Soul Songs: Your SoulCollage Newsletter Soul Songs
Your SoulCollage® Newsletter

Enabling us to sing the songs
we were born to sing
through the practice
of SoulCollage®
Issue #45   March, 2009 Theme: Addiction
Welcome!

Greetings, and welcome to Soul Songs, the official KaleidoSoul Newsletter, and the only monthly newsletter that focuses exclusively on SoulCollage® ideas, resources and artists.

Our intention is to fill each issue (and your life) with inspiration, soul-solace and delight.  Whether you are new to SoulCollage®, or already immersed in the creation of your deck, Soul Songs is for you. 

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any friends, colleagues, or family members who will enjoy it.

View this newsletter as a web page with complete color and graphics.

Soul Singing with Anne Marie
Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com
Hi!  I'm Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a SoulCollage®  facilitator in Massachusetts.  If you're just starting to sing your song with SoulCollage®, this column is especially for you.


Wanting More

The dictionary describes addiction as the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. For me, that addiction is food. But it could just as easily be pills, or shopping, or internet browsing, or sex, or anything that keeps me at a distance from myself.

My own food addiction began in my in my late 20's/early 30's when I was involved in a codependent relationship with an alcoholic. He was addicted to alcohol, and I became addicted to him. When I got help for myself (in the form of the community of Al-Anon), I became strong enough to let him go. However, there was a huge void in my life, and I began to fill that void with food.

Self-soothing with food has been my way of dealing with feelings and stress for about twenty years now. But since I started SoulCollage®, I have been able to slowly (very slowly!) begin to disengage from this addictive behavior.

It has helped me SO much to make cards for the parts of me who overeat in times of loneliness and stress. One of my favorites is "Wanting More." I have posted this card and my writing about this part of me on my Inner Surprises Blog.

As you will see when you read the entries, she has a lot to say! And she has shown up in my SoulCollage® card readings many times, each time with some new nugget of wisdom about my relationship with food, and my relationship with myself.

For me, the bottom line about my addictive behavior is that it keeps me separated from myself. It tells me that I’m not good enough exactly as I am. It tells me that I don’t have a right to feel my feelings. It insists that my needs are not important. It convinces me that food is a good replacement for self-conversation and trust.

SoulCollage® has given me the gift of wanting to be more connected with myself. I now believe that I am good enough exactly as I am. I am certain that my feelings and my needs are important. I honor them, and I honor myself, and the more I do this, the less of a hold my addiction has on me. It is a slow process, but as long as I am patient with myself, I can see my relationship with food changing to one of peace and trust rather than frenzy and pain.

If you are interested in how SoulCollage® can help us give voice to and transform our addictions (food or otherwise), please consider joining Kat Kirby and I in our monthly KaleidoSoul tele-class on March 16. There is more information on this KaleidoSoul page.

 
Anne Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, self-taught artist, SoulCollage® Facilitator and Facilitator Trainer who trained with Seena Frost. Her background is elementary education, computer software training, writing, and mixed media art. She lives, laughs, writes, and sings (and makes her own SoulCollage® cards!) in Beverly, MA. More of Anne Marie's cards/interpretations are available on her blog, Inner Surprises.

 
Soul Symphonies with Karen

My name is Karen Mann and I'm a SoulCollage® facilitator from Melbourne, Australia. This column is for those of you who have already made some cards & are ready to discover the symphony of voices inside of you and around you. 



Facing My Addictive Self


Today I'm sharing with you a card that I have avoided journaling with and don't really like to think about. This card represents my "Addictive Self." When I look at it, I feel nauseous and very uncomfortable. This part of me is one that I have not yet come to love and accept.

While I have never been a true addict, I have certainly dabbled in a number of addictive behaviours in the past. I am the one who has tried many different methods of escapism. I am the one who has kissed people I shouldn't have, had one night stands that made me feel dirty, has drunk alcohol until I was sick, has risked my life by taking illegal drugs and eaten so much that I was obese. My dirty little secret is that when the going gets tough, I try to escape and make myself feel better. I am the one who was seeking a distraction from the pain I was feeling inside.

What is Your Positive Intent?

When I meet shadow aspects of myself, there are usually a couple of ways I try to get to know them. The first is by asking "What is your positive intent?" as I believe each aspect of self is here to help us. For example: my Inner Critic, which can feel very nasty, is actually trying to look after me. So when she says "You're too stupid to try out for that job," it's really her misguided attempt to help me avoid the possible disappointment of someone else telling me I'm not good enough for that job.)

When I asked my "Addictive Self" about its positive intent, the answer I got was: I helped you survive some difficult times. However, I taught you that in the end, it is best to face your problems and your fears. Through trying to escape, you just end up in more of a mess and more pain. You can't keep running, you have to face the pain one day, better to face it earlier when it is easier to control. I also taught you empathy for others in pain or who are hiding from pain behind an addiction. This answer does remind me that the moments of pain and discomfort I feel in the here and now are easier to deal with than the mess that may occur later if I don't face up to the issue as it arises.

Which Neter is in Excess or in Lack?

The second thing I often explore when working with a shadowy part of myself is "Which part of me is in excess or lack?" When a Neter is "shadowed" there may be too much of an aspect (for example: too much anger can manifest as "bitchy") or too little of an aspect (for example: the repression of anger may lead to someone being over-accommodating and a "pushover").

My aim is to find the balanced ground, to find a way to work with this aspect to find a balanced form of expression. For example: a balanced "angry" Neter would express anger in an appropriate manner at the time the emotion is experienced. It would be neither expressed inappropriately nor repressed.

