Laundry Line Divine

You can see I am mad about spirals. Yesterday in the garden, I investigated these with my 5 year old partner. We found all sorts of fiddleheads, pink ones, white ones and rather gritty looking ones.

Just like life, eh? Gritty and pink. As the days have passed since our discussion of “Who Does She Think She Is?” on Saturday evening, I cannot stop the constant question of measuring success in my day. Capturing these fiddleheads with my pal does not win me any awards or fees, but certainly fills my heart with joy. I hope you all will pitch in to this discussion of what makes success, for women and men in life. There is a tenderness and integrity in giving the gifts we are blessed to embody.

For the past 3 days I have been sewing.

Now, you could holler across the cyber waves at me and say, “Suzi- what else do you do? Sew? Make hats? For teenagers?” Fair enough. One day I am leading a workshop with Karen on the Daily-Ness of Art. One day I am lounging around thinking about that workshop. The next day I am kneeling in a sea of horsehair, organza and velvet while ruminating over how to make a 22 inch circle fit on a 22 inch lumpy noggin. Just this morning I completed the 6th hat and delivered them to the dress rehearsal of my son’s high school production of “St. Joan”. If you live in the Berkshires, you could come see it- for more than the hats. Teenagers doing Shaw is worth the ticket.

But, yes. I sew. I know how to make hats. I am fascinated with knots, thread and needles. I love to cut things in to shapes. It follows I guess, rather obviously, but worth noting, that I live the Daily-Ness of Art simply by being the parent I am. Does this measure up to success? By my measuring tape, I think it does.

Tomorrow I will be baking Sweet Amandine’s almond cookies. Until then, look at all the ways you measure success and keep me posted. Look for the whorling ferns and notice the next hat you see.

With all my love and a little bit of Rumi- Suz

Let yourself be silently drawn
by the stronger pull of what you really love.

Thank you for all your good juice sent our way yesterday. Karen and I had 13 women for our workshop at Berkshire Art Kitchen. We also had a wonderful gathering of women for the evening viewing of “Who Does She Think She Is?” at BAK.

I worked on this book all week as I prepared for the workshop. I love images of surfers. I often feel like a surfer in my life, ever vigilant, watching for rogue waves and sharks in the midst of blissful union with water. Athletic catalogues that scatter across our table on any given day give us the vicarious thrill of being in the wave, even on a chilly spring Sunday. I can only imagine the sound, the focus, the feeling of power between the surfer and the water. I am an avid body surfer- I surf on the board God gave me (family joke I will tell you about someday). Body surfing keeps me in shallower waters and seemingly less dangerous conditions. I have yet to see rogue waves at low tide in Wellfleet.

We surfed yesterday in our workshop. We laid out our tools and invited the women to play with them. It is a joy to see women begin. To see people allow themselves to step in to the timeless place of creating with what comes across their hands. The day flew past, just like a wave- we rode it for as long as we could, then surrendered to shore, dried off and moved on to our next life activity.

I like to stay in the waters of my creative flow all the time. I am there as long as I allow myself that level of attention. This means while I am cooking or cleaning or digging up garlic, my awareness is on the present and whatever is flowing across my hands.

We discussed this after the movie last night. “WDSTSI?” is a powerful testimony to women who cannot and will not staunch their creative flow in the face of personal or public challenges. I take testimony like that very personally. What is success for me today? What does it mean for me as a mother and artist to say I have had a successful day? I survived. That is one level of success. My kids are well. The house is in order. We have eaten several meals. Levels of success can be measured in accomplishment or in joy. Simply joy.

I talked with Athena about this today. I question the necessity for women to pursue success in a man’s world. The terrible truth of statistics could cause you to put down your pen forever. Yes, you can tell me all about it being a man’s world and how I better figure out how to achieve success in that realm. Or I can surrender to what is present in my life today, what I have appetite for and I turn my surf board in to that oncoming wave. There are so many intervening challenges for a woman to weather as she rides the power of her desires. Success for me today is in the ride. When and if I ever hold a copy of my first or tenth book in my hands, feeling the weight of my experience in 200 pages of paper- that will be a certain kind of success. It is one I desire. Until that day arrives, I measure my accomplishments by pressing in to the power of each day’s challenges just as a surfer takes the next arriving wave and the next, no control over what comes, but purely ready with every faculty tuned to ride to the best of my ability.

“Fe-Mail” hangs at Berkshire Art Kitchen until the 30th. I surely hope you can see the show. We would love to take “Fe-Mail” on the road. Let us know if you’d like to host our events. I have savored the experience of sharing my work with other people. This success has only strengthened my desire to put my work out in to the world and participate in the ensuing discussion. I hope I can do that with you some day.

Love, S