Category: Phoebe and Luther

I dreamed, this morning, about John Lewis.

Yep. That John Lewis.

And music. And cameras. And paint. And a big, blank canvas.

And people – people I don’t know yet – everywhere. Watching. Me.

It’s not exactly as unexpected as it sounds. You see, yesterday I said YES!

Yes to a new friend.

And yes to painting, live, in an event known as Zocalo Zoom, which I’m only just learning about.

Here’s the short version… Musicians, activists, and me. Virtually gathered for some fun and community and postcard writing.

Yes, the political kind. And not just to our own Senators but to a bunch of pivotal Senators who need to hear our voices.

Primarily, at the moment, on a bill about fixing the filibuster so that the Senate can vote on voting rights. Civil rights. Human rights. Rights the late Rep. John Lewis spent his life on.

My job is to be the artist. I have a plan. Thankfully! But one of the things the plan depends on is me, painting John Lewis’s very recognizable face.

Live. Fast.

And doing it while painting the rest of the canvas, too. Layers to dry. Lot’s of dots to make. Background. Glazing.

Did I mention the dots?

And, you can join in, too!

Here’s all the information.

Phoebe and Luther, the resident Studio Angels, have already signed up and they’re really hoping you will, too!

So is Bella Mama!

And, just in case you might be wondering what Bella Mama, who was once so purple that Bill called her Elvira, is doing in this conversation…

She told me how to do it!

For this moment, some more layers for my Psalms painting. Quite possibly about courage!

And the contest entry to finish.

And, just in case you’re wondering, Why?… that’s easy. I have two granddaughters growing up in this world.

ps… the painting at the top is a Psalm of Creation in progress!

I can tell it’s time for the next big thing to be born because the Muse woke me at about 5:30 this morning. (I think she lives in a different time zone!)

When she started whispering in my ear, I tried to soothe her back to sleep by obediently opening the book on the top of the stack next to the bed. Then I grabbed the pencil which lives on the nightstand for just this sort of adventure and scribbled her message inside the cover. Three words.

(Using a pencil for this job is easier than a pen on the flannel sheets in case it gets dropped, says the experiential learner!)

That worked for a couple of minutes. Then, more scribbling. And a bit more.

Then I gave in and got up.

A favorite sunny yellow mug of hot water and lemon. My current journal. And my Color of Woman Initiate Book.

Trouble was indeed afoot!

Trouble, as it turns out, that I’d really appreciate your help with. You see, I have homework to do. Well, it’s really more like what one of my teachers refers to as market research.

This is not an unfamiliar term in my universe. In fact, when I was about 5 years old, I used to help my dad with what he also called market research.

Mom would dress me in “cute” clothes and off I’d go with my Dad, to the nearest Kroger store. (Groceries, if you’re not from around here.)

Daddy would set up his little card table, complete with a plastic tablecloth, and set out the Dixie cups. (Remember the different colored ones?) My job was to play like any other kid walking by and, when he asked me to taste the orange juice, the red cup always had the Tropicana which was, of course, “the best” kind!

Just between us, I’m kind of missing the Dixie cups!

Instead, I have questions. Quite possibly, questions for you! (Yes, you, as long as you’re one of the first 6 wise women who email me! suesvoice@gmail.com )

Here’s the deal…

You agree to spend about half an hour with me (phone or Zoom) answering some questions about your journey to making a difference. To mattering. There are no right or wrong answers. Only yours. (Though there might be extra credit for choosing red!)

Then, as my way of saying a huge thank you, we’ll schedule a time for 30 – 45 minutes of a Super Power Self Portrait mini course! No paint required. All you need is a decent sized piece of paper and 2 or 3 markers in your favorite colors. And, if you like, we can chat a few minutes about some upcoming opportunities to continue on your mattering journey with some help from me.

I promise… no obligation to me. It is, however, just possible that your Muse will have other ideas… especially in these days!

ps… That’s my Muse, peering at you from the watery depths, at the top of this post. Her name is Anemone, a symbol, according to some, of discovering new opportunities in alignment with you, new doorways worthy of actively stepping through…

pps… This is Luther, one of our official studio angels, with one of his very favorite girls. Luther thinks it would be really helpful of you to decide to email me and help with my homework questions. Luther thinks anything that helps us matter is a really good plan! suesvoice@gmail.com

… a LONG time ago, I used to show dogs. And groom them. I started with Mastiffs. Easy to groom. Hard to convince.

Next, Great Pyrenees. I have trouble admitting this, but we actually put laundry bluing in their shampoo to get them sparkly white. (I can’t believe I’m writing this!)

English Springers for a bit. Talk about perfectionist tendencies!

Then, a dear Newfie. Our first. She was still a puppy so the grooming was less aerobic but there’s a whole lot of we’ve always done it that way beneath those fluffy, drool-y beasties.

For the last 10 years or so I’ve needed help with the fuzzy big kids. It’s harder and harder to get close to the floor and lifting them is a definite no go.

But, our kids are coming to visit and, with all the pandemic challenges, it has been more than the ideal amount of time since Phoebe and Luther have had a bath.

