She gave me pens
she told me that when I could allow
the mountain in my head
to travel down my arm and
come out the end of my pen
then she would be back
(You can read it below, or listen to me read it on youtube)
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THE DAY THE MUSE GAVE ME A CIRCLE
She gave me pens
she told me that when I could allow
the mountain in my head
to travel down my arm and
come out the end of my pen
then she would be back
She gave me paint
she told me when I was willing
to let the blue night sky that lives
in my pelvic bowl come out as stars
from the end of my brush
then she would be back
She gave me a drum
she told me when I play
if I can hear the river
in the Ancestor’s message
that sets all beings free
then she would be back
She gave me a lump of clay
she told me when the fox jumps
out of the mold into form
and begins to tell a story
about loss, love and choice
then she would be back
She gave me fabric and red thread
she told me that when my colorful quilt
with a story of hope woven in
can warm up the cold world
while also warming me
then she would be back
She gave me a cosmic bowl
she told me when it was too full
I should empty it of pain, and
leave more space between scars,
then there would be enough light, and
then she would be back
She gave me a glittering jewel
she told me that when I had set it in place
the white raven would fly out of the center
and speak prophecies about the black dove,
the migration of oaks and the turning of soil
then our time together would be near
She gave me a golden blade
she told me only fire women
know how to work it,
she said it can cut apart or shore up
all depending on how I hold it
then she would have my back
She gave me a wild dance
she told me when I had danced
the wildflowers of earth alive
only then would a pegasus fly
from the neck of Medusa
on a journey to the Muse
Hercules had no tasks like mine
my task was not to kill or harm
not to tame or subdue
or bury eternal bravery under a rock
I had to make life, not take it away
making is much harder than taking
When I had finished with all her tasks
I rode the pegasus and we flew
I held onto his mane, hoping for the best
My dress became a garment of clouds
I found tea waiting for me
I snuggled up in a bird’s nest to rest
The Muse gave me a Circle
She told me that all I really needed
was a circle that graces, that
invites, welcomes, embraces
She said if I understood that,
then she would always have my back
I carried the precious Circle in my heart
I did not know regeneration then,
that the tending of one circle
can become a multitude of circles
Circles are like that,
giving birth to more circles
I mark the day,
that the Muse gave me a Circle
It seems I was always waiting
for her to come back, but then
I finally knew I was already
always connected in her circle
I thought she was coming
from the outside, crashing through
the back door of my worried mind
drinking whiskey, leaving muddy footprints
Now I know she was rushing forth
from inside of me with magic in her hands
I had to learn to come to her
not just wait for her to come to me
and so shall it be with poetry
in the circles around this heart’s fire
that the Muses will meet us
where we are and we will remember
Shhhh…..….listen now as the
portal shimmies down a veil
the vault releases trapped riddles
spoken from the mother tongue
of the only place
you are really from
Your true name is found
in between the stones you turn,
in the river beneath the river
It’s the name you resisted at first,
but now, the Muse insists
you surrender and find power
~ Shiloh Sophia
#intentionalcreativity #manymuses
Red Thread Letter #812
The Day the Muse Gave Me a Circle
Dear One Sarah,
Woosh…what a journey 2020 has been so far! It’s like every day is a new rodeo. Just this morning I have gone from happy to stressed to happy to sad to WTF in a few hours. I am witnessing myself and just trying to laugh as much as I can.
I wish I could sit across from you and share a cuppa’ something good and we can just talk about ‘stuff’. Whatever comes up…letting it just come on out so it doesn’t get all jumbled up inside.
In our community of Intentional Creativity, we continue to show up at the easel and pray in paint – it is the way we process what is coming through. I will be honest, this has been a low writing and drawing cycle for me compared to usual lol. The community has needed a lot of focus. I feel a bit weary today, while at the same time inspired by my connection with our community and what I see them doing and how I see them being.
When we paint, we pray for lives that have been lost, for dear family and friends who are struggling with health and more. We pray for the end of violence against women, which has only increased in the pandemic, and for Black Lives Mattering. We pray for businesses that are struggling to keep doors open and for artists with working studios that have to close with no idea of when to re-open. And the list goes on… Creativity gives us something to DO about how we are feeling.
As I sit here today in my big ole’ empty museum, it can be challenging to keep my double chin up, lol!! I just sat in the sunshine, picked some Santa Rosa plums and ate them without rushing along to the next thing. I find myself trying to slow down more and simply ‘be’ and rest. In my summer class, Artifact, we are doing a lot of resting in between painting sessions. Nap times are important but I don’t think I have ever built them into a curriculum.
If you are feeling alone or isolated, come on over to the Red Thread Cafe and share what you are working on creatively or in your life. Someone is almost always there to witness you and lift you up. Or, if you are part of our iMusea app – share there.
Earlier this week, one of our members shared her experience which touched my heart and really summed up the beauty of this community (shared with her permission)
“I lost my gran nearly 3 months ago during this pandemic and I’ve been really struggling with that. She was the matriarch of our family, so fierce and strong and clever. I wasn’t able to see her in the hospital, I couldn’t be there to hold her hand or say any last words to her. I had to fight for me and my family to be able to go to the funeral because I’m just her grand daughter not her daughter. A few days before she died I reached out on the red thread and asked for prayers for her. Literally, within minutes all these women that had never met her or me were sending love for her and us and it just kept coming. For days. It is something I will remember as long as I live. That kindness got me through those days. Knowing there are so many good people who are willing to take time in their day for a woman they’ll never meet. That is really something. That’s what the world needs more than ever now.”
This brought me to tears as it truly speaks to what we have created together – a global community of women creatives connected along the Red Thread who support each other no matter where we live, or what we are going through and if we have never met. This is the circle.
If you could use a controversial and curious conversation with a circle of creatives, consider joining me and Jonathan for our Imprensiva Society Salon today at 4pm PT where we discuss “Will art save us from irrelevance?” This is part of our new Museum Membership, which helps us fund women in the arts and continue our Intentional Creativity legacy into the future. Membership has lots of cool features in addition to live time with us.
This poem, The Day the Muse Gave Me a Circle is dedicated to my friends, teachers and Ancestors, that have been walking with me so closely in 2020 in spirit and in form and long before now…. they are indeed my soul tending circle and I wish to acknowledge them:
For Carmen, For Denise,
For Alice, For Sue,
For Tonantzin, For Bridget, For Janet, For Maia
For Jena, For Mary, For Trish, For Elizabeth
For Jill, For Shannon, For Havi, For Amy
For Amber, For Uma, For Milagros, For Hobby
For Lauren, For Semerit, For Mona, For Lana
For Jassy, For Emily, For Sarah
For Norma Jeanne, For Stella
For Nora, For Lenore
For My Mama, For Grandma Eden
For our Grandmother’s Magical Hands
Thank you.
Bless you, each one of you, right where you are from right where I am.
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MOTHERBOARD: Intentional Creativity® Coach Training is open for Priority Enrollment! If you wish to teach clients, students and beloveds using Metacognitive Drawing and Visual Language, come learn more: www.motherboardtraining.com
Save the date for the next Red Thread Connect call on July 22nd at 12pm PT. It’s so wonderful to gather online as a community for connection, creativity and to really SEE each other!
