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Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage Inspiration

By Anne Marie Bennett

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Patiently Waiting

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Patient Self

When I first made this SoulCollageĀ® card, it was just the image of the woman looking out to sea.Ā  I just loved how she was sitting there.Ā  After I did the initial interpretation of the card (see below), I realized that she represented a part of me (Committee Suit) that is patient and calm while waiting, so I added the nautilus shell and blue spiral symbol in the bottom right corner to give it an added feeling of patience, calm, and grace.

Patience was never my strong suit, but this card has helped me get in touch with my own capacity for slowing down and letting Time do its work. It’s an excellent reminder to have in my deck about the fact that even though I don’t naturally come by the personality trait of patience, I can activate it when I need to.

Who are you? I am the one with nowhere to go and nothing to do. I am full of patience and abiding grace. I like to sit in silence and peace and let the world go on around me. I am not in a hurry. The world goes on and time goes on, and I am content to let it be. There is a stillness inside of me which passes all understanding, and when I access that, all else becomes unimportant.Ā  I am waiting, waiting, and wanting for something to come to me over the horizon and into my view.Ā  I am waiting, but with poise and calm and grace, and an inner knowing that it will come to me in its own time and way.Ā  I wait for it without agitation.

What do you have to give me? I give you patience- calm, abiding patience… waiting that is without frustration or agitation or anxiety.

What do you want from me? I want you to follow my example.Ā  Ask for this gift of patience, for it is truly a gift.Ā  Notice the presence of patience and impatience in your life… ask for patience whenever impatience has too strong of a voice.

Additional bits of wisdom offered by this card when it has showed up over the years in daily readings:

What I say to you today is this: make a card to honor your Impatient Voice, for that is a voice which is controlling you lately.Ā  Listen carefully to what IT is telling you. Impatience is getting in the way of getting your body back to its natural weight.Ā  I, Patience, can help you, once you remove Impatience from his throne of power in your daily life.

Ā I am the one who sits by the salt water, absorbing its healing essence with my stillness and an open body. I am the one who is healed by the water.Ā  I am the one who allows myself to be healed, who wants to be healed, who is eager to be healed by the water.

I am the one who cherishes the waiting, who knows that this is the journey as well.Ā  You can learn so much in the times of patient waiting. You are doing the work… now be still once the work is done… be still and allow the good things to come to you.

What is “Normal” Anyway?

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Normal is nothing more than a cycle
on a washing machine.
~ Whoopi Goldberg

When I was a teenager, my life was a never-ending quest for normal. I wanted to fit in, to wear what the popular kids were wearing, do what they were doing, listen to the same music . . .Ā  etc.

The funny thing is, I always felt abnormal because I didn’t fit in. I didn’t like smoking pot and drinking; I liked writing stories and playing my guitar.Ā  I didn’t like Led Zeppelin; I liked John Denver. I didn’t look great in tight mini-skirts; I looked and felt more like myself in long, flowing skirts and scarves.

Now I can see the wisdom of Whoopi Goldberg . . . there really is no such thing as “normal.” It is a concept thought up by the media to get us to buy what “everyone else” is wearing, driving, drinking, reading, watching, and listening to. Even now that my adolescence is a good fifty years behind me, I still have to be careful not to get caught up in our culture’s obsessive quest for the conventional. I have discovered that trying to be like everyone else is simply a waste of my own time and energy. Because I’m not like everyone else. And neither are you!

We are each unique, wonderful human beings with individual gifts to give the world. When we start trying to fit our distinctive, irreplaceable selves into the cookie cutter molds that society tells us is “normal,” we throw away our precious chance to become exactly who we are meant to be.

Let us listen within to our own inner callings, and let us be true to them in spite of what is happening all around us.

Questions to ponder/journal with this week:

1. Look through some magazines and newspapers, or take a stroll through social media. Make note of any references to “normal.” Make note of what you find.

2. How do the media try to influence you to be someone you’re not?

3. Make a list of 15 unique qualities in yourself that you value. Hang the list on the wall where you can see it every day!

Life is Hard . . . Or is it?

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Life is Hard

When I was growing up, I learned that life is hard work. My father worked two jobs when I was small, just to make ends meet. My mom worked hard at being a homemaker. She cooked and cleaned and looked after my brothers and I. And then she cooked and cleaned some more.

When she did spend time doing what she loved (writing letters to her pen pals, creating hand-decorated stationary), it was with apology and guilt. Each of my brothers worked their way through high school and college, and then so did I.Ā  I never saw people living a life that was grounded in joy. “Joy” was a frivolous “extra,” something talked about only around the holidays, and then never in connection with a personal life.