A call to my friends at Jabula Dog Academy, also known as Camp, set us up with an appointment. Then, the brushing began!

And went on. And on. And on.

A new friend came to pick them up for their adventure and, blessedly, immediately grasped the fact that I was totally serious when I said mental health was way more important than looking like show dogs. Especially for Luther who’s had a whole bunch of overcoming to do on his journey.

He has a huge spirit for a guy who’s been horridly abused and sees with his heart.

While they were gone, I took some time out for feet up and weeding email.

That’s when the tears started. Specifically, the news overdose tears. With Atlanta still reeling from last week’s tragic shootings, Boulder about put me over the edge. And then the news about at least five more mass shootings in the US since Atlanta on March 16.

How does this happen???

I can cuddle the big dogs and help them learn about safe and loved. And loving.

I can plan a new program to help some awesome women realize their visions. (There’s still one space left. email me at suesvoice@gmail.com if you have a vision that could use some support!)

There are some things, though, that feel bigger than I can manage. Many of them, in this moment, are trying to make it harder for us to vote. Harder for the young people known as Dreamers to stay here. Harder to keep guys like the Atlanta shooter from buying a gun and using it on the very same day to kill 8 people just quietly living their lives.

So, after crying long enough to reduce some of my stress, I spent most of the time the beasties were at the spa doing what I could do. Signing petitions. Leaving a message for the Georgia Speaker of the House. (I’m for voting. Him, seemingly not so much.)

Well, you get the idea. My mom used to scrub floors in moments like this. (I must have gotten my knees from the other side of the family!) And, at the risk of sounding pessimistic, it seems like we’re going to need some coping strategies for a while.

So pray/knit. Or make prayer dots with paint. Or make soup. Or brush huge dogs. I understand there are even some people who go running!

And use your voice.

For now, I’m off to put a huge load of dog towels in the washer. Well, I should be. We’ll all be happier if I finish washing flannel sheets first so they don’t come out looking like Newfies!

And I hope you’ll join me, in your special way. Think of it as overtaking the tragic, hateful energy with kind, hopeful energy. It actually makes folding laundry more fun!

ps… If you squint and hold your head just right, you’ll see a very wet dog waiting for his girls in the photo above!

pss… May the people of Stockton CA, Gresham OR, Houston TX, Dallas TX, and Philadelphia PA, along with those of Atlanta and Boulder, find courage in our prayers and our actions. Yours and mine.

It’s been a bit of a week. Actually, it’s been a whole lot of a week!

The guys installing the solar stuff on the shiny new roof come and go kind of like teenagers, making planning much of anything a challenge. Blessedly, they are now convinced that we need some warning for dog herding time before forays to the attic. Luther doesn’t understand the whole pull-down stair situation. (And they don’t much understand Luther!)

One of my knees is – shall we say – crankier than usual. The advantage to this is that I’ve had more time for paint videos and my favorite one-virtual-foot-in-front-of-the-other kind of meeting.

A whole bunch of my inner puzzle pieces began re-arranging themselves this week. Then, on Thursday, my mental sketch of how my life is organized changed.

It’s kind of unusual for me to have pictures before words but that’s where I seem to be just now. Rather like the roots and trunk and branches of my inner tree all shifted jobs.

This is a bit unsettling, but not at all a bad thing because I can already tell things make more sense. (Thanks, Sam!)

Then, on Friday, I wandered off to an adventure known as a Salon in Zoom-land with some mostly new friends pondering Carl Jung and Gnostic traditions. More shifting of puzzle pieces! (Let’s just say I don’t recall most of this coming up in Seminary!)

Saturday turned out to be a delightful full-circle sort of adventure in which the painting pictured above found its home.

In September of 2019, back in the pre-pandemic days, I did a street fair/art market in the town where I live. Based on the notion that there’s no such thing as too many prayer dots, I set up an outline of a peace sign and a station for making dots.

It was great fun! I especially loved watching the kids go from, “I don’t know how” to “This is cool!” (I spent lots of time promising that they couldn’t possibly do it wrong.)

Then, last August, a candidate I was excited about won the primary for commissioner in DeKalb County’s super district six. (And, no, I don’t know why it’s different from the regular districts!) Anyway, there was no opponent for the general election so we had ourselves a new commissioner.

Somewhere along the way I promised him the painting for his office when he – you know – had one.

Today was the day! And, in case you wondered, we’re already brainstorming new community art projects. At least one of which would involve ladders. Gulp!

Here’s what you can’t see in the photo. Behind the peace sign, deep in the under layers, the Metta Prayer is hard at work. It says something pretty close to this, with a smidge of tradition mixing:

May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe and well. May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature. May all beings be free and free from suffering.

Amen. Amen. Selah.

“Oddly” enough, that’s pretty much the same picture my shifting puzzle pieces are making. Kind of like a promise to me and to the world.

ps… May all beings find their voices and be free to vote!

pss… And may this painting and these painters and Commissioner Terry be powerful peace in our world!