Painting The Feminine :: Mythos

Many times when I’m painting I listen to audible recordings by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes.  I love when she drops into story-telling mode the best.

She has taught me so vividly how mythos and story telling is such the working of the great feminine.

As a child, I remember owning tons of records of fairy tales and mother goose stories that I would play again and again.  And now, even as an adult, I’m still enchanted by listening to stories–especially those shared of one’s life.

As women especially, we get it.

We understand the power that resides in symbols–the sacredness in passing down stories to our young–the grace there is in gathering together in the kitchen to share wisdom and stories of one’s life journey.

For me, it’s the care and nurturing of each other’s mythos that I love most about friendships I have with other women. It’s this constant reinvention of mythos that I love so much about the work I do with other women through FEARLESS Painting.

And many times, it’s when I come back to my own mythos that I am able to cultivate the Feminine so organically in the way I navigate life.

This journal spread felt like an unfolding of a myth. Three cloaked wise women on a pilgrimage to visit a burning tree.

I like to think that maybe I’m not just one of those three cloaked wise women–but actually all three.

And maybe the burning tree is not just a tree.  But my Soul that I keep coming back to for warmth and strength.