I made this card soon after I began SoulCollaging in 2005, as a way to give image to this old belief that I was buying into.Ā  This Neter says:

I am the one who believes that life is full of difficulty, sorrow, distress. Life is hard, I tell you! Everyone has a hard life and a sad story. There’s no way around it.

Now that I’m older and creating my own life story, I find myself filled with the desire to live my life in the tempo of joy. For a long time, I struggled with this, because the “life is hard” idea was ingrained so deeply inside of me. But I am slowly learning to let go of that old belief, and as I do, I find that I’m able to experience more and more joy.

And do you know what? When I allow the Universe to flood my soul with joy, the world doesn’t explode and the Guilt Police are nowhere to be found!

Here are some questions to think about/journal with this week:

What are some self-definitions that no longer serve you?

Can you create an intention to let go of one (just one!) of them this week?

What would happen if you let go of this outdated idea of yourself?

Make a SoulCollageĀ® card for the part of you who already knows how to live with ease and joy.

 

Anne of Green Gables

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scanneofgreengables

One of my favorite books of all time is Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Besides the fact that the main character is a young teen whoā€”like meā€”always has to tell people to spell her name “Anne with an E,” I am drawn to many of her other qualities: optimism, resilience, generosity, exuberance.

I have added Anne as a Neter in my deck because I want to be reminded of these qualities and to call these qualities out in myself.Ā  At times she belongs in my Community suit of people who have influenced me, but she is also an archetypal Council suit Neter who represents the themes of friendship, optimism, and resilience.

Here is what Anne Shirley said to me recently in a reading:

I am the one with unstoppable optimism. I am the one who loves life, who is grateful for what I have. I am the one who had a difficult childhood until I was adopted. I am the one who is a lot like you- making up stories, writing, finding Kindred Spirits to hang out with…

My message for you today is this- lighten up a little! Give yourself some time today doing what you love- play at your art table, take a walk and breathe in the fresh Spring air, watch a TV show that makes you laugh, read a book that delights your heart, reach out to a friend and share your heart.

 

What about you? Are there any fictional characters who have made their way into your heart and mind? Maybe they belong in your SoulCollageĀ® deck too!

 

Saying Goodbye to a Beloved Cat

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I am the one whose heart was broken.

One year ago today (May 8, 2021), our cat Seymour let go of his aging, sick body and transitioned to the Beyond. These are SoulCollageĀ® cards that I drew a few weeks after he died and they spoke great comfort to me.

I hope that these Neters bring comfort to your own heart in whatever grief you are experiencing.

This one (left) I classify this in my deck as being of two suits- Committee (the 2 broken-hearted people on the ground) and Council (the Mime of Sadness on the top).

Broken Heart says: I am the one whose heart is crying because I have given my heart fully to a sweet little cat and he has left me. I am the one who is sad.

I am the one whose heart feels torn apart. I am the one who continues to love Seymour even though I cannot see him.

I am the one who is watched over by the Mime of Sadness.

I am the one whose heart will be stronger when stitched together at the broken places.

Mime of Sadness says: My message for you today is this- know that you are not alone in your sadness. Know that others have felt this same tearing of the heart. Know that the Spirit world looks kindly on you for the love that you bestowed upon Seymour and for the love that was given you in return. Know that we are helping to lift your sadness. Open to Our Presence. All is well.

 

Dancing On Gravestones

scdancingongravestonesI am the one who is laying backwards on top of a tall gravestone as the sun rises. I am the one who holds flowers in my hand. I am the one who is tall and graceful. I am the one who is strong and balanced.

I am the one who came to this cemetery to grieve and to honor a loved one who has died. I am the one who honors the memory of my loved one by living life to the fullest- by moving and dancing and buying flowers and watching the sun rise every day.

My message for you today is this- there is no grave site or cemetery for your beloved Seymour. His body has turned to ash but his spirit is still a part of your spirit. You are united in this way for always. As you are with Sasha, Scooter, Minnie- your spirit-felines. And Suzy your spirit-canine.

You are allowed to feel sad whenever that sadness comes. Allow it in. Allow that sadness to remind you what a big heart you have. Your heart hurts so much because you love so much. Grief is simply the flip side of love. So… feel the sadness, and remember that you can honor your loved ones’ lives by carrying on their legacy. Think on what legacies they each left you. What lessons did they teach you? How can you carry this forward in your own life?