Take some time this week to listen very carefully inside and see if you can discern the voice of your Inner Cheerleader. This is the voice that encourages you, and cheers you on, even when you think you cannot do something. This is the voice that says the opposite of what your Inner Critic says. Find some images and make a SoulCollage® card to honor this very special part of your inner world. Turn up the volume on this part, and watch what happens to the voice of your Inner Critic.
Comfortable in My Own Skin- Committee Suit
I made this card intuitively… I’d found the woman in the chair in a magazine somewhere. She was sitting in front of a big building with lots of graffiti on it, and I didn’t like the background, so I cut her out completely and then tried out several different backgrounds until I felt “just right” about this one. Who are you? I am the one who sits under the ancient African tree at the sunset time of my life. I am the one who dares to sit naked here in my pearls and sandals and doesn’t care who sees my naked body. I am the one who is comfortable in my own skin. I am the one who is facing away from the setting sun. I am the one who is facing another bright Sun. I am the one who is content with where I’ve been, and with who and where I am. What do you have to give me? I give you grounded contentment. I give you something to look forward to. I give you a sense of ancient history that is behind you. I give you knowledge that there is something beyond the setting sun, something to look forward to as you age. I give you a sense of grace and style and a remembering of who you really are. What do you want from me? I want you to sit down and relax and enjoy your own body, your own company, your own aging. I want you to look forward to what is next. I want you to relax into your own skin. I want you to be comfortable with who you are with all of who you are- body, mind and spirit. I want you to retain your own personal authentic sense of style.
Authenticity- Council Suit
I made this card intuitively last summer. I’d had the image of the woman for several months and was in total awe of her, although I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. I tried her out on several different backgrounds, but this one “grabbed” me the most, so it became her “home.” I shared this with a friend shortly after I’d created it and she said it looked quite scary to her (perhaps because the woman’s hands are tightly wrapped and the one on the right looks almost like a pincher/claw). But I never got that feeling from this card (isn’t that interesting?). I simply loved this woman and was curious about what she had to say to me.
In September 2006, I drew this card in a reading about an upcoming vacation. At the beginning of this vacation, I did the following interpretation, and its message has stayed with me ever since. Who are you? I am the one who stands tall and strong and is very certain of what lies ahead. I am the one who is bathed in golden light. I am the one who is not distracted, who faces forward with focus and vision. I am the one who lifts my arms to the Sun, to the Source. I am the one who is strong in myself. I am the one who knows who I am, who stands strong in my own authenticity, who doesn’t give one iota if anyone thinks I’m too glitzy or too scary. I am the one who is sure of who I am. I am the one who is ready, willing and able to pinch/slice away anything that gets in the way of my golden shining powerful authentic self. What do you have to give me? I give you a solid, bright understanding of who you are, and a knowing that you are the protector, the guardian of your own authenticity. I give you the unabashed focus to stand in the truth and power of who you really are. What do you want from me? I want you to be who you are, at all times and in all places and with all people. No matter what! I want you to know that you have the power and ability to get rid of anything that threatens your glorious authenticity. I want you to stay focused on your authentic self.
Wanting More- Committee Suit
This card and I have been through a LOT together, and I mean A LOT! I made it almost two years ago, at the beginning of my weight loss journey. At first, I called her “She Who Devours,” or “She Who Operates From Scarcity” because my writing from this card was all about not getting/having enough. It still is about that for me, but I’ve condensed her name to “Wanting More.”
Every time she has come up in a daily reading over the last two years, she has taught me something else that is valuable and precious about myself. Now this card is not just about food for me, it’s about wanting on a much bigger scale.
Who are you? I am the one who shoves food in automatically, without paying attention. I am the one with big jaw, big mouth, who opens wide, who cannot ever get enough. There is not enough food in the world to satisfy me because it’s not my stomach that’s empty, it’s my heart and soul and life. I am the one who hoards food so I won’t ever run out. I am afraid of not having enough. I am the one who sneaks food when no one else is looking, when YOU are not looking. I am the one who eats for distraction- everything on the outside because I cannot/don’t want to look at what is happening on the inside. I am the one who acts from a place of emptiness and scarcity. I am the one who never gets enough, who never has enough, who never IS enough.
What do you want from me? More.
More what? Do you want more food? Things? No. I only give myself those things because I want more of those other things.
What other things? Words. Color. Walks in the woods. Playing with children. Picking up shells on the beach. Color. Spirit. Truth. Books. Love.
