Call Me By My Name(s)

Last fall I worked on an invocation to call me back to strength and wholeness for those times I didn’t feel either. I decided to use the names I’ve acquired along the way.

• I got to choose my middle name for my 16th birthday… KaeLeigh
• When I was confirmed in the Catholic Church in college, I chose a Native American saint – Kateri Tekakwitha.
• When I joined The pagan community, I chose Sulis.

Here is my invocation of self.

I call upon you StaciAnne.
You, child of the universe. First among names. I call upon you StaciAnne, curious, wonder-filled. I call upon your family, your lineage, your wisdom, your insatiable thirst for knowledge. I call upon your innate need for survival, your defenses, your ability to grow and change.

I call upon you KaeLeigh.
Vibrant teenager, friend, broken-hearted child. I call upon your musicality, your stories, your colorful personas. I call upon your loneliness and your intimacies, your deep abiding friendships in the face of dysfunctional relationships, your ability to retain hope while devastated and broken. I call to you from deep with in the shadows of the cave where the spiders wander aimlessly.

I call upon you Kateri Tekakwitha.
Scarred. Alone with no family. I call upon your connection to earth, to your fierce independence to follow the faith of your choosing, not of your family. I call upon your dedication to the turtle and the tree upon her back.

I call upon you Sulis.
 The seer of things. Not the visionary, but the visioner. I call upon you Sulis, whose name means “eye.” I call upon you who see the deeper, more universal connections. I call upon you Sulis, fiery one, the sunlight in the water. Healer.

I call upon you Grove.
Like a bunch of trees. I call upon you, ideas and creations rustling in the wind, laden  with the fruits of your labor. I call upon you to stand together with others in majesty, in strength, in pride.

I call upon you self. In all my parts – at once brazen and timid, communicator and mute, strong in the broken places, made beautiful by scars. You, beloved self, are deserving of love, patience, and persistence. You are worthy of truth. You are worthy of desire. You are changing and transforming again, and I am here for you.

Artist’s Way Affirmations

I am a storycatcher.

I must start with my own stories and dreams before I can understand others’ stories.  My safety mechanisms have brought me to this point.  It is time for me to celebrate the person, creator, and healer within. There is inherent value in my story.  Even if it is finding and walking my own lost path. Sometimes the journey is the goal.  Create.  Breathe. Expand outward.  Connect.

Exploring all parts of who I am and who I was will allow me to best create who I want to be.    I am learning to love the woman I am becoming.  I am surrounded by people who love me for who I am – not what I do.  These are people I respect and love for who they are, not what they do.  Let that connection fill me and inform me.

I’ve been hurt and overcome extraordinary things.  Talking about them may hurt some temporarily, but will be freeing to me.  My life story is one worth sharing.  Personally and through words and images.  My work and art are a reflection of who I am, not who I am.  Liking my work does not make you a friend, and liking me does not mean you have to love my art. Through my story, movement, imagery and words, I am capable of connecting, inspiring, and helping create hope.

I am a resilient, strong woman.