I need some space!

Space from news. From hideous images. From ominous weather reports. From… Well, you hear me! So, I am declaring today to be Fierce Compassion Day, at least in my wee corner of the world.

For me, that looks like turning off the news. Homemade soup for dinner… assuming the power holds out. (And a donation to a community food bank.) Time to paint. To write. To re-set a sacred space with new intention.

It also looks like prayers for those trying to show up for themselves and the world. For you!

In fact, it feels like being Mama Bear, who showed up last night, bringing with her ancient words I very much needed.

She and I are sending warmth and sustenance and HOPE, even if you don’t feel it just now. Light a candle. Write the word on a magic index card and put it under your pillow. Tie a new Red Thread on your wrist. You do you… in your space and your way.

That’s how we claim the cour-age to go on!

ps… dreaming of next right things? I have room for one more determined soul hoping for a buddy on the road to the place where they feel called. Curious? Ask the calendar elves to hook you up with 45 min. on me.

Learning is fun!!! (Well, sometimes…)

From the moment I met Sally, Dick, and Jane, I’ve loved learning! Well, consciously. I suspect I already loved it, at least by the time I was learning to talk.

Sometimes, though, learning is less fun. We seem to be having one of those times in history, just now. For example… MS NOW ran a piece today, filmed at a food pantry in Minnesota, which said, basically, that people are hungry but too afraid for their safety to come get food.

I was horrified! You see, once upon a time, I was one of those people who was hungry. Young, single mom & nursing student, I needed help from Food Stamps to feed my pre-school son. I also needed student loans, scholarships, and HUD housing help. It was really hard. And, we made it.

Now, though, we have a whole lot of people in our country who are terrified. Not just that they won’t “make it,” but that they may not live through it.

Blessedly, I am still learning. In fact, I learned a new thing today. A whole new perspective. Well, consciously! First a bit of context… I’m taking a new virtual class that has to do with neurology and bodies and the whole eco-system of the planet.

We began with movement. Gulp! (Yes… this has not been my favorite thing for quite some time.) Blessedly, our leader was wise and kind and gentle.

The story is too long to share here. Let’s jump to the punch line… the part where the voice in my head claimed:

My body is calling me into new healing… new learning… new relationship… and change involves motion!

I suspect you’ll understand that realizing that was a whole lot more fun than flipping on the news afterward!

Let’s just say that the lunacy goes on.

The question is how we – you & I – get clear enough to claim what we love. What we believe in. What heals the world.

And we’ve never been “here” before. Well, most of us. And we have some learning to do. I have 3 immediate ideas… which may remind some of you of hurricane preparedness.

Non-perishable food & clean water. Back up energy. Determination to help. (Winter weather is headed our way!)

The fourth, big picture idea is HOPE… DREAMS! Kind of like learning to paint!

So why did I pay attention in my class about movement??? Because I have things to do. Things that matter to me and to the world my grandteens will inherit! Things I, frankly, didn’t imagine needing to know!

For now, though, we’re giving a deep freezer we no longer need to a family of folks who do. (And, yes… it also means more space!)

ps… if you have big questions, too… if you hear the sound of the drum… let’s talk! I have space for 2 new 1:1 dreamer/clients looking for some new tools and guidance along the way. Click here and the calendar elves will hook you up with 45 minutes, on me, to explore possible roads ahead!

Old tune… new ears!

I didn’t grow up with this one in my head. Not exactly top of the hymn list in mid-west Presbyterian churches or very Catholic neighborhoods, back in the early 1960’s.

In fact, I probably learned it in my summer camp years from Joan Baez, who might possibly have sung it for Dr. King. And, yes… that’s no doubt why it’s rumbling around my head just now. It’s called, Just a Closer Walk With Thee.

Then, there’s the news. The seemingly endless work still to be done. And, yes, it’s true…

I am tired. I am weak. I am worn…

Blessedly, there are more things which are true, as well. One of those is this…

I am determined!

Another is that…

I can’t do it all alone!

Neither, by the way, can any of us! Which is, no doubt, why the song begs…

…take my hand.

So, I let my very cranky neck choose a new pillow. The cover is in the washer as I type. It’s going to flunk all the Mom rules and nursing school rules for the right way to make a bed and I’m totally okay with that because, if I don’t take care of me, mattering is even harder!

