SoulCollage® Challenges

By Anne Marie Bennett

What is “Normal” Anyway?

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!

Just Do It!

Creativity is an archetype that isā€”and always has beenā€”VERY strong in my life. Once I started learning about SoulCollageĀ®, I became very aware of how capital-C Creativity has been a major theme in my life since I was a little girl making sandcastles, a young girl writing novels longhand in spiral notebooks, a teenager creating poems and collages for friends, a teacher creating lesson plans and bulletin boards, an educational consultant creating workshops for the teachers in my district…

…and on and on, right up until today where I find myself creating SoulCollageĀ® cards and retreats and websites and embroidered hearts and art journals and novels and greeting cards and affirmation cards…. and… well, let’s hope there’s never any limit to my creativity!

So it didn’t come as much of a surprise to me when I found the image of the woman that would become my Creative Muse card (see left). Once I started doing some I Am The One Who… statements from the card, really heard her voice telling me to “just do it.”Ā  “IT” being whatever creative path I’m being called to at any given time.
Ā 
I am particularly moved by the expression on the woman’s face. She says to me:

I am the one who says Just Do It. Get out the paints or the crayons or the markers or the colored pencils and sit down at your art table and do it. You don’t need to think about it. You just need to do it. Look at the light coming through the open window. Let your imagination soar. Write that short story. Plot out your new novel. Stop thinking about doing it and just do it.

I offer you this message from my Creative Muse, at the beginning of this new season of Autumn. Whatever creative thing you are yearning to bring into your life this year, just do it! Even if it’s as simple as making a new SoulCollageĀ® card or dreaming up a new way to cook chicken or planning a winter garden.Ā  Just. Do. It.Ā  I bet you’ll be glad you did!

Do you have a card for your own Creative Muse who urges you to let your creativity flourish? Go ahead and browse through some magazines or some online copyright-free image sites like Pixabay or Unsplash until you find the one(s) that call to you.Ā  Share with our Kindred Spirits community on Facebook so we can all be inspired!

Collages Without Words

Most collage processes involve the combination of words and images.Ā  However, Seena Frost, the founder of SoulCollage Inc., strongly recommended that we include only images in most of our cards.

Why is this?

Well, if we put words on our cards, when we draw one in a reading, our left brain will immediately go to those words to find the meaning of the card or the answer to our question. We can’t help it; we are conditioned from a very early age to believe that words contain the answers.

On the other hand, if we only put images on our cards, this allows us to access the right side, the more intuitive side, of our brain.Ā  In this case, we are able to go directly to an image and speak from it instead of about it. For me, this is the most powerful part of the SoulCollageĀ® process.

When beginning to work with a card (or Neter energy), we usually ask it “Who are you?” in order to begin a relationship with it. It responds with “I am the one who…” or “I am one who…” or “I am…”Ā  and always in the first person, from its own voice and point of view. This is much easier to do with an image than with a word!

Of course, as with all things SoulCollageĀ®, this is not an absolute rule.Ā  I have words on a few of my own cards, but I try to leave them off as much as possible. Some SoulCollagers I know have created a separate suit in their decks just for words.

I’ve included a few of my SoulCollageĀ® cards here that don’t have words. If you haven’t done a lot of dialoguing with a card/image, try it and see. Choose the card on this page that seems to be more alive for you than the others. Ask it “Who are you?” or “Why have you come to me today?” or “Why are you here?” and then sit back and listen. You might write down the answers you hear in your journal or you might simply savor this inner conversation in your imagination.

 

Journaling Suggestion

In her amazing book, How to Make MeCards4Kids, SoulCollageĀ® Facilitator Nancy Weiss offers a series of short prompts that children can use with their collages. Today I’m sharing with you a few examples from my own grown-up deck.

And I challenge you to try this exercise with one or more of your own cards. You might just be surprised at what you discover!

 

SOLITUDE

I am the one who is curled into myself.

I wonder how I can give myself more alone time.

I hear the soothing sounds of the ocean.

I see my inner world.

I want more time alone.

I am soft and centered and at peace.

I pretend I am in my Inner Sanctuary.

I feel so so sooooo good.

I touch my soul when I am still.

I worry not.

I try sometimes.