And what do you have to give me? I am the dark side of abundance. I give you the belief that you can have more of what you truly want. More is what you deserve. More words, more color, more time doing what you love, more joy.
Daily Reading April, 2005- I am the one who never has enough, who hoards food and things for “someday” when I might need them. I am the one who worries that I can’t/might not have this much tomorrow. I am the one who is needy. I am the one who doesn’t like to share. I am the one opening my mouth regardless of hunger.
Daily Reading March 2006- What I am saying to you today is this- look at how you ate yesterday. Not what you ate, but how you ate. I was very much in control yesterday. Please look at what you could give me today INSTEAD of food.
Daily Reading April 2006- I am the one who is the exact opposite of the Voice of Wealth card you drew yesterday. See the connection. The Voice of Wealth sits relaxed and basking in her enjoyment of having Enough and even More Than Enough. I am the opposite of that energy state. And what else do you need more and more of- love? Attention? Success? Praise? This card you have made for me shows me desperate for and devouring….food. But look at the other areas of your life where you are out of control, and you will see ME very active. And when I am in control, the Voice Of Wealth cannot be heard, cannot come out to play.
Daily Reading February 2007- I am the one who keeps shoving the food in and in and in. I am the one with the big bottomless hole on the inside. I am the one who wants and needs MORE. I am the one who fills the empty spaces inside of me with food and other things that I don’t really need. I am the one who would like other things to fill me up inside. My message for you today is this: Be quiet inside. Separate yourself from me. I am not your worst enemy. I am your closest friend. Don’t let me overeat and overspend. Be quiet inside and you will see/hear/feel what it is that I need to fill up the emptiness.
Further Reflection: I also journaled with this card a bit after that last reading. She told me that she came into real power in my life in my late 20’s/early 30’s when I was involved in a codependent love relationship with an alcoholic. There was a really big emptiness inside of me, then, she told me, and food was what she used to fill that empty space, to give herself comfort and sweetness. Then after I left him, she took the back seat for a while, until I became a stepmother in my late 30’s… which was much more difficult than I had imagined. The empty spaces loomed really large then, and this part of me was afraid of the empty spaces, didn’t know what they were. Again, food was her easiest way to fill the void, and to keep the fear at bay.
Now I am just beginning to really love and care about this part of me. Before working with this card, I used to be angry at her and thought that if she would just GO AWAY, I would be able to lose my extra weight and finally feel good about my body again. Now I realize that I can help her by recognizing the empty spaces when they appear in my life, by helping her name those empty spaces (loneliness, grief, disappointment…) and by finding out what she really is wanting more of to fill the holes (big or small) in my life.
Tara Brach- Community Suit
Tara Brach’s book, Radical Acceptance, literally changed my life. I read it the year before I started SoulCollage®, and knew immediately after my first workshop that I wanted to create a card to honor this wonderful, compassionate teacher, counselor and author.
Who are you? I am the one who wrote the book Radical Acceptance. I am the one who teaches you to accept your self and life and everything about it- to accept it completely, utterly, radically, freely, no matter what. I am the one who teaches you to pause, to listen within first. I am the one who teaches you to breathe, to move through life slowly and with conscious awareness. What do you have to give me? I give you the deep joy and peace that comes from fully accepting yourself. I give you a sense of completeness, wholeness, and beauty that you didn’t have before. What do you want from me? I want you to accept yourself, to love yourself deeply- all of you, to live consciously, to not hide, to truly accept and love your radiant blossoming self. *************
This card has shown up a few times in my Daily Readings as well… and with profound messages for me whenever I’ve drawn it.
3/11/06- What I say to you today is this: sit and rest with yourself today. Enjoy your own company, BE your own best friend.
9/23/06- It is no coincidence that I have shown up in your reading today, Dear One. You are struggling with your body image all week. I am the one who says that the pathway to joy and wholeness is a deep, abiding self-acceptance. I am the one who is passionate about living in the moment, about being aware. I tell you, you are not a failure. I tell you, the road to true self-acceptance is a journey and you are a traveler on this road. It’s not somewhere to “get to.” The journey itself is the point. See? Look at yourself in the mirror today and instead of seeing how heavy you still are, see the ten pounds that are already gone. Stand back from ______ today and don’t judge yourself for criticizing him and wishing he wasn’t the way he is… see instead how far you’ve come that you were able to turn to your SoulCollage® cards today for support and advice and encouragement.