Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage Inspiration

By Anne Marie Bennett

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Honoring Christmas

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I am the one who loves the holidays, who celebrates the holidays in ways that give me pleasure and joy.

I promise to honor Christmas in my heart
and try to keep it all the year.

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

This is my very favorite quote from one of my favorite stories of all time, A Christmas Carol.

Every year one of my holiday traditions is to see the North Shore Music Theatre musical production of A Christmas Carol. Sometimes  I go alone, sometimes with my husband or a friend, and sometimes I take one or more of our grandchildren.  For me, the story embodies the true meaning of Christmas which is all about loving  and giving. If I have to skip a year, I feel like something is missing from my holidays.

I made this SoulCollage® card several years ago as a way to give image to how I feel about “the holidays” and what I love about Christmas.

Do you have a favorite quote about whatever holiday you celebrate this winter?  Try making a card to express it.

Book Review: Ageless Soul

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Ageless Soul,
by Thomas Moore

Having just turned 61 this year, I’ve been looking for a book that would help/guide me through this sometimes scary terrain known as “aging.” This is just that book! I offer heartfelt thanks to the author for taking the time and energy to write this book because I now have a way to approach my own elderhood with grace and positive expectations. I especially enjoyed the section on “Imagining Aging Differently” and the chapter towards the end of the book called “The Angel of Old Age.” Highly recommend.

Wholeness

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Who are you? I am the one who is two halves contained in one.  I am the one who holds you as you give me the shape to be held.  I am the one who is held and who creates a shape for you to hold. 

I am the one who is one, complete, whole, black AND white, light AND shadow, all the many blended into one entity. I am the one who loves and is loved, who rests and is the rock against which you rest. 

I am the one of ages and eons past, of lunar AND solar energy.  I am the one who can truly rest and close my eyes in safety and peace because I know that I am whole and complete, just as I am.

What do you have to give me? I give you a sense of yourself as whole, complete, solid, joined,  integrated.  I give you union within yourself.

What do you want from me? I want you to stop looking outside yourself for wholeness, for a sense of completeness and safety.  It already exists inside of you!

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Queen of Denial

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Scqueendenial I made this card intentionally, to express an inner part of me that had been stifling and complicating my journey for a looooong time now.

Who are you? I am the one who sees disaster right in front of me but I deny that it has anything to do with me.  I am the one who keeps my cool, who sits on my throne and surveys the damage from a distance.  I am the one who smiles my beatific smile and pretends that everything is okay when really it is anything but okay. I am the one who sees pirate ships nearby, and to protect you, I act like everything is all right. 

I am the one who denies disasters, problems, calamities and challenges.  I am the one who watches the TV news and says “Don’t worry about it, it has nothing to do with you,” when they are talking about global warming or environmental issues. I am the one who tells you not to worry about your weight problem, to go ahead and have another cookie because it doesn’t matter.  I am the one who is smiling on the outside, always, to hide the distress that is happening on my inside. I am the one who doesn’t want to get involved with the messiness of life, the ugliness of feelings.

What do you have to give me? I give you protection from difficult feelings and situations.  I give you a safe distance from the horrors and difficulties of life.  I give you an escape from dealing with the messiness of feelings like fear and pain and sorrow and rejection and anger and loss.

What do you want from me? I want you to be safe and happy.  I want you to be free from life’s trials and tribulations.  I want you to know that I have been working very, very hard to protect you from the hard painful work of dealing with difficult emotions.

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Our Lady of Perpetual Disappointment

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  Once I became aware of this particilar inner voice’s power over me, it took me a while to find the exact right image that captured her energy for me.  And she seemed to fit just perfectly between these blue rock formations!

Who are you? I am the one who sits between the blue rocks and feels sad because life didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.  I am the who who is feeling sorry for myself.  I am the one who is disappointed when people don’t live up to my expectations or meet my “requirements.”  I am the one who resigns myself to my fate.  I am the one who wears the ugly brown shapeless garment of disappointment. 

I am the one whose eyes are clouded and I cannot see clearly because my disappointment dominates my vision.  I am the one who thinks my way is the only way and when people don’t do it “my way,” I lose respect for them and am disappointed in them.  I am the one who has learned to be continually disappointed in myself for not living up to my own high standards.

What do you have to give me? I give you an excuse to not make the effort to see the beauty and goodness that is all around you.  I give you a safe reason to not claim the joy that is your birthright.

What do you want from me? I want you to tell me that you love me, even though I’m not perfect.  I want you to love others the same way. I want you to hug me when my energy of disappointment arises for you, and remind me that acceptance is just one breath away (or two!).

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