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Inner Journeys

with Anne Marie Bennett

Integrating the Practice of SoulCollage® into Your Daily Life

Choice Anxiety

At the May SoulCollage Retreat last year, I decided to spend some time making cards. I sat down on the floor and spread out my (ahem!) many images and squooshed them together in little piles according to my own themes. Then I just sat, looking at them all, about 15-20 piles in all. Where to begin?

Another Kindred Spirit walked by me just then and must have noticed the perplexed look on my face. "Experiencing a little 'choice anxiety?'" she murmured in good humor as she continued on her way.

Ahh.. so what I was feeling had a name! This comforted me a great deal, so much so that I was able to get past the fact that I had so many wonderful choices in front of me... and simply tune in to which pile I really wanted to explore first.

Ever since that day, I've noticed this phenomenon repeating itself in my life in many different situations. The library, the bookstore: so many books, so little time. My art table: should I paint today? Collage? Do an altered book page? Make a necklace? Put together a set of greeting cards? Play with my rubber stamps? My writing: which project do I delve into today? The drug store: which kind of toothpaste will I buy? A restaurant: which mouth-watering selection do I want to eat right now? The openness of a day off: what will I do with all this time?

When faced with so many options, I often become overwhelmed. It's just too much. A lot of times I feel so inundated with choices that I end up choosing... nothing! I've decided that for me, this is not a healthy response, so I've been looking for ways to break through the paralysis that so many options incurs.

So many choices, and most of them good. When faced with this anxiety-producing perplexity of positive options, I try to remember to get quiet on the outside so I can hear my own sweet voice of wisdom on the inside. I've noticed that when I do this, the anxiety simply melts away and the choice is made clear.

Reflection Activity: Are there any areas in your life where "choice anxiety" is getting in your way? What Committee members have something to say about the possibility of having so many wonderful options in front of you? Listen carefully... you will get some great clues as to how you deal with your own "choice anxiety."

Soul Friends

The Voice of a Different Kindred Spirit Each Week

Maggie Yowell
Seattle, Washington

I am a collage artist and have exhibited my collage work inSeattle,WashingtonD.C.,New Zealand,France andMexico. I am also very interested in symbols, dreams, images and the spiritual life, so when I heard about SoulCollage five years ago, I had to give it a try.

I love how transforming SoulCollage can be and how it really is such a wonderful way to get to know yourself. I have learned so much about who I am and who I am called to be just by working with my images. I also love how SoulCollage is like dreaming while you are awake.

I saw many labyrinths in my cards and wondered what that was about. So, I went to a Labyrinth Workshop and eventually became a Labyrinth Facilitator. Last Spring I went toChartresFrance for two weeks of labyrinth workshops with Marion Woodman and Lauren Artress. I took my cards and used them in facilitating a small group.

When I returned home, I immediately left my job and my 18 year law practice. Now, I am following my passions, listening to my cards, and have created a small business providing workshops that combine spirituality and creativity, including SoulCollage and labyrinth work. I also am a spiritual director, a doula, a life enrichment specialist and a church school director. I never would have been able to leave the law and follow my heart without the inspiration of SoulCollage.

I also have been in discernment about becoming an Episcopal priest. My cards have helped to lead me on this path. In discernment with one of my priests, I was asked to create an artwork that reflects my call. I used my cards to create the piece. First, I selected cards that spoke to me of my calling. Then I copied them onto transparencies and hung them from a vision quest stick with cotton material. I also hung feathers, leaves, a nest, and other images that might as well be images in a SoulCollage card. I call the piece "Calling." To see it please scroll to the bottom of this page of Maggie's website.

When I lead SoulCollage workshops, I always encourage participants to make cards intuitively - to let go and just see what they create. If the workshop has a theme, we hold an intention for the workshop around that theme, but then we just intuitively create our cards. I think some of my favorite and most meaningful cards, the ones that are full of wonderful surprises, were created this way.

Please visit my website, Spirit Heart Journeys.

