Susan Holloway Scott meets Project Runway

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being yourself, inspire, Jane Butler, Jane Paffenbarger Butler, joy, listening, natural talent, passion, teacher, words, writing

Soon after meeting Susan Holloway Scott this week, the best-selling author of many historical novels including her latest, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr, I went to her Instagram account. There I found a treasure trove of Project Runway-perfect inspirational photos. Not only does Susan delight in crafting stories about historical figures, she posts lots of artwork. She’s attracted to pictures of women, often wearing clothes of either great richness or great simplicity. I couldn’t help but imagine the designers on Project Runway running away with ideas inspired by the frocks in the many paintings she selects. The dresses themselves tell a story.

Great examples are “The Painter’s Honeymoon” by Frederic, Lord Leighton, c1864, “Lille Marie on Neky’s Arm” N.P. Holbech, 1838, and Kehine Wiley’s 2012 “The Two Sisters.” Thank you, Susan, for sharing these images with us.

High apple pie, in the sky hopes

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being yourself, change, control, dreams coming true, goals, inspire, Jane Butler, Jane Paffenbarger Butler, joy, mentors, natural talent, writing

Next time you’re found with your chin on the ground, There’s a lot to be learned, so look around

My chin WAS on the ground, so I looked around.

And then three girls from our local STEM high school answered my ad! My new marketing team are these media-savvy students determined to assist this local author in improving my platform.

My agent tells me that the editors she has shown my work to were interested in my story, in my writing and in me. But my lack of a platform has been a stumbling block. I need to engage with the writing community more and reach out to potential readers. So since this is not what I know how to do naturally, I have called together these smart teens to assist.

My goals include producing a book trailer that highlights the story I have available for publication, taking the time to regularly sit next to a live person who can in real time advise me on how to make “genuine connections electronically”, and learn more about the authors out there that I love for their work and their stories.

Wish me luck as I embark on this self-assignment to lead this team toward the publication of my manuscript.

I’ve got high hopes. I’ve got high apple pie in the sky hopes.

P.S. In case you are wondering, goober peas are boiled peanuts. Just saying.

Poetic gesture

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being yourself, express feelings, inspire, Jane Butler, Jane Paffenbarger Butler, joy, listening, love, marriage, mentors, natural talent, parents, passion, relationship, words, writing

My friend was recipient of a most romantic gesture. Her partner built and installed this beautiful poetry post. It is positioned right next to the sidewalk so passersby may read her poetry every time she puts up something new.

Believing in yourself is half the battle

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being yourself, change, control, dreams coming true, express feelings, Jane Butler, Jane Paffenbarger Butler, joy, natural talent, play, teacher, trust

I’ve heard that creative people are creative in multiple ways and so we should not be surprised to find that Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan also paint pictures. But when you are struggling to be the artist you imagine yourself to be, like me, writing a memoir and telling a story I very much want to share, finding that I have hidden talents is confirmational.

In cleaning out an old trunk in the spare bedroom I came upon this drawing I made when I was sixteen. I’d forgotten that I once believed myself capable of such creations because honestly, right now, I can barely play Pictionary. But possibly if I renewed that notion that I can draw and I put my mind to it, I might win a few rounds.

This sketch is the result of the one drawing class I had in high school, with Robin Burkhardt, who insisted it was about taking the time and seeing clearly. And voila, she was kind of correct! This Bonwit Teller department store ad is a direct mimic of one I saw in the newspaper at the time. The coloring-outside-the-lines I allow occasionally suggests a little artsyness!

Believing in yourself is half the battle.

 

Sing to your babies and they’ll sing to you

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being yourself, dreams coming true, express feelings, higher power, I have no idea what these tags mean, inspire, Jane Butler, Jane Paffenbarger Butler, joy, listening, love, mother, natural talent, parents, relationship, Rock Me Mama, security, singers, teacher, trust, Wagon Wheel, words

Your singing, and the blended voice of song, thrill me
What is this magic that moves me so?
I hear you there

Sing to your kids when they are little and someday they’ll sing back to you.

I used to belt out the Christmas music to my crying babies in mid-July because those were the songs whose lyrics I could remember, and therefore could keep going long enough to capture attention. Oh hark, the herald angels, I would tell my little babes. You’d better not cry, I’m telling you why, sleep, baby, sleep. I’d rock and dance around the nursery with an overtired child stringing together the magic held in songs. I faked like it sounded good because kids are wildly forgiving and unjudgmental, and somehow they hear the beauty hidden between the squawks. My heartfelt intentions cloaked in verse and rhythm and tone could move at least a two year old. And that’s all I needed at the time. The magic carpet of song carried my deep love, my deep concern, my deep desire to help teach how to be in this world, to my children, despite myself. Sleep, baby, sleep.

