Soul Singing with Anne Marie |
Hi! I'm Anne
Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a SoulCollage®
facilitator in Massachusetts. If you're just starting to sing your song
with SoulCollage®, this column is especially for you.
Just Do It
Creativity is an archetype that is very VERY strong in my life. Once I started learning about SoulCollage®, I became very aware of how 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 young teacher creating lesson plans and bulletin boards, a consultant creating workshops for the teachers in my district... and on and on, right up until today where I find myself creating e-books and retreats and websites and afghans and art journals and books and greeting cards and affirmation altars.... 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 that would become my Creativity Archetype card (see right). It's actually from an old washing machine ad! Once I started doing some I Am The One Who... statements from the card, I realized how appropriate it was to have twins on that particular card, since creativity is, for me, a double-strength energy running through my life!
In the past year, I've been channeling my creativity into completing my book, Bright Side of the Road
and some other KaleidoSoul projects. Because of this, my creative
expression through art (which I LOVE!) got shoved aside. So I recently made this
Creative Muse card (see left).
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. Stop thinking about doing it and just do it.
So I offer you this message from my Creative Muse, at the beginning of a brand new year. Whatever creative thing you are yearning to bring into your life this year, just do it!
Anne Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, self-taught artist, SoulCollage®
Facilitator and Facilitator Trainer who trained with Seena Frost. Her
background is elementary education, computer software training, writing, and
mixed media art. She lives, laughs, writes, and sings (and makes her own
SoulCollage® cards!) in Beverly, MA. More of Anne Marie's
cards/interpretations are available on her blog,
Inner Surprises.
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Our Next Tele-Class |
Awaken Your
Muse, with Jill Badonsky
SoulCollage®
Facilitator and author (among other things) in California.
Wake
up your New Year with this joyful, fun class! We will awaken, tap into, and
cultivate the personas of creativity and imagination that can serve our
resourcefulness as well as our ability to experience joy. Be ready with your
journal and a favorite pen to be guided by a few of Jill Badonsky's
The Nine Modern Day Muses
along with the Creative Muse Archetype in this journey towards authenticity
and creative confidence.
Date: Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Time:
7:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Central,
5pm Mountain, 4pm Pacific,
2pm Hawaiian, Wednesday 12am in London,
Wednesday 11:00am in Melbourne Australia
and Wednesday 1pm in New Zealand
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Soul Symphonies with Karen |
My name is Karen Mann and I'm a SoulCollage®
facilitator from Melbourne, Australia. This column is for those of you who
have already made some cards & are ready to discover the symphony of voices
inside of you and around you.
A New Year Reading
As I reflect back on the past year and begin to set my intentions for 2010, I feel like I need more work/life balance and some new interests. I've started to feel as though my life has become so focused on my career and that I really need to include some other (creative) activities in my life. I decided to consult my SoulCollage® deck to see what suggestions my Neters may have.
While I have a "Creator" card which is one of my Council Neters, which I could have consulted, I decided to take a different approach. I chose to do a SoulCollage® Reading and ask my Neters in general what they had to say. I asked the question
"How can I connect with and express my creativity over the coming year?" I then chose six cards to help me answer this question. I chose one from each of the SoulCollage® suits and then 2 more cards at random. As I turned over each card I journaled using the
"I am the one who..." process and then I continued using the starting phrase
"The ways I can connect with and express my creativity are..."
I really enjoyed doing this reading and I now have a long list of suggestions of different activities I may try to connect with my creativity. My "Care for my Inner Child" card, which contains lots of flowers suggested I may like to try gardening or working on my home renovations. The Community card I drew was that of a friend who does beading and jewellery making and also enjoys home renovations, so there were some more suggestions to add to the list. The Companion card I drew was that for my throat chakra companion (the throat chakra helps govern the expression of one's creativity!) and my flamingo companion suggested I try taking singing lessons (exercising my throat) and perhaps return to some of my sewing projects. These were all great suggestions.
The last three Neters who came up in this reading had a real theme to them. I drew my "Fearless" Neter, my "Perfectionist" Neter and my "Perfect Mother" Neter. They had lots to say about stopping worrying about what other think and trying out new things I've always wanted to try. With their help I added joining a drumming group, taking dancing lessons (maybe bollywood?!) and learning how to complete some of those home renovation tasks for myself.
These Neters encouraged me to make sure I do have some creative outlets that help me to release stress and are FUN! They want me to stop being frightened of making a fool of myself (I'm not sure that I'll be any good at singing, dancing, drumming or home renovations) and they reminded me that I will have fun, learn something new and maybe even meet some nice people as I try these new activities.