Here are two of Maggie's favorite SoulCollage cards:

Stone Woman
Council Suit

I am the one who inspires creativity. I come from the stars and am connected to all of time. I carry sustenance, inspiration, nurturing, color, flowers and tools. I remember your dreams and whisper them to you in the night, as I am awaiting your birth. I am the blue of the most penetrating star. I know the history of earth, sky, eternity. I remind you to be patient; to feel the texture of ancient tree bark, moss and twigs; to listen to your dreams - what matters is essence.

New Life

Council Suit

I am the one who has lived fully and now is transforming and becoming anew. I am full of wisdom from my prior life and full of anticipation and awe for the new life that is before me. I am resting in this in between place, between lives, between what was and what will be. I am getting ready to unfold and to spread my wings. I give you memory, story, hope and wonder. I carry all that you were, all that you are and all that you will be.

SoulCollage Expressions

Idea of the Week

Last week Imelda shared on our KaleidoSoul Yahoo Group how she did a four-card SoulCollage Reading, asking for guidance for the coming year. You can read her story and see the cards she drew on her SoulFragments Blog.

Note that when she was done, she printed out the cards and put them into a handmade accordian book that she keeps on her altar or desk to remind her of this special guidance that is hers all year long.

If you don't have time to make an accordian book, you might want to photocopy the cards you draw in your reading and put them into a 4 x 6 photo album to carry in your purse or briefcase. I have done this with my own New Year's Reading, and I also included the writing I did from each card in the album.

Kindred Spirits Member News

Making the Most of Your KaleidoSoul Membership

Keep track of all your Member Benefits on the Kindred Spirits Home Page.

If you ever forget your password, please send a
reply email to this message.

New E-Book in Your Members-Only Shop

A Year of SoulCollage Challenges: 52 Challenges to Deepen and Inspire Your SoulCollage Practice, by Anne Marie Bennett.

Many times all we need to create cards for our deck is some images that we love, a pair of scissors, some glue and a blank mat board. But sometimes we all can use some little dashes of inspiration to get our creative juicing flowing.

Most of the 52 SoulCollage Challenges in this brand new e-book have previously appeared in the KaleidoSoul Blog Inner Surprises, the KaleidoSoul Yahoo Group, or in the Members' Newsletter Soul Treasures. Now for the first time they are compiled in one nifty little booklet (32 pages).

It's a perfect resource for your personal SoulCollage practice. And if you're a SoulCollage Facilitator or in a SoulCollage group with friends, this e-book offers ideas and inspiration galore.

Your Member's Price:
50% Discount: $7.50

On sale now in your Members Only Shop
(Send a reply to this email if you've forgotten your Member Password.)

Upcoming Tele-Classes

January
Did you miss our tele-class last week on The Creative Journey, led by Barb Kobe and Anne Marie Bennett? Well, we missed you too! But we recorded it for you, and you can listen to it anytime you like in your Member's Only Audio Library. Enjoy!

February

Embracing the Mystery
of the Shadow
presented by special guest Karen Mann,
SoulCollage Facilitator in Australia
and Anne Marie Bennett,
SoulCollage Facilitator in Massachusetts

We all have aspects of ourselves that we wish we could hide and pretend that they don't exist. Some of the shadowy parts of self may include the jealous self, angry self, guilty self, lazy self, the victim, the liar, the addict, the opinionated one, the judgmental one, the impatient one etc Often these parts of self may seem broken, disgusting or weak and we try to suppress them because they seem unacceptable and do not fit in with the 'norms' in society.

In this SoulCollage tele-class, we will approach our shadow aspects as a mystery to be explored, rather than a problem to be solved or an illness to be cured. You will learn to see each shadowy aspect as only one piece of you and not as your whole being.

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2008
Time:
9:00 pm Eastern, 8:00 pm Central, 7:00 pm Mountain,
6:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Hawaiian,
Tuesday 2 a.m. in London,
Tuesday 3 a.m. in Rome, Friday 1 p.m. Australia
and Friday 3 p.m. in New Zealand

Save the date now. All of our tele-classes are FR*EE for members, always! And remember, don't worry if you can't attend... we'll be recording them and you can listen to them anytime in your
Member's Only Audio Library.