I also had a BIG conversation about my next book and some ways to get the already-books out in the world, doing more good. (Prayers and good juju much appreciated!!)

Here’s the really cool thing, though…

The world needs what you have to share, too! The stuff that lives in the secret box labeled What you are called to do!

Paint. Write. Teach. Adopt abandoned pets. Sing. Feed people. Catch babies. Celebrate weddings. Give blankets to the local shelter. Preach. Vote… you hear me. And I want to hear you! Personally, my medicine basket is all a tingle over some about-to-begin learning in the land of Eco-Somatics and trauma release and regenerative wisdom!

In this moment, I’m looking for two brave souls ready to take a chance on claiming their own magic and putting it to work in the world. You see, that’s my magic! Naming visions and claiming next right things on the road from here to the place where we feel called. (And, frankly, “here” could use a whole lot of work just now!) So, if you’re feeling your special sign of ready – or even intrigued – let’s talk! Just click and ask the calendar elves to hook us up so we can chat. ​ No pressure. No expecting or directing. Just somebody to walk with you, with lots of possibilities and tools for your medicine basket.

And, I really only have space for 2 people!!! Short term. Manageable. Personalized. You’ll know if it’s you! Here’s a timely bit of music for musing…

ps… the first known recording of Just A Closer Walk was made by the Selah Jubilee Singers in 1941. Selah is a Hebrew word which implies intentional pauses – or lifting up – for mindfulness, praise, meditation, and connecting with faith or source!

Amen. Amen. Selah.

All the parts of us…

You’ve probably met them, before, these old friends of mine. They live on a wall near my writing chair, in a room where there is often the noise called news coming from the TV. It turns out that they want to join the conversation!

We’ll skip the swearing and crying. I’m guessing you’ve got your version of all that covered. Let’s do introductions, instead.

Aslan. Matilda. (Or Boudicca!) And a cardinal bird named Elsie. Not so much intentional as demanding. And I’ve needed their messages a whole lot, lately!

You know Aslan, I suspect, from C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Wise and powerful. Benevolent, but formidable. You can probably guess why I find him appealing in this moment!

Then, Matilda/Boudicca. (The painting hasn’t made a firm decision yet, and she could assuredly be both!) Powerful women leaders in times when women weren’t permitted to be powerful. Matilda of Tuscany was my cousin. She is often described as one of the most important governing figures of the Italian Middle Ages. She was also a spiritual leader and a huge supporter of the arts.

Boudicca, hundreds of years before Matilda, was a warrior queen in ancient Britain, also considered a symbol of the struggle for justice and independence. It’s likely that she, too, was a relative.

The bird is named Elsie after my grandmother who told me, when I was about six, that cardinals were ancestors who’d gone on, coming back to check on us and encourage us.

And, yes… they’re livid about a whole lot of the news.

Here’s the thing that I’ve realized… these stories and images are powerful #Filters through which I’m engaging the context of this moment!

For today, I am claiming their wisdom and strength… still alive in my being and spirit. I’m also claiming their #inquiry…

What can you do – what do you need to do – so that what you love to do works better???

Yep! You. Now. In the midst of this context.

And, I have a plan, though it needs to wait until Friday. Watch for a special email! In fact, if you’re not on the email list just now, use the pop-up thingy and get the elves to fix that!

ps… Fairy Tales coming soon. And more Wisdom Cards! (It pays to listen to the walls!)

When hiding doesn’t work…

Yes, hiding is totally tempting. In fact, I’ve tried it, too. There is no lack of things in our world that sane, compassionate people would love to ignore. People like us!

Sadly, it doesn’t really help!

Oh, a nap is good. Another romp through the land of Princess Diaries, even. (Try it!) Eventually, though, those of us who want our Littles to have a world to inherit have to make our way back to the actual world. Here’s a quote that helps me:

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

-James Baldwin

I’ve been experimenting with a way to make going forward, despite current events, feel a bit more encouraging than traumatic. And, yes… creating is involved!

One of my IC® sisters, Amber Kuileimailani Bonnici, led a workshop for the New Year with a way to do just that. I’ve done it before, and enjoyed it. I’ve taught it. Sometimes, though, context does, indeed, shift things and this was one of those times for me.

This particular adventure has to do with folding heavy watercolor paper into an accordian-like book and, for me at least, imagining old things in new ways.

