened the awareness door for a new Taliswoman painting to be born!

Back in the day, she was my first journey with the notion of Winged-eye beings! And, yes… her winged eye is on the – shall we say – other side! (I’m not great with right & left!) I loved it, though, as a symbol of wisdom that’s lots more fun than a basement full of dusty diplomas!

And, even though I haven’t even unwrapped the canvas yet, she’s already plotting and planning. So far, we’re committed to a unicorn friend, and – surprisingly – a magical walking stick. I’m excited about both of those notions.

Unicorns, according to some traditions, are symbols of the true teachings of Yeshua/Jesus and this seems like a great time to wander with that.

The walking stick feels like a persistence message. A way to stay on the road, even when it’s hard. Or scary.

The more I learn about my actual ancestry, the more I realize how much many of those who came before me would have related!

Then there’s the part about Worldview Ancestry! What does that bring to mind for you? (You can leave me a comment, below!!!)

For me, it’s a reminder that we’ve inherited much more than eye color and tendencies toward crooked teeth. (I’d gladly give that last one back!) The cool things start when we claim the wild notion that we can add to our Worldview Ancestry, rather like finding 70th & 71st great-grandparents in My Heritage! (And all the people from them to me!)

When it comes to Worldview Ancestry, I’m releasing myself from the influence of my third grade teacher. From the perspective that the differently able kid in our class was being bad. Also from my 7th grade geography teacher who seemed to think that the only parts of the world that were worth learning about where ones he’d dropped bombs on in a war.

There were more, but you get the drift! And I’m so hoping some similar folks are occurring to you, as well.

The big question, though, is around those folks we’ll choose to add to our worldviews!

You know a bunch of mine. In this moment, the obvious one to mention is Fred. Dr. Frederick Buechner. The guy who helped me claim several versions of the notion that:

The place where we are called is where our deep joy and the world’s deep longing meet.

Just between us, this feels like a good time for as much of that as we can bring!

I’d love to help you get closer to your vision of that place! That’s why I made Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards! (Really!!!) Just click here and the new batch of elves, who renamed our store, will have lots more info and be delighted to set you right up at WingedEyeWisdom.com

ps… down below Taliswoman #1’s winged eye, there’s a block in her “quilt” that’s kind of hard to see. It says, I am a grandmother… an open-eyed visionary of fierce compassion. She speaks for me!

pps… Ready to raise your hand and claim your next right thing? Let’s talk. 45 min. My gift. Just click here and the calendar elves will hook you up. Also, I have a very special, time-limited offer for a couple of new 1:1 clients available… and it includes a bonus set of cards!

All the Me’s had a committee meeting!

You know how some of the parts of you are easier to chat with? And some of them feel reluctant to show up for tea? And occasionally, one of them says, “No, thanks! I’m having my nails done!” (Or whatever…)

Well a whole bunch of the Me’s showed up this weekend. I’m grateful. You see, I need pretty much all the medicine in my basket just now.

Tea was the first order of business. And cacao. And Red Thread. Then came intention setting. We had two:

Get over the old notion that it would be bragging to tell others you did a cool, helpful thing! It’s now officially excited & determined, which are really helpful things to claim!

Unpack and package all the decks of Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards and figure out how to get them out into the world… tech challenges and all!

One of the Me’s took over as Recycling Queen and took charge of all the brown packing paper. Another invited virtual Joan Baez along for encouragement. Another Me – one I know well – tended the pot of soup simmering on the stove. The good news is that we made big progress! Even with the heavy boxes and gnarly paper cuts and and puzzles to solve.

In an odd way, all the time one of my Me’s spent scrubbing in surgery came in handy. Setting up the back table with all the tools in order. Filling the tape dispenser. Cutting all the Red Thread at once, rather than one piece at a time. You hear me…

And, running through all the activity… the precious Intentional Creativity® notion that Mattering Matters.

Then came a different sort of ah-hah! The word kind. (Haven’t figured out how to put the techy crossword thing on my laptop again, yet, so we’re going old school…)

There’s more to do. Calling Cloths to claim space for the journey, in transit. Cards to ship. The Decatur Book Festival (10/4) to prep for. And lots more excited & determined for the Me’s to be!

And, a new painting to start! And…

For now, though, huge thanks to the dear friend who showed up in this dimension to help, and fan the excitement.

And more thanks to the Me who just dropped off this link so you can check out the Wisdom Cards. (There’s lots more info and photos!) And, the shop is in the midst of re-modeling!!!

That place where you are called??? Don’t set out without your cards!

ps… Ready to claim your next right thing? Let’s talk. 45 min. My gift. Just click here and the calendar elves will hook you up. Also, I have a very special, time-limited offer for a couple of new 1:1 clients available… and it includes a bonus set of cards!

Cards on the table?

I had a plan for this post. Cheerful. Excited. Optimistic. You see, my eagerly awaited Wisdom Cards are due to appear tomorrow, UPS willing. Fifty decks. Right here in my house!

And, I’m really hoping they will. More, now, than ever, actually. You see, I’m having a really hard time with the Minnesota school shooting. School kids. At Mass. It’s utterly beyond me. And, if we’re being real, not remotely cheerful or optimistic.

I cried. And swore. And prayed. I contemplated skipping this post for today. And then, I knew where to look for some inspiration in this moment.

Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards! The test runs that helped me learn along the way. Crooked edges. Faded colors. A typo here or there. A reminder of the place where I am called, even on this day when the world’s deep need is in our faces.