So I'll keep you posted. I must tell you, I'm terrified as I contemplate some of them, but I'm going to try at least a couple of them and see how it goes. Edwin H. Oland says
"The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail." I'll remember this as I try these new things!
PS I encourage each of you to do a reading as we approach the New Year, regarding your intentions for 2010. You may choose to focus on creativity, as I did, or otherwise ask a question about your direction in general or another aspect in your life. This is a really great way to set your intentions for the coming year!
Karen Mann is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle Coach, yoga and meditation
teacher, and SoulCollage®
facilitator. Karen has been working with SoulCollage® cards for
more than four years and facilitates a variety of SoulCollage®
Groups. Karen also runs SoulCollage® Facilitator Training
weekends. Karen offers regular workshops in Melbourne and Geelong,
Australia, and is also available to travel to other regions in Australia.
For more information, or to contact Karen, please visit her website,
Flying Colours Creativity.
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2010 SOUL COLORS
DESK CALENDARS:
Beautiful original collage art by Anne Marie Bennett.
Includes journaling questions and SoulCollage? prompts
on the flip side of each month.
Members: $12 each, 2/$20
Non-Members: $15 each, 2/$25
Not a Member yet?
Click here
Click on the image above to purchase now.
Click here to purchase to access your member discount on the
calendars.
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-
make your own game board
- make your own game pieces
- based on the Hero's Journey
- fun and exciting
- created and led by Barb Kobe
- non-competitive
- joyful experience
- inner awareness
- takes SoulCollage to a whole new dimension!
Save $20...
Register before January 29, 2010
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KaleidoSoul Creations |
As promised, we are featuring SoulCollage® cards from our readers in
each issue.
Each card below is one SoulCollager's expression of their Creative Muse.
Creativity Archetype Twins
Anne Marie
Massachusetts
We are the ones who are full of color and light and creativity. We are double the strength of a regular archetype because our presence is so strong in your life. We are the ones who whirl and cavort and bring the spirit of creativity into your life. We are the ones who have authority over these Committee Members/Inner Voices: the writer, the website queen, the knitter, the artist, and the painter.
Creative Muse
Nicky
California
I am the one who fills up your thirsty heart with possibilities. I am the one
who offers inspiration as thought droplets that seep into your deepest
creativity like blood sustaining your artistic nature. I am the one who pours
over you the desire for expression and insight leaving you flowing with
energy and excitement. Sometimes I disappear but I will always return
with the nectar of inner vision to quench your soul in the stream of
hope.
Vegetative Spirit
Nora
Oregon
I am the one who lies dormant in the rich earth of the imagination until the warmth of inspiration calls upon me to bend my green back against the soil, like a seedling in the spring.
The Creative One
Dianne
Texas
I am the one who loved to paint,
to write, to design but
put that away to become
a more responsible adult.
Now I am urging you, creativity,
to surface again, to let me write and paint,
paint anything – realistic, or abstract,
classical, modern or – just paint, draw,
use color, use words.
Please feel free to submit one of your cards for a future
issue by sending a reply email to this newsletter.
Future themes include:
Fourth Chakra Companion Animals
Community Suit: Siblings
Fifth Chakra Companion Animals
Illness
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KaleidoSoul Notes
Noteworthy
resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage®
Join the affordable and inspiring
Kindred Spirits Membership
anytime in January
and you'll have a chance to win
one of two
Blessing Bundles
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Soul Songs Back Issues - Read back issues of Soul Songs on
this KaleidoSoul page.
Just look for whatever
SoulCollage® topic you are interested in,
and read to your
heart's content!
SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena
B. Frost.
For more information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage®,
pleasevisit her website.
SoulCollage®
cards are made either from one's own art or from images found in materials
which have been bought by or given to the SoulCollage® card
maker. These collaged cards are used only for the cardmaker's own inner
exploration. SoulCollage® cards are not sold, traded, bartered,
or copied (except as a back-up for the cardmakers own use) as is stated in
the "
Principles of SoulCollage®." Where SoulCollage®
cards are available to be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of
demonstrating the SoulCollage® process or of sharing the
cardmakers' inner process in the context of community. SoulCollage®
is grateful to the artists and photographers who make this deep awakening
process possible and in all ways SoulCollage® seeks to be
respectful of their rights.
All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted 2009,
by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen Mann.
Articles may be reprinted by permission only.
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