And what I have learned about singing to your kids when they are little, is that they grow up to think that singing is a way to express. A way to soothe. A way to share. A way to be. And if you are lucky they will sing back to you. Only maybe even better. And so, we’ll be charmed.

My boy is the one who rode his tricycle down the deck stairs

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being yourself, control, exchange student, express feelings, fear, goals, inspire, joy, natural talent, parents, play, pole vaulting, South America, trust, writing

Okay, below is the kind of thing I read on my son’s blog periodically as he experiences the cultural exchange in Ecuador. Provided he lives to look back on these kinds of thrilling events he surely will see that he has learned some things along the way. But really, as a parent, I must train myself to look at this through new eyes. He is eighteen and typically he’d be in college by now and I would know nothing of his foolish escapades. Also, it helps that he has conditioned me since he was born to look the other way when he tries to injure/kill himself since so far he has failed to do either despite being quite daring and fearless. So, take note while your kids are little, if they have the “T” factor, I believe it is called, that inspires them to take risks greater than those you and I might take, it might be a good time to wallow in the delight of being able to personally inform them of the danger, unlike when they will be off to college or other such places tasting the world on their own. In other words, it is when they are young and scaring you to death that it is best to teach them how to protect themselves. We steered this son towards daring yet controlled feats like performing live on stage, and sports like pole-vaulting, to help channel his wild energy.

Here’s Andrew’s blog post for yesterday, and really, I woke up today still thinking about it:

A really big sport in Ambato is downhill. Its literally just taking a mountain bike with shocks and riding down the side of a mountain. There are paths but they look like this ——___——- and the bike wheel fits in the ___. So there is no room for the pedals. And it is extremely hard to break because youre riding on very fine dirt. Mateo and David brought me to try it. You have to pay someone with a pick up truck to drive you to the top of the mountain. From there we started the descent. It started off easy, not very steep and only a few random holes in the ground that I had to jump over while speeding down a hill. But the next part was terrible. I fell head over the handlebars 4 times. I almost rode off the side of the mountain. I had to jump off the bike because the breaks werent working. Towards the end, I was riding and passed a cow tied to a tree. I didnt think anything of it because it Ecuador, but I then found myself in danger. A dog, almost definately rabid, jumped out of nowhere and ran at me barking. It got very close but then was pulled back by the rope by which it was tied to another tree. It was freaking out. Then when I tried to run away more dogs, without leashes, came running, barking, at me. I had to bark at them and wave my arms while I walked backwards up the hill. It turns out I had taken a wrong turn into someones farm/hut/land(?). I got to the bottom of the mountain bleeding,
bruised, sore, dirty, and almost rabid.

The good thing about this post for me it that Andrew is still Andrew and clearly is having a good time exploring what it is to be on his own. Thankfully he spent his childhood teaching me what to expect and I am hardened against the horror of this scene. Or maybe it was my own childhood that took away my fears of getting hurt. To read a story from my childhood called, “You Could Get Electrocuted Doing That”, go to “You’ll Get Over It, Jane Ellen”.

Letting kids make decisions

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control, fear, goals, inspire, joy, listening, making decisions, natural talent, parents

Sometimes I think young people end up in college unsure of which way to go, not clear on their likes and dislikes or their interests, because they have not had much practice in getting to know themselves. Maybe this happens if their parents make a lot of decisions for them. And as soon as I say that I think of just the opposite, that is, all the times I’ve seen parents ask their toddler, or elementary school child to decide things they cannot possible grasp. It took me a while as a parent to realize my kids do not have the same frame of reference that I have because I’ve been around so much longer. When you are six and you are asked if you want to do something you do not have any way of knowing what it means. Signing up for horseback riding lessons? Sure, whatever that is.

So somewhere in all this there is a rational way of allowing kids to make decisions without expecting too much. Personally I love the idea of guiding kids to make their own decisions by watching their actions to interpret their interests. Forget asking them what they want….I don’t think they really know. Unless the are so excited it is obvious, I would not trust kids agreement to do things you are not sure about yourself. I am not saying not to do them, just don’t assign undue value to them.

So many decisions, like what time and what day to do something, just don’t belong among a child’s decisions. To me those are the responsibility of the driver and schedule-keeper so they can remain sane, and allowing a child to decide those things make the driver and schedule-keeper slave to someone who doesn’t really know what it’s like to drive or keep a schedule. But, choosing between wearing a red shirt or a green shirt seems just right to me.