A balanced approach would be to identify the pain, accept it, truly feel it, and then use my tools to let it go and move forward. I feel that this is something I am able to do more successfully now than I did in the past. My SoulCollage® practice and the support of my therapist and like-minded friends means that most of the time I do live from this place of balance.

At the present time my "Addictive Self" rarely rears her head. Sometimes she makes a suggestion about an avoidance technique we could engage in, but usually my other inner parts are able to support her so she doesn't partake in this behaviour. What an amazing place I now find myself in. From a place of dreading writing this article and not wanting to share this Neter with you, to a place where I actually feel good about what I've achieved and how well I usually cope with situations now that seemed overwhelming in the past. What a gift exploring this SoulCollage® card has been!


Karen Mann is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle Coach, yoga and meditation teacher, and SoulCollage® facilitator. Karen has been working with SoulCollage® cards for more than four years and facilitates a variety of SoulCollage® Groups. Karen also runs SoulCollage® Facilitator Training weekends. Karen offers regular workshops in Melbourne and Geelong, Australia, and is also available to travel to other regions in Australia. For more information, or to contact Karen, please visit her website, Flying Colours Creativity.

 



Soul Songs Back Issues - Read back issues of Soul Songs on this KaleidoSoul page. An excellent resource. Just look for whatever SoulCollage® topic you are interested in, and read to your heart's content!


SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena B. Frost. 
For more information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage®,
please visit her website.



SoulCollage® cards are made either from one's own art or from images found in materials which have been bought by or given to the SoulCollage® card maker. These collaged cards are used only for the cardmaker's own inner exploration. SoulCollage® cards are not sold, traded, bartered, or copied (except as a back-up for the cardmakers own use) as is stated in the " Principles of SoulCollage®." Where SoulCollage® cards are available to be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of demonstrating the SoulCollage® process or of sharing the cardmakers' inner process in the context of community. SoulCollage® is grateful to the artists and photographers who make this deep awakening process possible and in all ways SoulCollage® seeks to be respectful of their rights.
 
 
All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted 2009,
by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen Mann.
Articles may be reprinted by permission only.
KaleidoSoul Creations

As promised, we are featuring SoulCollage® cards from our readers in each issue.

Each card below is one SoulCollager's expression of their own personal addictions.



Material Girl
Suit:  Committee

Artist: Kat
Location: California

I am one who cannot stop buying expensive stuff, because I believe it makes me feel good to have nice things.  I feel excited and energized when I am shopping.  I am one who does not understand why I feel so sad when I get all my purchases back home and unpack them and feel lonely and empty.

 


Artist: Cheryl
Location: South Carolina

I am the one who gets it now! No more separation, unity instead. The Divine and I are one.  This is where my addiction to compulsive overeating, bingeing on sugar.... gratefully brought me.


 


Not Asking for Help
Suit:  Committee
Artist: Ann
Location:  Maryland

 
I am the one who is addicted to never asking for help. I am the one who sees myself as small and helpless, who would rather just take her chances with her own meager resources than cross the fearsome line of fire to ask for help from those more powerful than me. I am the one who is addicted to remaining a helpless victim.
 
 
 


Reaching
Suit:  Committee
Artist: Cheryl
Location: Illinois

I am the one who is hungry for the comfort of sweet chocolate. I am the one who reaches for the very last bite...even when I don't make the first one. I am the one who won't let you rest. I am the one who is reaching for all the goodness I can taste and feel and have.    I want you to know that you can reach for something else and that you can climb sweeter mountains and have sweeter rewards.

  

KaleidoSoul Notes

KaleidoSoul Notes

Noteworthy resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage®


Facilitator TrainingsFacilitator Trainings: Information about content and dates/locations of upcoming trainings of SoulCollage® Facilitators.


SoulCollage websiteSoulCollage website - Seena Frost created the process of SoulCollage®, and this is her website.


KaleidoSoul - Spinning the fragments of your world into wholeness and beauty through SoulCollage®.


Tele-Classes - These are fun, interactive tele-classes that are easily accessed from anywhere in the world. 

March's tele-class is  called:

The Voices of Our Addictions: Transformation Through SoulCollage®
Presented by Kat Kirby, SoulCollage® Facilitator and Art Therapist in San Diego, California. There are more details on this KaleidoSoul page.


Kindred Spirits - Join our fast-growing worldwide membership of people who put the "soul" in SoulCollage®! Receive a weekly newsletter all about SoulCollage®, advance notice of new SoulCollage® materials, half- price discounts on all e-courses and e-books in the KaleidoSoul Shop. And more!

Join Kindred Spirits
 

Inspiring Resourses
Books, Music & Inspiration


Artella is a lively playground for writers, artists, and any kind of creator (That's YOU!). You will find a wealth of resources, ideas, and playful projects to delight your inner artist and/or your inner writer. Find thousands of creative products in The Artella Store! Check out their e-courses too! My favorites are: The Gratitude Garland, Accounting Your Blessings, The World of Pretend, and DeCluttering For Creatives. There's lots of fr*ee stuff to love at Artella too.


All Books For Less -- Amazing website for any book lover. They have zillions of books (I'm not kidding!) on any topic you can think of, all at greatly reduced prices. It's not like Amazon or Half.com where you are buying from individual sellers. This is a reputable dealer and most of the books are available in quantity, which is great for book clubs as well as gift giving.