Reflecting on life
through the lens
of SoulCollage®…
I am delighted to announce the publication of my fourth book, although this is my first book-book about the powerful process of SoulCollage®.
It’s a compilation of 87 essays that I’ve written over the years for our Kindred Spirits members’ newsletter, Soul Treasures.
The essays are grouped into these categories:
Life Lessons
Community Suit
Animal Companions Suit
Spirituality
Using Your SoulCollage® Cards
Each essay is followed by card making and journaling suggestions to deepen your own work with the process, as well as resources for further understanding.
I hope that this book inspires and encourages you on your own SoulCollage® journey!
Several years back, I found that I was having trouble sleeping. My gynecologist said it was probably something to do with menopause. My therapist encouraged me to do visualization before bed. Everyone had a theory.
What I finally did was to make this card….
Who are you?I am the one who sleeps deeply and easily. I am the one who sleeps like a rock. I am the one who lets go of the day and allows sleep to claim me every night. I am the one who willingly closes my eyes at night and gives in to the call of my inner dream world. I am the one who rests and nourishes my body with sleep.
What do you have to give me?I give you daily rest. I give you the ability to let go of the day’s journey. I give you dreams and deep physical peace.
What do you want from me?I want you to stop resisting sleep. I want you to allow yourself enough rest every night. I want you to know you won’t miss anything as you sleep. I want you to know you will be safe as you sleep.
This card has also suggested to me, via a Daily Reading, that I use the card and a candle in a nightly ritual, along with my journal, before getting in to the bed to go to sleep. When I remembered and allowed myself to do this, it seemed to put closure on my day for me and allowed me to fall asleep faster, without all the usual inner “chatter.”
If you’re having trouble sleeping, try making your own “She Who Sleeps Easily” SoulCollage® card and listen to its wisdom for you.
I’ve been giving myself a crunchload of deadlines lately, for my personal life as well as for my business. Today I drew this card in my daily reading. Big surprise! It’s Gabriella, my Overachiever/Pusher.
I am the one who always needs to be DOING something. I am the one who wants to win, to be the best. I am the one who hates wasting time, who doesn’t understand why you need an hour or two to sit with your feet up reading a novel. I am the one who makes lists and schedules and insists that you DO them all. I am Impatience’s sister. She and I are molded of the same DNA.
I give you a sense of purpose and I’m good at seeing what needs to be done and at showing you how to meet deadlines. I want you to do, do, do, and to forget about all this “being enough” crap. I want you to keep improving yourself.
My message for you today is this… I am the one who wants you to finish everything on your TO DO list before I let you play or have fun or do something “luxurious” like relaxing with a good book. Take a step back and look at my energy and what it is doing in your life… Notice how my energy can be channeled into balanced action for your life. I can help you but I need tight reins. I can help you but I need some boundaries.
When I was laid up in bed several years ago with bronchitis, I started watching two hours of Judging Amy reruns every day, and somehow I got hooked. After a few weeks, I couldn’t justify lying in bed until 2 every afternoon, so I began recording the episodes and then watching them at night or catching up in weekend marathons.
If you don’t know this show, it’s about a Juvenile Court judge (Amy) who is in her 30’s and lives at home with her mother (Maxine) who is a social worker, and her 10 year old daughter (Lauren). While I found the courtroom scenes, the social work stories, and the love triangles intriguing, I still wasn’t quite sure why I was so drawn to this show.
A few of my inner voices were intent on judging me for this prime time obsession. Can’t you find something better to do with your time? This is ridiculous. You are becoming a TV junkie. How juvenile are you anyway?
But I felt, somewhere deep within me, the need to keep watching it. It felt like this was more than a television show to me somehow, and I decided to trust these inner nudges to keep watching. I decided to trust my intuition, and to develop a “wait and see” attitude. So I kept watching.
Sometime in the middle of this Judging Amy Marathon, I did a SoulCollage® reading where I asked a question of my deck, and then drew 4 cards. Interestingly enough, THREE of those FOUR cards had something to do with the topic of mothering.
As I journaled through the reading, I came across a startling realization!
Divine Mother- Unconditional Love and Nurturing
Here is part of what the Divine Mother card “said” to me as part of this reading: Good, truly deep mothering is not something that you ever received, although your mom’s intentions were good. And so you are now struggling with the process of inner mothering. I can help you with this.
Watching Judging Amy is helping you too. Do not brush it aside as “just a tv show…” You are receiving much wisdom and insight from watching Maxine and Amy, and Amy with Lauren…. Embrace what you are learning there. Be glad of it and grateful for it too.
I was completely startled to see those words coming from my hand, and from the voice of the Divine Mother! What she told me made perfect sense. It was all suddenly crystal clear.
After that I watched the show with a bit more of a focus, and the lessons I learned on what it means to mother myself came faster than I could write them down!
I love telling this story about myself because it’s a clear reminder of how I can and should always trust my intuition. My soul truly DOES know what will serve me best… all I have to do is listen and follow!
Recently I’ve been doing a lot of inner work with forgiveness- forgiving others but mostly forgiving myself. This “work” involved journaling, art play, and EFT Tapping. As I was nearing the end of all of this, I came across the image of the older woman looking into the younger woman’s eyes and I was immediately drawn to using it on a SoulCollage card to express visually how I was feeling inside about forgiving and being forgiven.
I am the one who looks into your eyes and only sees the best of you. I am the one who looks with eyes of love. I am the safe, wise, compassionate one who forgives because I love. I am the one holding your precious head between my two hands.
I am the one standing with you against the eternal background of ocean. We are watched over by Spirit. I am the part of you who forgives easily. I am the part of you who receives the blessing of forgiveness with open heart.
My gift to you is simply love. I give you compassion. I give you forgiveness. I give you a vantage point from the future. My gift to you is the freedom that comes from begin fully forgiven.
I want you to practice compassion and kindness towards yourself and others. On a regular basis! I want you to experience and receive kindness and compassion when it is offered to you.
I want you to LOOK AT YOURSELF the way I am looking at you.
My wisdom for you today is this: You are precious. You are the one one of you that there is or ever will be. Let go of EVERYTHING that weights you down- all fears, all guilts, all past mistakes… and look at yourself in the mirror the way that I am looking at you- with kindness, love, and true compassion.
Reflecting on life
