I continue to draw comics. I've drawn one every day since I've been home. Today, Wild Thing is playing hopscotch. Yesterday she took her cup of tea and a book to sit under the apple tree. The day before, she jumped into a puddle in a rain shower. The day before that, she jumped off a cliff. And the day before that, my first day home from the workshop, she was walking down a path and blowing the seeds off a dandelion. And jumping for joy.
She really is my secret self.
And these days, I'm living vicariously through her.
At the workshop, we drew a comic every morning on a 4x6 index card. Lynda calls it our attendance card. And, while I haven't kept up all the writing practices or figured out a way to continue them daily yet, I have continued to draw my attendance card comic. It's another way I'm showing up for myself.
In the morning, following my morning pages, I pull a card, draw a frame, and begin to draw her in a new adventure. And as I do it, I set the intention to show up for my life that day. The Universe calls my name and I respond, "Present."
There is some kind of powerful creative alchemy going on here.
For now, I'm happy for it to remain a mystery.
I may have written before that I work twice as hard the weeks before and after I take time off of work, whether it's for vacation, continuing ed, or some other kind of work I'm doing. Today was my first day back in the office after being away for a week of continuing education. I welcomed and started training a new office administrator, received (with regret) the resignation of our most excellent organist, worked on a transition plan for that situation, had two planning meetings and a staff meeting, taught a class, had lunch with the community senior program participants, fielded multiple phone calls and emails, straightened out several crooked situations, handled a few pastoral care situations, and attended to all the usual things. It was a long day.
Wild Thing sat on my kitchen table all day and then welcomed me home. She was still playing hopscotch and the sun was still high in the sky in her world. Made me smile. It still makes me smile as I sit here typing and see her determinedly casting the stone toward the hopscotch grid. I wonder what she'll get up to tomorrow.
The gift in drawing comics is inviting more lightness of being into my life.
Who knew that something like that could be so transformational.
I remember when Lynda first introduced it, and I think I may have rolled my eyes. I certainly did not think it would be perhaps the most important part of the week for me. And I certainly did not think I would continue drawing comics when I came home. I absolutely did not think I would grow to love it.
But I did.
We, truly, can surprise ourselves.
The Summer of Self-Love is a daily writing practice created to harness three weeks for thriving. The goal at the end is to host a dinner party. Sounds like an odd Hero's Journey, doesn't it? Most of them usually are.
Art and photo: (c) 2018 Katherine Cartwright
No comments:
Post a Comment