I sit down here at night, (after the buzz has settled into a quiet drone) and I've marked black lines through everything I could cram in. Then I try to think of something meaningful to share here with you.
Well, there are more medicine bundles listed in my shop than ever before. I've tried to include every one possible since the requests are rolling in each day and I seem not to be able to keep them well organized. And there are plenty of BEAR to be had-I've replenished stock on what I need to keep those flowing because, my stars, mama Bear and her love of her beautiful body is a popular one.
I'm scaling back on doing custom work for a bit just until I can restructure to handle the load and find my own feet again. Oh, there is a Grandfather Bear that I am woking on for a client and so a version of that will appear this week. It does seem like so many of the bundles have a feminine angle, and so this might speak to the elders or the men whom I seemed to have neglected a bit.
There is always SO much to share. But I'm so wasted at the end of the day, it sits untold. Let me begin with Maya.
I LOVED taking Maya Stein's Quick and Dirty Poetry e-course.
She sends out easy email prompts and recommends no more than thirty minutes be spent on writing-which means five for me because I didn't know where to pull the time from when I signed up, I only knew that I love Maya and her ways, and I needed to grease the ol' pen up. I'm literally, as I sit here with very little energy, SO EXCITED to share the best part, which is the way this woman gives feedback. Oh my god. It's like she went to artwritingcritique school and got her freaking master's degree! Not only was her feedback thoughtful and really succint, but I felt very seen for my particular style of writing and also for what I was able to crank out in literally five minutes on the days I was able to participate. Here is one of my poems:
underneath it all there is a molten core
of light and shining colors,
of poetry, and that
life force of passion for which
there is no name in the western world.
of layers slathered on i say that
it takes a lifetime to peel them away
from my gentleness that got lost.
of skins added for armor and protection
they now wish to slide off down
the muddy chute like the one in romancing the stone
when kathleen turner seemed much more feminine
than she does now.
and here is Maya's feedback:
"I keep thinking about those 5 minutes you talked about. And how wonderfully free your writing feels, even in this tight-packed stolen-ness of this time. There's a glee here, too - I feel it underneath it all (hah!). A real sense of self, of knowing, surety. Maybe glee is a funny word, but that's the one that came to me and I'm sticking to it. I don't know, it's just that I feel such wholeness in your writing, like a deep-down understanding that underneath it all (hah again), you know exactly what moves you, and you continue to be electrified by that, energized, revived again and again. It's like some base element keeps replenishing itself with each discovery, and there's a glee in that, a kind of energetic nourishment. It might be too late at night to be using words like these, and maybe I've stopped making sense, so forgive me if this sounds oblique and weird. But I suspect I will re-read note tomorrow and agree with myself all over again."
I mean, who says these things?! Someone who takes care of her students and cares about their writing very much. She's just the greatest teacher. What I find most astounding as I fan myself at her flattery and Aw Shucks her approval of my use of very limited time and energy, I know that what she is saying is true. That I do know what moves me and there is a consistency coming forth which is very me and it is energized. And it is what so many of us are seeking...to know a bit more about our own ways, to have our gifts seen, how deep they run inside of us.
And so basically, it's been the most life- and path-affirming ninety dollars I ever have spent. Go where she is. She knows how to see what is at the core, she has that gift of reading between the lines and a colorful language to show you what she sees in YOU.
This is my share for the night. There is so much more to tell, vlogs to upload, postcard decks to tell you about, personal growth things I'd like to rattle on about, so many gifts that have been pouring in my door-physical gifts I want to photograph and share with you, gifts of connection that I want to describe to you...I will get to these things and more. Plus! Fancy, distracting, shiny things I keep noticing in my Etsy Circle friends' favorites that have me drooling while my photos and listings upload...colorful baubles that keep me up past my bedtime scrolling and wishing. Like this:
Amy, who makes these bracelets and more beautiful and amazing adornments (oh my goddess, the earrings...) is shown on her blog page in full yogic headstand while her gorgeous baby Naia sneaks a suckle! I'm smitten with her already. What wonderful work she and her peeps are doing with community and lovin' in Kauai.