I even got out my preview version of the Calling Cloth. Sacred space, if you will, for newness on the road.

And the wonder worked!

So, I am reclaiming my ability to choose, here and now. Not everything that happens, of course, but what I do with it. What my next right thing becomes, in the face of days like this.

You, too, are able to choose. And NOW seems like a really good time to claim that!

First, I made a contribution to a Congressional Rep who gets it. Lucy McBath lost her own son in a school shooting.

Then, as I finish this post, I’m going to go make prayer dots on my #Codex canvas. Dots inside my Unicorn constellation which, according to a tradition I just learned, symbolizes the true teachings of Yeshua.

Making the dots will help soothe my nervous system. (Really!) And, it will remind me of why the hearts in my paintings insist on standing for Concrete Passion & Very Large Hope! It’s the best plan I’ve got!

ps… curious about the cards? Just click here!

Whole Soul Creating…

Well, that’s what it feels like, anyway. All of me. All in. In fact, I’ve been pondering what it must have been like for Michelangelo, painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Lots of ladders. Trying to bring wonder to life, lying on his back. No air conditioning. No cell phones. No friends at Melton’s a with fresh BLT for lunch!

By comparison, some things are easier these days!

I do wonder, though, if his images talked to him as he painted. (I’m guessing they did, though that may be projection!) Part of this has to do with 4 of mine coming home from Scan Camp with lots to say! The one you glimpsed, above, is feeling particularly opinionated.

When she left, her title was She Persists. It is now We Persist! And that feels really helpful, given all the things jumping up and down in my calendar.

She’s back on the wall across from my chair, coaching me, if you will. One of her suggestions was to look up the Hebrew word for persist. Are you ready???

Sarah!!!

And, yes, I’ll add her new name to the back of the canvas! I may need a few more tears, first, though. You see, I’ve known another Sarah.

Yep! One of our Newfoundland rescue dogs! Tradition holds that the multi-colored Newfies have bouncier, more opinionated personalities than their solid-colored cousins. Sarah certainly fit. And she was nothing if not persistent!!!

Also extroverted. And it’s entirely possible that, if she were sending me a message from the great beyond, it would be that NOW is a time for extroverting. Not me, personally, so much, as what I’m creating. Books, Wisdom Cards, paintings, and the next gen #Filters class. And we’re all well into the third trimester!

ps… I’m also supposed to tell you that the real, finished cards – which are on their way, now – will have gently rounded corners and be printed on recycled paper! There will even be an optional Calling Cloth to help set intentional space for your journey to the place where YOU are called! (And it makes a fab scarf!)

pps… what matters to you? Enough to – you know – claim the next right thing? Let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. You bring your journal, a cuppa, and your readiness to take a step toward the place where you are called. And, I have a super-special offer if you’d like some company on the path! Hurry and click here and the calendar elves will hook you up!

I am not finished!

…not finished learning. Or becoming. Or creating. Or sharing. Or voting. Or painting… obviously! And, yes… there are new things in the works!

Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards are being printed as I type, which is one of those things that feels simultaneously hopeful and terrifying! There’s a lot of reaching out and being seen going on, which is both exciting and exhausting. Fortunately, I know that I survived Middle School, and I have a whole lot more choices now than I did then!

Everything feels in-between just now. Plans. Paintings. Projects. And I’m really, really grateful that I have a path. A path to the place where I feel called. And part of that path seems to involve intentionally declining distractions.

I’m guessing you’ve noticed there are a whole lot of them! The challenge, for me, is deciding which of the 5 zillion things in my head are actually helpful on the road to the place where I feel called… and which are the collective trying to keep me from acting! From being me!

Here’s an example… Yes. I need to reach out to the Decatur Book Festival camp counselor and tell her I need a second table. This week. Even though the Festival isn’t until October 4.

No. I don’t need to spend an hour reading a catalog, hunting for some miraculous skirt or shoes that would help people decide to buy my stuff at that Festival! (I’ve been. They really are looking at books! And, if last year was a trend, training service dogs in the enlightened crowd!)

Yes. I do need to move some stuff around in the studio so there will actually be a paint-safe place to put all the cards and booklets and very cool bags when they start arriving. Soon!

People keep asking me why I’m doing all this, especially when it seems to be pain flare time again. Here’s my very best answer…

This is me keeping my promise to live concrete passion and very large hope, in this world, now.

And, since I can’t do it all alone, helping others on their paths is good for all of us! It just might be that this is a huge part of the message for all of us, at this moment in time! For now, though, the painting we began with called me back to my easel!

Here’s the really cool part of the dots and Hebrew words and a smear or two which some folks might call mistakes… I know what it all means and it all matters to me!

I also know it will all be covered up in many more layers of paint, so it makes good sense to give my hand & wrist a bit of an easy day and not obsess about hypothetical perfection. Turns out we don’t know everything there is to know about virtually anything, and I find that hugely comforting!

Oh! Here’s another thing I learned today… if you’re contemplating making your bit of the world more pollinator-friendly, the wild-ish kinds of roses, with open centers, are much more accessible to bees and butterflies! (The garden guy & I are planning for fall planting!) For now, though, stretchy band arm exercises!

ps… what matters to you? Enough to – you know – claim the next right thing? Let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. You bring your journal, a cuppa, and your readiness to take a step toward the place where you are called. And, I have a super-special offer if you’d like some company on the path! Hurry and click here and the calendar elves will hook you up!