Upcoming SoulCollage Retreats/Trainings
with Anne Marie Bennett

New England SoulCollage Facilitator Training- August 8-10, 2008 in westernMassachusetts. If you've been longing to take your SoulCollage practice out into the world professionally by becoming an "official" Facilitator, then please join us for a beautiful summer weekend at Spirit Fire Retreat Center. Registration will officially begin in January, but in the meantime.. There's more information on this KaleidoSoul page .

All Things Bright & Beautiful- April 10-13, 2008 in Essex,MA. A very special weekend retreat focusing soul-ly on the SoulCollage Animal Companions Suit. If you're longing to bring the wisdom of the Animals and the Chakras into your life in a creative way within the personal safety of SoulCollage.... please join us!
There are only 8 spaces left, which means the Retreat is half full already. If you've been thinking about experiencing the joy of SoulCollage for a full weekend, why not just go ahead and give yourself this very special gift now.

As a Kindred Spirits Member, you have the cost-effective benefit of paying in 3 smaller payments instead of all at once. Also, you save $50.

Your Companion Animals are waiting for you... sign up today.

Soul Nourishment

Resources to support your inner work
as you dive deeper into your beautiful soul

Books:

Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves, by James Hollis, Ph.D. Excellent resource for looking at the shadow as active in our own inner committee parts and in the world at large.

Julia's Chocolates, by Cathy Lamb. "I left my wedding dress hanging in a tree somewhere inNorth Dakota. I don't know why that particular tree appealed to me. Perhaps it was because it looked as if it had given up and died years ago and was still standing because it didn't know what else to do?" In this deliciously funny, heartfelt, and moving novel, Cathy Lamb introduces some of the most wonderfully eccentric women since The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and The Secret Life of Bees, as she explores the many ways we find the road home. I borrowed this from the library but I am purchasing it for my own collection because I know I'll want to read it again and again. Each character touched my heart in a precious way. There are some great discussion questions in the back too, in case you're in a book club.

Art Lessons: Meditations on the Creative Life, by Deborah J. Haynes. Reading this book is a personal, uplifting experience for anyone seeking artistic clarity and creative inspiration. Through her own reflections on art and being an artist, the author provides a spiritual compass for today's emerging artists (is that you?).

Heart in the Wild, by Susan Chernak McElroy. True stories about animals and nature, that speak to the necessity for ritual, the value of generosity, and how to deal with essential life changes by reconnecting to the earth and its rhythms. McElroy is one of my favorite writers about Animals and Nature.

The Pathway, by Laurel Mellin. I've been dipping into and out of this book for a month now and am seeing real changes in how I'm listening to and talking with all of my inner voices, particularly my inner child and inner mother. The Pathway is about giving ourselves a healthy mixture of self-nurturing and limits. The skills are easy to learn. If you're trying to be kinder to yourself in 2008, you'll reap many benefits from this book.

Websites:

Angel Art Healing- Lots of beautiful angel images (scroll down to see them). This is a fun site too, so explore some of the other angel pages too.

Soularium- Amazing SoulCollage blog by Kathleen.

Life and Lore Interwoven- A wonderful site all about spirituality, writing, and creativity.

More Resources

Ongoing resources that our Kindred Spirit Members find helpful

Inner Surprises Blog: Anne Marie's blog full of an intimate glimpse into her SoulCollage Deck. There also are bimonthly SoulCollage Challenges posted here. You can read past Challenges by clicking on "SoulCollage Challenges" in the right column.

Soul Songs, Your Fr*ee Monthly SoulCollage Newsletter: The January issue is all about Journeys. You can also read all back issues at the link above. The topics are listed with each issue, so this is an excellent resource for you as well!

KaleidoSoul Community Yahoo Group: This is a safe place where you can post your cards (if you want), ask your questions, and virtually "meet" other Kindred Spirits

Final Treasures

Soul Treasures is brought to you by KaleidoSoul, Spinning the fragments of your world into wholeness and beauty through SoulCollage.

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 cardmaker's 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.

Published by KaleidoSoul.com
and Anne Marie Bennett.
Please do not reproduce or forward this newsletter in any way.
Inner Journeys, copyright 2008, by Anne Marie Bennett.
All rights reserved.

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