Category: Medicine Basket

There’s a moment for many women, somewhere in the pushing phase of labor, when they declare that they’ve changed their minds and they’re not having the the damn baby, after all!

That was me, somewhere in the wee hours between Monday and Tuesday.

Blessedly, it doesn’t work!

The PUBLISH button has indeed been pushed on the book-baby!!!

And, the Intentional Creativity® Purple Passion virtual art show was a world full of wonder and em-power-ed intentions! (Even if you weren’t there live, you can still join the amazement with the link, below.)

Just between us, those are about the only things from Tuesday that feel accomplished. And, yes… I waved my magic wand and turned the “debate” into a re-run of The West Wing! Turns out there is a point where the context can get too crazy for even prayer dots to help!!!

Here’s the thing, though… there’s external context, like – well – news. And weather. And storms. And fires. And school shootings. And remembering. So much remembering. All of which feels like it’s trying very hard to out-shout new babies and bowls of homemade soup and the wonder of finding unexpected meaning in spilled paint.

New meaning in this moment.

For me, noticing has a whole lot to do with making meaning. What gets in, amidst the chaos. Here’s a thing I noticed…

Angela Davis…a notable woman I don’t recall from Social Studies – though she should have been there! And, a cousin! Really!!! Angela and I share a Mayflower ancestor… a story which seemed to be an even bigger surprise for her, as a guest on Finding Your Roots, than it was for me, watching!

And then the stories started re-arranging themselves in my mental library, as I slept.

Stories about my French Cathar aunts, uncles, cousins, and – quite probably – grandparents. Victims of an autocratic papal crusade against Christians, some 800 years ago. People of peace, and love, and learning… women and men teaching as partners.

I have no idea what the artist intended when they formed the statue, above, and placed her at Kudzu to find her home. To me, though, she is a courageous Cathar guardian of sacred stories and just community. And a powerful reminder that it is our job to carry on!

Somehow, in the context of this moment, all those stories live on in me. And they birthed the book-baby, because Creation goes on, even now, and the story is for all of us… especially our Littles!

I’m really glad I didn’t change my mind!!!

So… we’re going to need a baby shower of sorts. A book launch event! And it wouldn’t be the same without you! All the details, along with some new ones, are here, eager for you to click the big, bright link just below…

We’re not going back!!!

ps… don’t miss the amazing art show! (And the artists‘ stories about their work!) Just click here…

Deep breath, please. And let it all go. Thank you! And, two more, if you care to join me…

The book-baby is in the final (fingers crossed!!!) formatting phase and I am avoiding the temptation to gnaw my nails. Mostly!

Blessedly, there’s plenty to do. Kind of like those old stories of major nesting events many women experience just before labor begins!

In this moment, though, it’s prayer dots. The utterly intentional kind, on the back of my #Celebratix canvas, who appeared Wednesday.

First, the Moon came forward. She wanted you to meet her! (We’re still negotiating the eyes!)

Then, there was a dream! I’d been looking at photos of the Northern Lights online. (I’ve never seen them with my very own actual eyes.) And I heard Grandmother Moon whispering as I slept…

Stars are Creator’s prayer dots!!!

And, frankly, it feels like there’s lots to pray about! All the news stuff, of course. The utterly tragic and needless… to the actually hopeful moments.

The more personal stuff, too. Loved ones healing. A major family birthday.

A wise artist-teacher-preacher friend helping me re-frame a filter. And writing me a note like this:

This beautifully illustrated adaptation of James Weldon Johnson’s Creation offers a fresh welcome to this treasured piece of black sacred literature to every child and every sort of family.

The Rev Wil Gafney, PhD+
The Rt Rev Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible
Brite Divinity School

And, yes… I’m really excited! So much so that prayer dots are about what I can manage!

You see, this book is a really, really big deal for me. It’s like standing in the world, wrapped in hope and northern lights, trying to make a difference. Here’s Creation Moon, in the sky filled with prayer dots, straight from the book-baby!

For now, Lamaze class flashbacks… as a contraction begins, we inhale deeply through our noses, then exhale through our mouths – two short pants and one longer blow.

hee-hee-ho!

I’d love for you to be my birthing partner…

…because we’re not going back & you’re invited!

Click here, please, for all the details for the launch and a couple new perspectives on the book…

ps… yes! Some of the book art will be available for adoption!

pps… more Intentional Creativity® art to ooohh… and ahhhhh… over! Just click the link, below, for details and free tickets! The wonder starts Tuesday!!!

https://intent2create.betterworld.org/events/purple-passion-museum-exhibit

Do you remember standing in a line in the school gym, with an index card over one eye, trying to read the chart with the big E on top?

I do! And I did pretty well on the test. What I had no way of knowing was that I wasn’t actually seeing the letters. I was memorizing what the kids in front of me said! And it helped that I could hear really, really well.

My 4th or 5th grade teacher ratted me out. And I discovered that, with a pair of sturdy (read that ugly) glasses, I could see individual leaves on trees! And I could still hear really, really well!

What I didn’t know back then was how much our brains have to do with what we think of as seeing and hearing. Also, feeling… as in touch and movement and emotion.

