Left Brain Hibernation Update: Grace in the Time of Corona

Dear Devoted Readers, (all three of you)‚

I’ve thought of y’all. A lot. But. The seductive pull of quiet, going deeper. deeper. down. down. inward. inward. was stronger. My right brain, versus my chatty, left, writerly brain, has taken over the controls. So, the substance in this corona blog sub-series update—the first in almost three months—will be more visual than written. The pandemic continues to topple my plates. I’m barely managing Grace’s art these days. Mostly, I’m okay with that. See “discussion” on self-compassion below. We are still down two workers for her care and now down to only two-and-a-half days of care for her. Much like the days just after her forever graduation from school. Understandably, workers are hesitant to come into homes and, likewise, we must be particular about whom we let in to our small home.

So, (read carefully,) lack of childcare is my main “pandemic burden.” I balance that with all that is going well, and how much we do have. Plus, keen awareness of the tremendous struggles of so many. I’m continuing my work as a part-time consultant in disability public policy—much of it focused on the state’s lack of response to how families like ours are struggling under COVID. Otherwise…I’m surprised and pleased to note we have thrived. Daily walks in nature are our manna. Grace continues to love her work (click linked video here!) at #TJMaxx. And I’m still in a deep-dive into internal house cleaning. What’s working, what’s not. What needs to go….Keep reading….

What I’ve learned:
Patriarchy—just how embedded is patriarchy in my belief systems about myself. Everything I’ve sought to tweak and heal has threads back to patriarchy.

Self-compassion—how much we need it. We all need it. This is hard. It’s hard for all of us. And when we remember that and remember to love and nurture our own selves through this, we have more love and more space for others who also need compassion.

Kindness—to self, to others. To watch my thoughts, ferret out the toxic and be aware how I can easily spew those mental poisons forward in more thoughts, words and acts of unkindness. Language is important. Language shapes our relationships, our thoughts, is foundational to our feelings.

Inward—Inward. I cannot say this enough. This is a global problem. The virus is just the symptom. We must all do our personal work inward. Our thoughts. Our actions. Examine. Closely. We create the problem. We create the solution.

Divine feminine—I’m still ferreting out just what this means, especially within. But, we are seeing the rise of (the return of) the feminine. We are seeing women rise in power and with it more compassion and creativity. I came across this quote that so resonates. (It’s also linked to a visual.)

“When we recover the buried feminine, we will always find there is a strong creative element.”
—Sharon Blackie 

You can still find me yammering some on Facebook. If you decide to friend me and I can decipher that you’re not a faker or someone who will immediately try to hawk your wares to me, I’ll friend you back. But I so appreciate messaging with some context to random requests. Okay?…I write too much there that would be worthy here, like the post linked here and beneath this digital art creation, below. It was a bit salty, and I decided to leave it there and only link it here.

I foresee myself continuing to go deeper as the season grows darker. (Double entendre.) And, thus, more quiet here. We’ll see. It’s only been in the last week that I felt a pull to write again. I will come out on the other side of this year remade. This was a year of remaking. Forged in the fire?….If I get around to it, I may plop in a few blog worthy posts that were shared only on Facebook. Also, I’m aware that my Instagram is disconnected from here. It’s on my tech-to-do-list since such matters make me choose fingernails to chalkboard rather than figuring out tech stuff. Meanwhile, here you go: www.Instagram.com/leisahammett

Take care. Go within. Get quiet. Immerse into nature. Do the work. Do your work. The world so, so needs it right now. Examine your heart. Where is there bias? Where is there dark? Hatred? Unhealed wounding? What needs a microscope and some rigorous scrubbing? This is the season, and its purpose. And, hang on, grip tightly, and hang tough. As if it weren’t already rocky enough traveling, it’s about to get worse.

Be safe. Be well. Namaste, xxL

PS: Oops! Almost forgot some context. Because of the pandemic, I’m not getting together with my friend, Anne, or my Nashville Collage Collective group to collage. Our condo is small and pandemic time is tight. I’ve created two very small incomplete collages during the last six months. Something had to give. I had to find another way, other than just my iPhoneography to create. A dream three weeks ago demanded it! (I’m also attending an awesome three-month virtual Jungian Dream Group!) So, I finally began trying my hand at digital collage. And here you go. These are my premier works! What I’ve learned over the last four years of collage making and via Grace’s teachers since 2006, is the subconscious creates, heals and communicates through messages in our art (and our dreams). Repeatedly, I’ve found that my art is communicating messages that are often unknown to me until I’ve completed a piece. I think that’s rather magical.