I am whole.

I understand that I can choose to claim solitude every day.

I say I LOVE TO BE ALONE!!!

I dream of peace and quiet.

I try to give myself more times of slowness and stillness.

I hope that everyone can have this deep peace.

I am home.

 

Inner Homebody

HOMEBODY

I am the one who loves to be at home.

I wonder how I can clear my schedule so I can be home more.

I hear my heartbeat.
I hear my beloved cats’ purring.
I hear the birds outside my window.

I see beloved art surrounding me.

I want to stay here.

I am safe.

I pretend that I never have to leave.

I feel comforted.

I touch my inner life more deeply from home base.

I worry about what happens when I am not here.

I cry because some people don’t have a safe home like I do.

I am in love with my home.

I understand that I can’t always be here and that my work in the world has to take me away form my home.

I say this is good.

I dream of a day when no one is homeless.

I try to stay home as much as possible.

I hope to spend more time at home this year.

I am grateful for my home.

 

Suzy, Now


I am still your beloved dog even though my body is not with you.

I wonder how long ’til you join me.

I can hear everything again; I am no longer deaf.

I see everyone and everything so clearly now; I am no longer blind.

I want you to know that I was so happy with you.

I am still happy with you.

I pretend sometimes that I am chewing on my bone in the living room.

I feel loved, even now.

I touch your heart as you touched mine.

I worry that you don’t understand how close I still am to you.

I cry no more.

I am healed and whole now.

I am clear.

I understand the Love.

I say I love you all ways.

I dream of being together here with you.

I try to remind you of my presence.

I hope you feel me in your heart.

I am still your Suzy.

ANCESTORS

We are your family.

We hear you.

We see you.

We want you to have a good life.

We are who you came from.

We feel happy and excited that you have connected with us.

We touch all hearts.

We worry that we will be forgotten.

We cry no more.

We are home now.

We understand how much you are loved.

We say what a beautiful life you have created.

We dram of honoring you.

We hope you will continue to lean on our understanding and wisdom.

We are your family.

We are here for you.

 

 

 

 

The Self-Expression Express

I am the one who finds myself in solitude and writing.

When I was 15, I had a fun job in a library. Ā I have always loved books so I really loved this job.Ā  A few other kids my age worked there with me.Ā  During break times, we would be in the conference room together.Ā  They’d be chatting, and I’d be scribbling happily in my journal.Ā  Sometimes I’d join in their conversations, but mainly I used my free time for writing.

One day, Bob (one of my peers) challenged me.Ā  ā€œWhy are you always writing in that notebook?ā€Ā  He was definitely curious.

At first I was startled; then confusion took over! Ā I had no idea why I wrote so much. Ā I just did. Ā One of the older librarians was having lunch with us that day, and she overheard Bobā€™s question. Ā She saw how puzzled I was and noticed my inability to answer, so she responded for me. Ā ā€œAnne Marie writes to express herself,ā€ she said.

Aha!Ā  A lot of puzzle pieces fell into place right then, and my eyes shone with the absolute truth that her words gave me. Ā Yes, that’s exactly it, I thought with gladness. Ā Writing is my means of self-expression.

The writing is mine. Ā Mine alone. Ā It got me through a difficult adolescence, and many a confusing love gone wrong.Ā  It got me through my challenging college years, and through my first teaching job 500 miles from everyone and everything I knew. Ā It got me through a difficult decade with my stepfamily, and it got me through two cancer diagnoses. Ā It is still getting me through. Ā It is one of the few things in my life that has been a constant, positive companion since I was very young.

When I discovered SoulCollageĀ® in 2005, my writing became deeper and fed my soul even more.Ā  I now count SoulCollageĀ® right up there with writing as my main mode for self-expression!

Time for Reflection

What is the one thing in your life that is yours alone, your main mode of self-expression? Ā It doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit like my writing. Ā It could be cooking, dancing, gardening, jewelry making, teaching, singing or something else that is uniquely yours.

What is something you can do today to activate and celebrate this one thing?

 

Did you enjoy thisĀ  essay? There are lots more essays relating SoulCollageĀ® to our lives, along with card making, journaling, and reading suggestions in Anne Marie’s book,
Into the Heart of SoulCollage.