I suspect everyone who tries this experiences it differently. In my mind, it’s a lot like quilting. The scrappy kind. Bits of old treasures and new hopes brought into a relationship intended to create a path forward.

My first challenge, in this moment, was folding the paper. The second was sending the inherited perfectionist who still lurks within me on a play date, elsewhere! (Waiting for something that could be perfect, in the context of this moment, feels a whole lot like giving up!)

I began, as you probably guessed, with a bit of practice in the art of book illumination. (It’s big fun!) And, yes… the Winged Eye Wisdom reference is utterly intentional!

Then, I dreamed a map. A map of next right things!

There is, indeed, more to go. More dreaming. More claiming. The claiming part feels really important just now! And, I’ve decided not to force it faster than I’m ready. You see, I LOVE that there’s more!

ps… If you could actually read the page with the orange writing, way down near the bottom, you might notice a quote from Leo McGarry on The West Wing. “I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out!” Stay tuned… I have, and I do!

pps… now would be a great time to engage the pop-up thingy at the beginning and sign up for the mailing list. Big things, soon!!!

’twas the night before 2026

…and all through the house, the people were waiting for news and pondering choices! You know…

If this, then ________________…

If that, then ________________…

And, yes, the multitude of elipses are this writer’s way of expressing, “What next?”

The challenge, of course, is that we don’t know, even when we think we do! And, it’s hard!

There are, however, some things we CAN know. Some things we CAN choose. And, yes… I like those! So, I chose a card! One of Grammy’s MetaMod Wisdom Cards, to be exact. Sometimes I just mix all of them together in a big heap, close my eyes, and pull one.

In this moment, though, I needed to narrow things down a bit. That meant the category known as Meta-what??? These have to do with big questions on the road to the place where you feel called. And, you know what? I got a very good fit for this moment! Here it is:

And, yes… a Tardis, like the one you see, above, is on the front. The magical door that opens to a whole new world! (It helps to love a sci-fi guy!)

So… time for meddlin’!

What could YOU set free???

Literal objects. Limiting beliefs. We always/We never…

Personally, I’m setting It’s too complicated free, and claiming Let’s see what happens, instead! Chances are, as the old story goes, I’ll learn something and you know how I love that!

And, there’s a bunch of stuff in my closet that’s eagerly awaiting an excursion to a local Clothes Closet!

Here’s the bottom line, though… what I’m really setting free is…

ME

And, no, I’m not at all sure what that will look like. I just know that it’s time! Me, and the Fire Horse who brings intense energy, innovation, and bold action to this year, now. I’ll figure the rest of it out!

ps… start your New Year with much love and a great new tool! Order 2 sets of MetaMod Wisdom Cards, shipped to the same address, and save 20%. Offer limited to in-stock supply. Just click here and the elves will do the magic! And wander… there’s lots of inspiring stuff!

Of mixed traditions and hopeful intentions!

Greetings, this fourth day of Christmas, the feast day of Holy Innocents. And, this third day of Kwanzaa. (I’m pretty sure!) And, Tevet 8 in the Jewish calendar, which marks the completion of the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Torah) making the text more accessible, while also more susceptible to misinterpretation and influence.

Please hear me say that I’m no expert and we really didn’t cover all this in Nursing School or Seminary – though some of that is changing these days!

The bottom line is that our ancient stories and traditions mean different things to different people and that fact lies somewhere between terrifying and infuriating for those who want to choose one meaning for everyone.

We were hugely blessed with a visit from our kids. We put gifts in stockings hand-knitted by several generations and hung ornaments from Baby’s first Christmas to Menorahs.

We painted and baked and ate and told stories. We proof read school assignments and (some of us) worked at on-line scuba training. There was also furniture moving involved! Well, nesting, really. Places supportive of all the creating that goes on around here.

On Friday evening, I had a big ah-hah! I was feeling both inspired and determined by all the enthusiasm and progress around me. (Enthusiasm, by the way, brings a sense of being inspired by the Divine!)

I am declaring the time from now until mid-April to be MY intentional season for magical healing choices!

What might you choose for such an intentional season??? Leave me a comment, below, or email me at suesvoice@gmail.com I’d love to hear!

ps… I suspect Radical Good Trouble will be involved!

pps… prayers, please, for our family as doctors do doctor things on Monday. I’m grateful!!!