Category: Medicine Basket

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!

Tuesday was a big day. In the national and world news, yes. And, in my smaller worlds.

Frankly, it feels like there are lots of those worlds! I’m guessing you get it.

Personal stuff. Many things feeling – shall we say – unsteady. A dear friend walking on. And the longing to hug her family, far away. A new physical therapist. (We’re both learning!) A larger dose of contextual chaos than either the Legendary Husband or I would call optimal.

Three big things in the land of art and teaching, all taking off at once. One of those is the Intentional Creativity® teacher training journey known as #ColorOfWoman. I’ve walked this road before, in 2018. You might say that I was totally unprepared when we began, back then, except for a large supply of curiosity. I’d painted exactly half a painting when I signed up, despite 50-odd years of believing I was not “the artistic kid.” And, I signed up, again, because now I know more. And the world is different. And I have new questions. Questions mostly about…

I love questions! And we started, this time, with a bunch. My personal favorite had to do with what we were hearing our Inner Critics say, as we picked up the brush.

Mine was feeling chatty! And she surprised me.

I was having some pain challenges and moving very slowly.

Shame on you, she said. It doesn’t hurt that much! You’re just scared. Get over it! You’re the one who decided to do this crazy thing!

And you know what? She was partially right. I was scared. Scared that my shoulder would try to dislocate again. (Trust me… no fun!) Not, I should mention, too scared to show up. Just reluctant to do the big, sweep-y, dance sort of moves happening in the livestream.

So, I sent my Inner Critic on a cruise! And I stayed in the room!!!

And, I have an intention for this first adventure known as #Muse. To listen deep and externalize what I’m learning. To get her inspiration outside where I can see and interact with it. Where I can make conscious choices about it!

Apparently, it’s working already! The Muse showed up in the wee hours with a bandaid for my anxiety about today’s #Filters class. Not the class, itself, mind you, but a particular doorway I was hunting for. I think C.S. Lewis may have been consulting, too. You see, the doorway I needed was a closet!

And, yes… I went back to sleep, thrilled!

Somehow, the place where all this wandering comes together seems to be in giving ourselves permission to need what we need. To want, even, what we want! Which, I suspect, has more than a bit to do with wisdom!

If that’s an unfamiliar place for you, maybe now would be a good time to give it a try. Little experiments…

ps… the owl is especially dedicated to the brave circle of travelers on the road known as #Filters!

pps… fix yourself a cuppa and come wander the halls of FierceArtWithHeart! Books, mugs, original art, wardrobe choices… just the encouragement your Inner Critic might need to join mine on that cruise! Daphne will be delighted to help you!

ppps… fabulous Red Madonna call tonight and we’ve decided to leave the doors open a bit longer. Just click here for all the details!

I’m guessing you’ve had days like this, too. Days when it feels like you need a whole committee of you’s to get all the things done. Especially the processing things!

If they passed out crowns for Queens of Many-Me’s, I’m pretty sure I’d get one today. As it is, though, I’m probably going to need to be content with crossing things off the list! In fact, I’m starting early!

By the time you read this, I will have had quite the day with medical folks and big, loud machines. Information is in order. I like having information. Getting it isn’t always so much fun! Fortunately, some of the things I learned in my nurse days are still helpful. Mainly, the absolute permission I gave myself to ask ALL my questions!

And, yes… that same permission applies in other parts of my world, as well!

The legend, if you will, for the #Filters map I’m making is virtually complete. Actually complete, in a hold in your hand sense, will take some help and a bit more time but, for this moment, I’ve done my part!

Just between us, this is really exciting!!!

So is the upcoming painting and writing adventure with Mother Nature that begins June 21. You know me and questions…

Is Mother Nature Calling You Home?

Just click to find out!!! Especially if community and ceremony and creating sound good!

Here’s the thing… the world feels pretty much bat crap crazy these days. Odds are extremely high that some healing is – and is going to be – needed. And I mean to be on that team. I’m guessing you do, too!

That brings us to a sneak peek moment!

This is artwork for one of my #Filters cards. One of the ones that will appear along the road to the places where we are called. The Hebrew words mean both hand and power of Creator. (At least they’re supposed to. I nearly flunked Hebrew!) And, yes… there’s still time to join an amazing group of us live! For all the info, Just click here… (This 6 week adventure will also be recorded if you need to watch on your own time!)

And, just in case you missed it… here’s me, again, inviting YOU to stretch your Medicine Basket and set out on this adventure of Good Trouble! The world needs you!!!

ps… the painting at the top is deep under-layers from an earlier Red Madonna journey… my heart crying out in hope!

On Friday I was gathered in a virtual circle with some awesome, amazing women. It was a dip your toe in the pool kind of event. An experiential invitation to join a yearlong circle of wonder and becoming. I knew just what I was going to share.

