September 22

After 6+ months of creating these posts daily, it seems that I shouldn’t “almost forget” to do it.

All I can offer is that my soul chose first to wrestle and release a watercolor today. It’s been at my side while reading a mother’s words about her precious daughter living with mitochondrial disease.

2014

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Resmaa Menakem, in *My Grandmother’s Hands*, writes about healing trauma by means of recognizing, accepting, and moving through clean pain. “Clean pain is about choosing integrity over fear. (p. 166) He describes this process with “five anchors” and my soul senses great resonance with the third anchor: “Accept the discomfort—and notice when it changes—instead of trying to flee from it.” (p. 168)

“Seven Years of Wonder” is a daily look back at my creative journaling posts since 2014. I began this journey on Feb. 11, 2021, and hope to continue through Feb. 10, 2022. What am I learning about my art and faith journey thus far? What has remained constant? Where have I been changed? How is this impacting present and future art-making?

A deep bow of gratitude to you for keeping me company on this journey.

soul work…