Now, as the old story goes, I know more!

It was pretty strange for me, at first, to begin to hear the paintings whispering in my sleep, but I’ve gotten really comfortable with that by now. (Which, as you’ve probably guessed, is just as well since the walls are covered with a whole choir of whispering images!)

Another thing just shifted for me, though. I realized that all those voices – each in their own way – are actually my voice, filtered through various experiences and wounds and dreams. And I wouldn’t blame you if you might be thinking that I sound a wee bit like I’m headed for the place known as round the bend.

Instead, I’m headed for more fully me! And, as I move my fingers to make these words appear in the land of WordPress, I keep glancing up at a sign hanging above the door to the hall, across the room from my chair.

And our stories – yours, mine, all of ours – do matter. They are some of the filters through which we experience the world. Through which we form questions and create things.

I had a really big experience of that today! The first pdf layout of my new book appeared in my email! And, even though I chose all the words and created all the art, it was still a surprise in its externalized form! A whole, if you will, instead of a bunch of individual pieces. (And, yes… there’s more work to do!)

My dear friend, and first reader, Natalie, put language on what I was feeling!

It feels like holding a newborn infant!

And, it does!!! A whole, separate, unique individual with multitudes of ancestors and traditions, complete with a whole batch of needs… and, frankly, what feels a lot like expectations!

Final choices on fonts, and re-sizing some art, and rounding up reviews and all the things that we book-parents do…

And, no… it’s not To Kill a Mockingbird. (Though it might grow up to be!)

What it is, in this moment, is the very most I have to offer to all the Metamodern Littles growing up in our world, now… and to the adults who love them.

Complete with some invitations to listen deep and imagine!

My dearest hope is that it will help us all travel the mountains and valleys of this world, and to make space for more and more of us to feel at home and to hear our own voices in the midst of the din!

ps… the painting at the top is a glimpse of the cover art for the book-baby!

pps… this glimpse of a painting is shorthand for the absolute best thing I know. I’m ready to share… and we have to start with ourselves!!! Just ask the calendar elves to hook you up!

There’s a room in our house known as The Dressing Room. The builder, in 1962, would have told you it’s a bedroom. And it is, in the sense of a place for welcome guests to sleep. Mostly, though, it’s my closet. And, no… I’m not taking a picture. (Yet!)

It’s also a metaphor. A power-full one in this moment! You see, I’m sorting. Intentionally!

And, yes… Daphne is modeling part of the change. Let’s talk denim vests. Or, in my world, purses! You see, most days I need at least one hand for walking. Sometimes, two. And that makes purses complicated. Also, my shoulders are not fans of the backpack option. So, for a while now, it’s been denim vests.

They have lots of pockets. And they’re happy to hold my omnipresent Good Trouble buttons! And blue or black denim goes with all the internalized rules I’m only beginning to be conscious of.

Here are a few…

• Don’t call attention to yourself. It isn’t safe.
• Don’t wear too many colors at once. You’ll look crazy.
• Everything should match your shoes.
• Blending in is more important than being comfortable.
• And, my personal fav, Preachers don’t…

You, clever soul, have already realized that I’ve been editing the rules for a while. And, in the context of this moment, I am making very conscious, intentional choices about nearly everything.

So, I went hunting for a statement denim vest/purse for this moment. (Tye dyed jacket from Etsy. And about an hour to cut the sleeves off and fray the edges.)

And, when you get right down to it, it kinda does go with everything!

It also starts conversations! Conversations which often conclude with me reaching into one of the handy pockets and giving away a spare Good Trouble button. I suspect John Lewis is smiling, too!

And, yes… my magical new vest goes great with Chucks and pearls!!!

I only get one vote. (Well, hopefully. That’s far from a sure thing in Georgia just now!)

I also have choices. And one of them, introverted as I truly am, is to wander around my ‘hood looking like an openminded, engaged Fiercely Compassionate Grandmother, often spattered with paint!

And, I’m planning for an actual guest in a couple weeks, which means that I’m going to need to find the bed that’s in there somewhere, under spare weighted blankets and things to give away. I’ll never be a minimalist, but I am trying on the notion of being an Intentionalist!

Don’t you just love words???

My relationship with a current #wip painting is a lot like this. Less deciding what I want to have appear on the canvas. More seeing what I see and allowing viewers to see, too! Here’s a peek…

Officially, this one is becoming my #CuraArchetype painting. Which feels a whole lot like noticing that…

I AM my medicine basket!!!

Which is a bit like walking through the door in the back of C. S. Lewis’s famous wardrobe! And this, my friend, feels like a really good time for that! (Chronicles of Narnia…. The Silver Chair )

If you decide to head out on a similar path, wave at Puddleglum for me! We really are living his story in this moment!

ps… don’t know Puddleglum yet? Click here for the punchline!

pps… ready to claim yourself as your medicine basket??? Let’s talk! Just click here and the calendar elves will hook you up with 45 minutes, as my gift. You’ll want a cuppa, paper and markers, if they’re handy. (Hell, eyebrow pencils will work!) Oh, and a bit of red thread… real or imaginary!

ppps… there’s a book launch coming up! Stay tuned!!!