SoulCollage Inspiration

We are currently in the process of relocating our home (and our lives) from this beautiful home in Beverly Massachusetts USA to Wells Maine USA. As the last few months have unfolded, I’ve realized that, along with the excitement and joy of creating a new home in Maine,  I’ve also been carrying some sweet sorrow about leaving this home that has been mine (ours) for 29 years.

So I created this card that will live in my SoulCollage® deck as a reminder of its powerful presence in my life for almost three decades. I received much from journaling with it and from letting its voice be heard. What a gift!

Who are you?

I am the one who stands tall and sturdy. I am the one who watched as you learned the difficult art of stepmothering. I am the one who watched and held space for you as you learned the art of mothering and being mothered by Sasha (cat).

I am the one who held and still holds the love that you and Jeff made, the love that you still have for one another, and the love of those dear little animal friends who still love you from the afterlife- Sasha, Scooter, Minnie, Suzy, Louis, Seymour.

I am the one who drew many little (and big!) birds and animals to your yard, your door, your feeders, your feeding ground.

I am the one who looked on proudly as your stepchildren took their first steps away from home. And I am the one who also held their tears and anguish as well as their happiness and joys.

I am the one who gave you so much more than a roof over your head for 29 years. I am the one who gave you space to host Thanksgiving with your family and friends, space to pray and to write. I am the one who gave you a room just for your Writing Self, and a place to meditate and do yoga and create beautiful works of art.

I am the one who is grateful for the many years that you took care of me and cleaned me and loved me, and yes…. you took me for granted most of the time but I don’t mind that at all. I am happy that you graced my floors and my walls and all the spaces that are within me.

I am the one who is still here for you. You haven’t left me yet, and even when you drive away from me for the last time, I am still a part of you, and the love and joy that you created here inside of me, remains.

I want you to know that I am proud of you and Jeff for making the decision to create something new for yourselves in a beautiful place near the ocean. I have heard and sensed your dreams for this for many years, and it pleases me to know that that is where you are going!

Please know that I am ready and able to offer shelter and comfort for another family, and I promise you that they will receive as much joy and happiness and comfort and peace as you and Jeff received when you lived within my walls. And if that new family experiences anguish and heartache here as well (and of course they will, as they are only human), please rest assured that I can hold all of that as well.

I have been a lover of all things THEATRE since I was 14 years old and my big brother (age 24) took me to see “Man of La Mancha” at the University of Connecticut theatre. Since then I have seen hundreds of shows (not kidding!) and there’s only one that bored Jeff and I so much that we walked out of.

From 1995-2005 I worked as Assistant Box Office Manager at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA, just one mile from my home. I was able to see each musical as many times as I could. Favorites that I went back to again and again:

Aida
Honk!
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Crazy for You
A Christmas Carol
Abyssina
Children of Eden
The Who’s Tommy
Fiddler on the Roof
The Full Monty

They didn’t produce Into the Woods during my years there, or that would be on the list too!

In 2014, I worked backstage as Props Master at a community theatre’s production of “Sound of Music.” That is an experience I will treasure always.

At our annual KaleidoSoul SoulCollage retreat this year, I finally created a card for my deck that honors this part of me who loves theatre:

Who are you?

I am the one who takes my seat in the audience and gazes happily at the stage, waiting for a story to unfold.

I am the one who delights in the music, the dance, the dialog, the actions both onstage and off stage.

I am the one who loves being transported to other worlds, other dimensions, other time periods via theatrical productions.

I am the one who is in awe of the ability of actors to memorize so many lines!

I am the one who loves the emotional uplift that I receive whenever I let myself be immersed in the story playing itself out on the stage.

I made this card with inspiration from Facilitator Stephanie Anderson Ladd, who was teaching about the archetypes of Maiden-Mother-Queen-Crone.  I found images of myself at the first three phases of my life, and left space for when I feel like I’m in the Crone phase (still happily in Queen, thank you very much!).

Who are you?
I am the one who has been through two stages of life and is currently in the third one right now.

I am the one who has the same bright smile throughout my life story.

I am the one who is one soul, one body, one journey, many changes, many stories.

I am the one who was born, traveled through Childhood and through Motherhood and who now resides in the stage before Elderhood/Crone.

I am the one who looks back on my life and sees one thread that ties my story together.

I am the one who looks forward to the next stage, and the stage after that.