The paint kind!!!

And it feels like a really good time for this…

As you’ve no doubt noticed, this world needs people like us. And – maybe, just maybe – it’s starting to notice!

In fact, I learned a new word this morning. Well, not a new word, but a current appropriation of a the word, influence.

Yep… influencer! Right there on the news… which is part of the thing called context!

Let’s just say that the conversation went from Taylor Swift to Stanley cups. (The beverage kind… not the hockey kind!)

What they were really talking about, though, was women changing conversations!

Now, the people around me are much happier when I don’t sing. And the possibility of lead exposure in the fad-ish drinking cups was enough to convince me that I don’t even need to ponder wanting one of those.

I want to make art!

Not, mind you, the kind that’s cool because it matches the fad couch of the moment.

The kind that helps me grow while I make it!

Grow, enough, in fact, that I have major things to share. One of those things that’s blooming in me is all the things prayer dots – or dots of hope – can do, intentionally.

And, yes… my Guardian painting is still chatting away! She’s insistent, this one.

Dot-flowers. Voice…. Choice…. Sovereignty. (The personal kind of sovereignty for. Not over.)

Dot-hair. Hope! Not just in general… but brave, real-world hopes! The kind with hearts and hands and feet! (Which is next on the list!)

Then, there’s the volunteer bear, you glimpsed as we began! A mama-bear with lots of practice at loving courage!!!

And, just between us… there’s a whole lot of claiming my shifting filters goin’ on!

The point of this adventure, on the Origins journey, was – in my understanding – to claim my role as a Guardian in the garden we know as this world. Color. Vines. Flowers. Something that represents me… The Fiercely Compassionate Rebel (!) Grandmother.

What I didn’t see coming was the presence of my Guardian. The Divine Feminine of my understanding. Teaching me and guarding me in this world, now!

And, en-couraging me to show others the way!

Frankly, sharing this journey is kind of scary. And, it is also a huge part of my way of being – if you’ll pardon the pop culture jargon – an influencer!

So… here’s the question!

What might being an influencer look like in your world???

Really!!!

That’s exactly what we’ll be working on in…

Oh, I See… Consciously! The path from “If only…” to “I am!”

We start soon! (And there will be painting!)

And there’s still a seat for you! So, grab a cuppa, take a deep breath, and click HERE to learn more!!!

I’m headed back to my easel, creaking knees and cranky wrist, full of curiosity… and an open heart!

ps… one more thing I learned on MSNBC this morning! A poem!!!

That’s My Heart Right There 

We used to say,
That’s my heart right there. As if to say,
Don’t mess with her right there.
As if, don’t even play,
That’s a part of me right there.
In other words, okay okay,
That’s the start of me right there.
As if, come that day,
That’s the end of me right there.
As if, push come to shove,
I would fend for her right there.
As if, come what may,
I would lie for her right there.
As if, come love to pay,
I would die for that right there.

-Willie Perdomo

pps… this poem comes from the new book, This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, by Kwame Alexander. I bought my copy this morning!