And then the light came on! When it was my turn, there, in that moment, I reached for my Medicine Basket. (That’s a glimpse of the actual basket in the physical world, above. There’s also a whole lot of metaphor involved!)

And I looked straight into the camera (gulp!) and said one of the most true things I know:

If I could only have two tools in my basket, I’d choose Prayer Dots and #Filters!

Meet dots! Each one a sign of praying with a whole lot of our being!

I learned dots in 2017, on my first Intentional Creativity® adventure, known as the Black Madonna Pilgrimage. (You may have been there, too!) And, wow, did I need them! A dear friend in a Florida hospital with a brain aneurysm. Hurricanes and tornadoes. Those dots became a way I could be there, for and with her, until I could be there physically, and help a bit on her road to healing. She’s doing great. And I’m hooked on dots!

Then, #Filters. In some ways, they’re kind of everything else! Ways to sort and understand and relate to all the stuff the world flings in our direction… 2 to 3 BILLION bits of stuff in any one moment!!!

And NONE of us can handle that much, neurologically.

Here’s a personal example, with a bit of help from Dr. Seuss:

I do not like green peas… not even with ham. I do not like them, Sue I am. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere!

And, so – you guessed it! – I filter them out of my awareness. Of my consideration. Just not getting in. Not even to be polite… not since I was about five! (Sorry, Mom.)

Of course, the world is more complicated than green peas… thus the notion of #Filters, along with dots, in my Medicine Basket!

This matters. It matters enough for me to put my camera avoidance issues in the back of the closet and show up, believing that more and more of us adding this tool to our Medicine Baskets will be Good Trouble for the world… and for our Littles!

Yes! You’re invited, to either or both, even if you do like green peas!

Click here for all the info on the 6-week #Filters adventure!

Click here if you’re hearing Mother Nature whispering… we begin our year-long journey next week!

ps… Mother Nature is a huge fan of dots, too!!! Maybe, just maybe, she invented prayer dots!

pps… wish I’d known #Filters when my Dad still walked this world. I’m pretty sure he’d have been intrigued. For this moment, though… I’m still on it, Harry!

It’s been a complex sort of week in my world. You know… the kind that takes all the consciousness you can muster, along with a fair amount of beyond-consciousness, too.

Because many of you share big chunks of history with me, you may be aware that Dr. Walter Brueggemann walked on this week. He was my teacher. My friend. In many ways, one of the most empowering voices in my head. And, there’s a Walter-ism which very much wants sharing…

Back in the mid-1990’s, I was on campus at Columbia Theological Seminary for a Doctor of Ministry course in pre-marital and couples counseling. It happened to be November 1… All Saints Day on a portion of the liturgical calendar that often seemed overlooked in our tradition back in those days.

Walter was preaching in Chapel. For the first couple of minutes I was a bit perplexed.

I mean… Walter was a renowned Hebrew Bible scholar. Saints seemed a bit off the beaten path. Then, the punch line…

Saints, Walter said, were all the people who believed for us on days when we couldn’t quite believe for ourselves.

That I understood! There have been quite the tribe of those in my life. I imagine there have been some along your path, too.

Ever since that day, I’ve stopped, each year, to make my list. And, more recently, to add an intention. To be one of those people – those believers – for others.

Much like another of my teachers, Dr. H. Steven Glenn, who helped me claim this huge bit of hope:

If a teenaged child has 5 adults who will listen to them, take them seriously, and not shame them or blame them for their questions, that child is practically immune from ever attempting suicide.

As far as I know, Walter and Steve didn’t know each other, in this life. I suspect, though, that there’s a possibility of a whole lot of hope if the two of them get acquainted as they walk on.

Just between us, I’ll gladly take some Saints helping me believe in these days! And, I’m totally convinced that being one of those 5 people for others also means being one of them for myself!

I’m also pretty sure that Walter is getting a good chuckle out of the Wisdom Cards I’m writing for my #Quickening journey, as his voice in my head – and heart – is doing a fair amount of meddlin’! Then, there are both (!) of my new #Legend paintings which also hold much of what I learned from him.

And, no… I can’t explain the timing of all of this. I can only say that I’m grateful.

Then, there’s the other thing I can do. I can invite YOU to see – to experience – some new things along your road! Soon!!!

A one day retreat with Mother Nature…ReWilding the Hungry Heart! An Intentional Creativity® gift to you!

Click here for all the info & to enroll!

Or – even AND – 6 weeks of a whole new way to interact with the world… REALLY!!!

Click here for all the info & to enroll!

Somewhere, deep in my memory, my mom is shaking her head and warning me about not pestering people.

Then again, I’m counting on a bunch of those people called Saints cheering me on for – you know – putting it all out there!

Maybe it’s time for you, and me, to be one of those 5 people for ourselves!!!

ps… happy heavenly 90th birthday, Mom!

pps… may the Spirit – the Advocate – walk among us and guide us, this Pentecost day, and forever!