Watching kids to see what they actually enjoy, you know, what seems to make them happy, is a gift you can give them that few others would bother to do. Family knows us. So watch your kids and notice what they do naturally, and for free, and for fun, to get to know what their interests are. Then point that out so they are able to see what you have seen. That’s how they get to know who they are. And then insist on nothing. Allow exploration. Encourage activities that relate to their real interests. And if you do that for a childhood they just might end up at the door to college with some ideas about which way they might want to head next.

Creating great things instead of making money

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being yourself, biography, creativity, dreams coming true, goals, inspire, joy, natural talent, parents, Steve Jobs

Even though he made lots of money in the end, according to the biography I am reading now, Steve Jobs says he had a “…sense of what was important – creating great things instead of making money…”.

I love this idea, and it fits perfectly with my focus as a parent. My eyes have been on helping my kids be creative, and on helping them become themselves, and not on the typical competitive ideas of trying to be better than others.

When my kids were little we reinforced ideas that defined who each child was rather than what might make him presumably better than someone else. Even as a child Emmett was bookish, intellectual and deliberate, Andrew, physically coordinated, daring and funny, and our girl athletic, curious and with a great sense of humor. Our kids came with this stuff and we just help nurture it. As they get older we encourage them to further develop these gifts, and not so they can make more money by being better, but so they can be more themselves and feel free to create whatever they can with the gifts they have been given.

I love it that Steve Jobs, known for being a difficult man but a great innovator, points out the value of creativity over competition. It rings a bell with me because fostering creativity might be the goal of any parent, not creating a child who will be financially above the crowd. Best grades, best in class, best school, best job….that stuff can happen incidentally if you focus on helping your kids be who they are, not on beating out others.

Our kids have been molded and unfolded and that makes them who they are

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being yourself, express feelings, goals, gymnastics, inspire, listening, natural talent, parents, pole vaulting, teacher

A former high school coach saw something in our six-year old boy, who was climbing up and down a pole on the sidelines of his brother’s hockey game, that led him to approach and inform us that our kiddo was a pole vaulter, and we must promise to get him on a track team some day. Shortly after, the phone rang and it was our same son’s elementary gym teacher saying she didn’t do this too often, but she felt compelled to urge us to get him into gymnastics because he showed a natural talent, and he was unusually well-coordinated. After all, she saw hundreds of kids every year.

At the time our boy wanted nothing to do with gymnastics, but when I think back on it, I wonder what would have happened if instead of asking him if he wanted to do it we’d told him he was going to do it. Trouble is, we value letting our kids direct themselves. We do enough insisting that they go to school and do homework and clean the house and help in the yard, must we also tell them how to spend their free time?

There did come a moment when as a teenager we were fed up with his choices for his free time and we insisted on pole-vaulting. After all he’d been spotted as a youngster as just that, and we were pushing him for good reason. Now that he loves the sport and is good at it I wonder how much better he’d be if we’d insisted on gymnastics when it was suggested. Gymnasts make great pole vaulters. But then, if we’d done that he’d never have had the opportunity to wow us with his skateboard tricks, and then the guitar solos, drum playing and vocals on stage all of which he developed instead, and loved.

Do we want children who are the result of our molding or do we want children who have been allowed to unfold themselves? Yes.

What if no one ever wrote any letters?

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being yourself, change, express feelings, inspire, natural talent, Vincent Van Gogh, writing, writing letters

Okay, half-way through the gigantic Van Gogh biography I see that he is indeed a victim of some psychologically extreme state, and all my attempts to forgive these excesses seem irrational on my part. Of course there are scholars galore who have already determined what ailed him, but I like going into this naively, allowing myself an unadulterated look at a revered artist to see just how he strikes me.

I relate to his new directions, his sudden belief that this time it will all go better and he’ll get it right. I know how it is to want something so much and to try so hard to make it be even when it is not logical. I relate to the angst, the betrayal, the discord, and the giving up but trying again because passionate feelings do not just leave because you tell them to. Anger, denial, disgust, intolerance, and lots of other negative emotions follow him around no matter where he goes. I understand that, to a point. But….eventually the great desire to find prostitutes everywhere he goes, and the financial and time investment he makes in them, including the subsequent illnesses and recoveries, and then the resultant lies, not to mention the years of feeling entitled to live completely off his brother’s largess all while berating him, have me seeing that indeed Vincent and I have parted company despite our early similarities.

The fascination in this for me is that his life is documented in a multitude of letters, written in his own words, just because that is how the world communicated then, and these unwittingly serve as valid, believable fossils of his life and his inner struggle.