This is the very first card that I ever created!  And it really changed my whole life.  Because this little girl gave voice to a part of me who was feeling dragged along by the status quo… a part of me who was hearing another voice calling my name.

At that time in my life, I was totally dissatisfied with the theatre job (customer service) I’d been in for ten years, even though it had served me well and creatively for several years.  I was aching to leave that place I’d come to know as home-away-from-home, but until I made this card, and listened to it speak, I didn’t know how to voice that longing.

Just two months after creating this card and writing with it, I left the theatre and embarked on a new journey of being a SoulCollage^® Facilitator, and creator of KaleidoSoul.com.

But I’m sharing this card with you now, more than three years later, because it showed up last week in my Daily Card Reading on September 11.

I got chills as soon as I turned it over that morning, especially when I saw the little girl looking straight at me, and the lines of the airplane in the background.  I had woken up that morning with a heavy heart, and even though I stayed away from the newspapers and television and radio that day, my body instinctually seemed to be remembering the grief of 9/11 and there was no way I could shake it.

Here then, is what this little girl said to me as I journaled with her on September 11, 2008-  seven long years after the terrorist attacks in New York:

I am the one who is wearing the white dress.  I am the one who is being led away by a woman in black.  I am the one who has to leave you now.  I am the one whose life ended with an airplane in the background.  I am the one who is looking back one last time.  I am the one who represents those who died seven years ago this very day.  My message for you today is this: I am okay.  We are all okay.  We are still with you.  We feel your grief.  WE honor YOUR grief.  We did not choose to leave you but we are gone.  We wear white to celebrate the purity of new life.  We are no longer cloaked in ashes and fire, nor should YOU be.  The lady leading me away from you is not totally dressed in black, see?  She has a white bow in her hair, white polka dots on her dress.  Stripes.  A sailor collar.  Polka dots…see?  Death is not as dark as you make it out to be. My message for you today is of peace.  Certain politicians and countries may not understand or embrace peace, but YOU can embrace it.  I give you peace.  I give you all peace. I have to leave now.  It is time for me to turn and follow this woman who is guiding me onwards.  I loved my life when I was there on earth.  And I love my life Here.  Now.

Who are you? I am the one who is touched by the juicy water of life.  I am the one who is totally into being who I am. I am the one who receives deep joy from my own existence. I am the one who deserves EVERYTHING just because I exist.  I am the one dancing in the fullness of life and its beauty.  I am the one who is open to all that life holds, to all that life has to give me.  I am the one who receives, who holds the colorful wonders of life’s goodness.  I am the one who knows that I deserve all good things simply because I was born.  I am the one who is nourished by my own joy.

What do you have to give me? I give you the deep knowing, the belief that you are worthy, that you are deserving.  I give you freedom from guilt an the weight of impossibility.  I give you joy and a wholeness that you didn’t know existed.

What do you want from me? I want you to drink from the bowls of life, to drink from the bowl that life is offering you RIGHT now.  I want you to accept the irrefutable fact that you are worthy.  I want you to delight in your very existence.  I want you to leave behind doubt, guilt, and impossibility, for they have no place in a full, juicy, glorious life.

Who are you? I am the one who loves to read. I am the one who reads for hours and hours and doesn’t pay attention to the passing of time.  I am the one who finds solace in words, who seeks information and comfort in the words of others.  I am the one who loves stories, who finds myself in stories and novels and good books. I am the one who loves the feel of a good book in my hands, who escapes into other worlds through the arms of a good book.

What do you have to give me? I give you pleasure, enjoyment, comfort, and I stimulate your imagination. I give you knowledge of other worlds, both within you and outside of you.

What do you want from me? I want you to make reading an integral part of your life- not just something you save for “after” your work is done.  I want you to remember that you derive a deep sense of pleasure from reading fiction.

NOTES FROM DAILY READINGS:

August 2006- I am the one who loves to read!  I am the one whose most favorite form of entertainment is reading.  I am the one who is at peace when I read.  I act out my frustration when you DON’T read regularly… by EATING!  If you find yourself eating too much, stop for a moment and ask me if what I’m really hungry for is words, books, stories.

August 2007- I am the one who has always loved books of all kinds, sizes, shapes and colors.  I am the one who needs to read like I need to breathe.  My message for you today is this: I don’t EVER need to EAT when I am reading.  A part of you eats when I am reading in order to distract you from the pure pleasure I feel when I am reading.  The next time you read, try just sipping a cup of tea instead, or just BREATHING.  I would like that much better. And thank you for listening!

Who are you? I am the one who is walking the labyrinth, oblivious to the harried rush of Time around me.  I am the one who moves slowly and calmly through this labyrinth, and through my own life’s path. I am the one who exists only in this moment, right now.

What do you have to give me? I give you a centering peace. I give you awareness of the central moment only. I give you disregard for time, for the past, for the future. I give you the blessing and grace that is yours in the moment alone.  I give you a centered steady pace through your life.

What do you want from me? I want you to walk slowly, mindfully.  I want you to claim this moment in time only.  Past and future exist, but not in this moment, which is all that you are given.  Allow the past and the future to become a gentle blur.  The reality is right here, right now.  Time is irrelevant.  What matters only is what is happening right here, right now, inside of you.

I made this card spontaneously (intuitively) at the first SoulCollage^® Retreat I ever led in 2006.  It seemed to come together quite naturally and easily.  It’s really just a couple of images, and I loved how I felt when I looked at it or held it in my hands.

Up until the time I made this card, I had not even remotely thought of myself as powerful.  This card certainly had something to say about that!

Who are you? I am the one who is powerful and strong.  I am the one who holds the world in the palm of my hand.  I am the one with power in my body and mind, who can balance the weight of the world on my shoulders and know that it won’t destroy me.  I am the one who is powerful enough that time doesn’t overwhelm me.  I am the one who is being given all the time in the world as a gift and who balances that gift with the powerful stance of my body, mind and spirit.

What do you have to give me? I give you strength and power to balance this new world you’ve been given.  I give you a posture which contains the power to receive and to balance.

What do you want from me? I want you to know that you are inherently powerful and strong.  I want you to stand tall and strong and gorgeously balanced.  I want you to receive this gift of all the time in the world—- with joy and unabashed strength!