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.
Heroines in Your Community Suit
I had not really thought about including heroines in my
Community Suit until a KaleidoSoul Kindred
Spirit, Karen in Oregon, emailed me last year and suggested it.
She told me that she personally celebrated a different female
heroine every month because she was tired of how (in America) we
get days off for important men in history but not women.
I was struck by the ring of truth in these words, so I sent a
request to our KaleidoSoul SoulCollage® Yahoo Group for cards for
this issue of Soul Songs. As you can see from the cards to
the right, we didn't get a huge response, which leads me to believe
that it's a topic worth diving into.
So... if you truly don't have any cards in your deck for real-life
Heroines, perhaps it's time to consider adding some!
Dictionary.com defines the word "heroine" as a woman of
distinguished courage or ability, admired for her brave deeds and
noble qualities. This definition, of course, is wide open to
your own interpretation. I used to think that a heroine is someone
who had to save someone's life or do something outstandingly brave
in the face of physical danger, but now I am thinking
differently.
For instance, you might know a woman in your life (a distant
relative, close family member or friend), or you might have read
about her or seen her in a news story on TV or in a movie. This
woman might have faced a difficult diagnosis with humor and a
remarkable spirit. She might have given up a successful medical
career to live a life helping feed the hungry in Africa.
Heroines in your SoulCollage® Deck might include famous (or not so
famous) historical figures, women who took a stand, women who
changed the course of history, women who stepped into a field
(politics, medicine, law, the arts...) where they made a
difference.
I encourage you, as the month of June unfolds, to start thinking
about and collecting images for women who are your own personal
heroines, so that you can create cards for them and add them to the
rich layers of your own SoulCollage® Deck.
Here are just a few names of women who might qualify for this
category:
Clara Barton * Mother Teresa * Amelia Earhart * Susan B. Anthony *
Rosa Parks * Eleanor Roosevelt * Helen Keller * Beatrix Potter *
Anne Frank * Hilary Clinton * Abigail Adams * Maya Angelou * Ellen
DeGeneres * Dorothy Day * Elizabeth Cady Stanton * Christa
McAuliffe * Georgia O'Keefe * Sandra Day O'Connor * Harriet Tubman
* Margaret Mead * Gloria Steinem * Juliette Low * Rachel
Carson
Which ones do YOU personally resonate with?
You will find many more on this
website.
Feel free to add your own. Think about women on your journey who
have inspired you to greater creativity, wholeness, authenticity,
and success, however you define success. These can be women still
living, or already passed on. When these women show up in your
Readings, they will have much wisdom, strength and hope to add to
your life.
Anne Marie Bennett is a writer, self-taught
artist, website goddess, cancer survivor, and SoulCollage®
Facilitator / Trainer who was mentored directly by Seena Frost. In
2005, she fell in love with SoulCollage® and was inspired to use
her professional experience along with Internet technology as a
means to serve the world by putting SoulCollage® "out there" in a
really big way with KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie is also the author of
Bright Side of the Road. She
lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, two
elderly cats and one very youthful dog who keeps all of them young.
You can read more about her on her website annemariebennett.com or on
her blogs Inner
Surprises, and Standing
Still.
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OUR NEXT TELE-CLASS
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Exploring the Castle:
Discovering Your Personal Archetypes
with Maggie Cahoon, SoulCollage® Facilitator
in New Hampshire
Have you
ever wondered exactly what archetypes are in your psyche? Or how
you can discover them? Do you wonder what they look like and what
wisdom they have to give you?
Join us for a guided experience exploring these questions. We'll
embark on an inner journey to discover one or more of our own
personal archetypes. We will gain access to a vast and unique inner
realm that each of us is blessed to possess.
Please visit this page
now for more information.
We hope you'll join us!
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New Online Workshop!
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SoulCollage®
Summer Camp:
Journaling with
Your Cards Facilitated by
Anne Marie Bennett
Starts July 10, 2011
*** three 90-minute tele-classes ***
*** audio recordings of classes***
*** actual writing experiences ***
*** new ways to go deeper with your cards ***
*** multiple handouts ***
*** support from Anne Marie ***
*** connection to SoulCollage® community ***
*** private online place to post your insights***
*** scholarships available ***
Only $67
NOTE: Kindred
Spirit Members - $10 Discount
Use your special Coupon Code on the checkout screen. For more
information about this course, please visit this KaleidoSoul
page.
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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
Brave Heroine
Oprah is one of
my heroines. The SoulCollage® card I made for her illustrated some
of my feelings related to her very public battle with body image.
When I made this Community Card for Oprah back in 2005, it helped
me identify with some of my own issues and beliefs around weight,
food, body image and dieting. I wrote:
I am the one who is no longer held back by fear. I am using my own
healing experience as an example to assist others on their own
healing journey. I am the one who is successful at the same time as
healing myself. I do not have to be perfect before I can assist
others and to make something of myself.
At the time I was struggling with getting clear on my beliefs about
being overweight as a symptom of something being out of balance. I
also had some hang-ups about not being taken seriously as a
professional woman in the healing/personal development industry if
I was overweight.
