Nope. We’re not branching out from Newfoundlands to chickens!
Last night the Queen Muse, also known as the Mermatee, and the two Muses-In-Progress staged a coup d’e´· tat, which is to say that they took over.
I’m fine with that in principle, but 5:00 am is pushing the overthrow thing by several hours!
When I went to bed I was a lot closer to contented with this image which will eventually be the Muse for my Blossom and Roar class, which means, essentially, that she’ll be helping with financial growth around here.
After an early morning trip down the hall which involved bargaining with Phoebe for prized floor space in the bathroom, I wandered back to bed, only to discover that the Muses were having a tea party in my head and they all had ideas about what to do next to solve the issue that there was very little viable space left for the newest Muse to actually emerge from the canvas.
In my defense, this had actually occurred to me before bed! In any event, after I laid there eavesdropping for about half an hour I finally got up, made some tea, and spent quite a while staring at the canvas and listening.
Eventually, I came to the conclusion that band aids and making do weren’t going to get it.
So, as you’ve probably guessed from the photo at the top of this post, I got out the white heavy body paint and a palette knife, reminding myself all the while that the energy of all those under layers would still be there in whatever the final painting becomes.
The process was really quite redemptive. No shame. No blame. Just claiming what works and moving on to something that will (eventually) work even better.
And, as these things often happen, while I swiped and scraped away with my palette knife, what passes for vision in my world grew.
I’m tired, but excited. And, while I heat some soup and write these words, there’s a big part of me that’s still, after all these years, hearing the voice of my friend Steve Glenn who created the program, Developing Capable People, reminding me that it’s very difficult to learn anything new when we’re wallowing in shame or blame.
Wow, am I grateful for Steve! This particular bit of wisdom is one that I’m working hard to pass along to my girls.
And, somewhere in all that white paint, is a message from the Muses helping me actually embody the wisdom of Steve which I’ve been believing in for about 35 years now.
Just in case you might have a bit of shame or blame taking up space in your world, you can put it in the box where mine goes when I set it down. If you decide you want it back later, that’s fine… but I’m betting you won’t!
For this moment, a reminder…
Through August 25th, I will donate 15% of my proceeds from all art sales on my Fine Art Marketplace page to Grandmothers Against Gun Violence.
The new Muse won’t be there yet, but she’s got lots of friends waiting to inspire you and help do some good in the world.
Thanks for being you!!!