Reimagine Wish Fish
Hi January and Mide,
I have a school of new wish fish, reimagined from my old art that’s been mostly in storage. They remind me that what we may think is the end (a finished painting) doesn’t have to be the end. If we’re willing to release (with gratitude) what no longer serves and to sift out what wants to be brought forward, we can rethink and reimagine the raw material into what will be next. This is part of how we can partner with God in making all things new. Making all things new is also possible in families. Relationships can be reimagined, or at least how we show up to those relationships. My father and I have had a contentious relationship for most of my life. He remains the same, but thanks to God’s patience and much kicking and screaming about forgiveness on my part over many decades, I can relate in healthy ways with my father I didn’t think were possible. The ways I have been changed allow me to step into that relationship and love him. I also think of me and Ben - how our marriage has reimagined both our lives and how our understanding of family is being reimagined right before our eyes in the healing relationships growing with each other’s adult children. I can go lots of different ways with the family theme.
There’s a poem about my Dad down below the fish, and another about reimagining. Both are still rough, but enough so you get the idea. Another about family to come.
So…here are the fish and the art (sometimes a detail shot - my scanner is small) they originated from. There are more in process.
Open to any direction you’d like to offer :) I’m excited about this new issue of Motif!!! Thank you for inspiring us all!
-Wendy
Here’s a poem about forgiving my Dad:
“Released Me”
Frosty daughter was I
till the challenge to forgive
pinned me with unblinking kindness
hot war in my head commenced
the clock held its breath
turning ever deeper shades of blue
awaiting the outcome
I surrendered
Forgiveness won
opening decades of a slow turning
softening into unfamiliar freedom to love you
I would forgive you all over again
sometimes I still do, like yesterday
when you kept grabbing the wheel of my life
you haven't changed
but I have
happy in my own lane
free to release you to be you
instead of the Dad I thought you should be
no more wanting what cannot be given
it was never given to you,
so how could you know?
And here’s a (still rough)poem that ties closer with the fish and their reimagined source material:
“Reimagine”
Hope closes the door
with a hand that doesn't want to
forehead leans
touching wood as if to say
please
no
the sharp click unbearably final
it's over
this is all that's left
painted stories carefully rolled and tied
stashed above boxes of memories
till the years tumbled them down
breaking open the string
Hello, they say
Make us new!
As you wish, we reply
and reimagining opens
raw material of yesterday abounds
no alterations needed
a fresh view from a different angle calls
let me carry you
beyond what has been
to what will be
cutting
sorting
choosing which parts will continue
which parts to honorably release
with gratitude
we step forward
making way for the new
as it bubbles up in us
setting it free to sing us into all our tomorrows
unstoppable.