I realized that if Oprah, as someone working in the entertainment
industry where one's weight is scrutinised and commented on
regularly, could make a real difference, then so could I. I was
inspired by Oprah's open and honest discussions with her millions
of viewers about her weight, her "triumphs" and "defeats" and her
beliefs around food, weight and dieting.
Over the years, Oprah has tried a variety of exercise regimes,
diets and other punishing behaviors - all while being viewed weekly
on television. While some of her decisions have not been the
healthiest decisions, they have certainly been human, and they have
gotten people from all over the world to think and talk about their
own situations.
What I love is that Oprah has learned a lot and has had some major
shifts in her thinking over the years. In 2005 I found this
quote:
What I've learned through my thirteen-year ordeal with weight is
that you can't really begin to work on the physical until you first
get at what's holding you back emotionally. The reason we don't
move forward in our lives is because of the fears that hold us
back, the things that keep us from being who we are meant to
be.
Oprah certainly didn't yet have her body image issues sorted out,
but she was changing her thinking. In 2009, after more struggles,
she said:
What I've learned this year is that my struggle isn't about
eating less or working out harder, or even about a malfunctioning
thyroid. It's about my life being out of balance, with too much
work and not enough play, not enough time to calm down. I let the
well run dry ... I don't have a weight problem—I have a self-care
problem that manifests through weight...When I stop and ask myself,
"What am I really hungry for?" the answer is always "I'm hungry for
balance, I'm hungry to do something other than
work."
I like Oprah's honesty. I admire her persistence and her dedication
to looking for the answers. I respect her for sharing her journey
with us all, and not being afraid to say she may have gotten it
wrong earlier. I have heard people say her messages around weight
and body image are confusing and conflicting, and they are probably
be right, but in all reality, anyone who battles with their weight
and body image is often confused and conflicted.
I think Oprah is a real heroine for sharing this journey openly,
honestly and humbly. Through sharing her story with us, she has
inspired many (including me!) to explore their own issues around
weight, food and dieting from a variety of perspectives.
Karen Mann is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle
Coach, FasterEFT Practitioner and SoulCollage® Facilitator and
Trainer. Karen has been working with SoulCollage® since 2004. Karen
offers regular workshops in Melbourne and Geelong, Australia and
also runs SoulCollage® Facilitator Training weekends. Karen's
passion is using SoulCollage® combined with FasterEFT to help
others to gently remove unconscious blockages around food, weight
and dieting. For more information, or to contact Karen, please
visit her website, Flying
Colours Creativity or her blog Stop Weighting, Start
Living.
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Upcoming SoulCollage® Retreats
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MASSACHUSETTS
Only 2 Weeks
Until... Turning Towards Peace:
A 3 Night Retreat for Women - 1 space left!
Rolling Ridge Retreat Center, Andover MA June 15 - 18,
2011
Facilitators: Anne Marie Bennett, Anne
Boedecker REGISTRATION DEADLINE
THIS WEEK
There will be LOTS of time for card making, sharing our
SoulCollage® cards and card making ideas, as well as doing readings
with our Decks. The card making tables will be set up round the
clock all three days, so you can make SoulCollage® cards while
breakout sessions are going on, in the middle of the night, and in
your jammies by the light of the moon if you want! The focus of our
breakout sessions during this retreat will be using our cards to
deepen our soul work. We'll be building relationships with our
cards as we work with them in various ways: writing, movement, and
readings.
Save
$100
Use Coupon Code PEACE. Visit this KaleidoSoul
page now.
WISCONSIN
Rediscover Your Creative Self with SoulCollage®
Willard, WI
July 29-31, 2011
Facilitator: Audrey Chowdhury, MS, ATR-BC
Are you longing to reconnect with the part of you that knows the
power of creativity to heal? Would you like the opportunity to
spend a weekend immersed in the SoulCollage® process? This is your
opportunity to allow your inner healer to work some magic on you.
Art therapist, Audrey Chowdhury will gently guide you through this
journey into inspired card creation and sharing. Guided imagery and
musical soul-journeying will be offered to help transport you to a
healing place within. Relax and refresh your creative spirit at The
Christine Center, a beautiful wooded retreat center in northern
Wisconsin.
Registration info here.
NEW MEXICO
SoulCollage® at Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New
Mexico
October 2-8, 2011
Facilitator: Kat Kirby
Immerse yourself in the soul-satisfying process of SoulCollage® for
a wonderful week in the beautiful landscape of northern New Mexico.
This is Georgia O'Keeffe country, where she lived and painted.
Discover your soul's true voice as you enter the beautiful world of
imagery and intuition. You will learn how you can consult your
cards for self-exploration and understanding. The SoulCollage®
process recognizes the One-ness of our existence as well as the
Many parts of ourselves. This workshop is perfect for beginners and
for those who have already started their SoulCollage® journey. Kat
Kirby, Registered Art Therapist, SoulCollage® Facilitator and
Trainer, and workshop leader from San Diego, will be your
guide.
Registration Info Here
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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®,
please visit 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
2011,
by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen
Mann.
Articles may be reprinted by permission
only.
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