Soul Treasures
Discovering the depths of our precious inner beauty through SoulCollage®
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KaleidoSoul's Members-Only Weekly Newsletter
Issue #28- October 9, 2006
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Quotation of the Week
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture.
Still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
--- Rumi
Inner Journeys
with Anne Marie Bennett
Integrating the Practice of SoulCollage® into Your Daily Life
Welcoming & Entertaining The Shadows
 Fully-grown men were acting as mea bullies: taunting, picking on, then beating up a nice young man and demolishing his brand new car. I got the shivers every time I saw them. Well, okay, it was only a production of Ragtime at the theatre where I used to work. But I still got the shivers. They were so mean. I knew they were actors portraying characters according to the script and director's advice, but still.... whenever those characters came onstage, I wanted to run and hide!
Having seen Ragtime several times (my favorite job perk!), and still totally amazed at these actors' ability to portray such meanness and cruelty over and over (and over) again, I found occasion to ask them if it was difficult doing that night after night, if it took a lot of energy to summon up that intense level of malicious brutality so often.
Their answer totally astounded me. "Nah," one of them said off-handedly, and the rest of them nodded agreement as he explained. "It's easy getting into the role. What's really hard is getting out of it when the show's over."
Like I said, I was astounded. These actors were all really nice young men. I had thought they were going to tell me how difficult it was to "get into" the mindset of these vicious, racist, mean-hearted characters. But they were telling me it wasn't hard at all. They were telling me they actually even enjoyed it a bit, to the point of forgetting who they really were.
This all took place many years before I ever heard of SoulCollage. But my question and their response has stayed with me all of this time, and I have brought it up in my memory many times since then, turning it around and around, looking at it from all different angles, trying to make sense of it.
Now that I'm practicing SoulCollage, I more fully understand what those actors were trying to say. No one is exempt from meanness and cruelty. We all have the capacity for deep darkness and questionable behavior. We all have parts of ourselves that we don't like. And we, like those actors, can shift into these darker mindsets at a moment's notice (sometimes without notice, sometimes even without awareness!).
But... the most important thing is being aware of these different parts of ourselves, and not forgetting who we really are at our deepest core.
Reflection activity of the week: Make a short list of some parts of yourself that you don't like. These are usually parts that get in the way of allowing yourself to remember and act from who you really are. It's important to not spend hours and hours on this list... this will only make you feel overwhelmed and depressed. Set a limit of 3-4 for now. Then go about searching for images that represent these parts of yourself. This might take a while, or you might already have some images saved up. Make a card to honor one of these parts of yourself (two examples are below in the Soul Friends section). Ask this part of yourelf: Who are you? What do you have to give me? What do you want from me? Are you related to any other members of my inner family? When did you come into being? Listen to the answers. Accept whatever this voice has to tell you. The object is not to make this part of you disappear. The object is to give this part of you what it most needs and wants from you- validation and acceptance.
*******
Since the theme of this month's Soul Songs (did you read your copy last week?) is "Embracing Our Shadows"I thought I would use this opportunity to write about some of my own favorite Shadowy cards in the Soul Friends feature below.
SoulCollage Expressions
Idea of the Week
Try using a piece of textured paper as a background for one of your cards. Add some ribbon or charms, along with your images, then photocopy it so that it is a one-dimensional piece (flat) with a three-dimensional look.
We'd love to hear from you!
Question of the Week
Why should I make SoulCollage® cards to honor the parts of me that I don't like?
Because they are all parts of YOU! If we try to get rid of parts of ourselves that we dislike, even hate, they usually only get louder and more annoying. Think of a small child throwing a temper tantrum. If you ignore her, she's just going to scream louder and louder. The best thing to do is approach this child (as well as the parts of us we don't like) with love and gentleness. Making a SoulCollage® card is one way to befriend those parts of ourselves that are out of control
and trying to get our attention.
Have a question about SoulCollage®
that you'd like answered?
Send your questions to members@KaleidoSoul.com.
We'll try to use your question
(along with an answer, of course!)
in an upcoming issue of Soul Treasures.
Soul Friends
The voice of a different Kindred Spirit each week!
Anne Marie Bennett
Beverly, MA
I first heard of SoulCollage about two years ago when I was registering for the February 2005 Art and Soul Retreat in Portland, Oregon. I was giving myself the gift of this retreat in order to deepen my own newly-blossoming artist self.
Browsing through the many choices of classes, I was signing up for things like Alterered Books with Bev Brazelton, and Mixed Media Collage with Claudine Hellmuth. Then I came across an intriguing description of a workshop called (you guessed it!) SoulCollage. "Hmmm..." I felt an immediate tug at my heart and soul. "Here's a class that combines two of my favorite words of all time: soul and collage!" How could I not add this one to my list! So I did.
Before I went to Art and Soul, I bought Seena's book and read it in two sittings, cover to cover,; I was totally and completely fascinated. I started making notes right away about the cards I wanted to make when I started my deck.
 The workshop was facilitated by Noelle Remington, and it was an unforgettable experience. The very first card I made (at left) intuitively gave me keen and valuable insight into my current job situation. I like to say that my first introduction to SoulCollage was "love at first card."
The woman sitting next to me in that workshop made a beautiful card that was full of images of peoples' butts! At first I thought it was pretty funny, but when she started saying things like, "I am the one who watches people walk away from me" during the interpretation, I again could see the power of this process.
When I returned to Massachusetts, my husband told me that he had found a new job with better pay and benefits than the last one (this was after several frustrating months of unemployment). Within a month, I decided to follow my heart, which was calling me to devote more time to my writing, my art, and facilitating SoulCollage groups. I resigned from my parttme job and began this new adventure!
I started by sharing SoulCollage with some of my friends and family members (they loved being my guinea pigs!). Then I started a website, KaleidoSoul, in order to have in place a backbone of support and information for those who came to my workshops. I took the Facilitator Training in September 2005, and it was an honor and a blessing to work directly with Seena Frost.
I am still leading SoulCollage Workshops, and have also discovered a new passion- leading women's SoulCollage Retreats. KaleidoSoul has grown into an international system of support for hundreds of people who are practicing SoulCollage nowhere near a facilitator. I am continually amazed at the positive affect KaleidoSoul is having on the world of SoulCollage.
SoulCollage came to me at exactly the right time in my life. I have made many cards, and I still delight in sifting through images and feeling my heart leap up in response to some of them. I make cards one Sunday afternoon every month with my 5 "Soul Sisters" here in Beverly- Pat, Elaine, Lis, and Susan.
Every morning (well, almost every morning!) I draw two cards randomly from my deck and do a little journaling with them as my guides for the day. There are so many insights that I've gained in this way. You can read about some of them on my blog, which I call Inner Surprises.
My formal background and training is in Elementary Education, and teaching had always been a vital part of my life, until I met my husband Jeff and his 3 children. I left teaching then in order to pour my creativity into loving them and creating a stepfamily with them. When I found SoulCollage, I finally got back in touch with that part of me who loves to teach.
What I love most about SoulCollage is the power of the process to lead us to wholeness. There was something missing in my life before I found SoulCollage, but I couldn't have told you exactly what it was. Now I know: SoulCollage has given me a deeper spirituality, a precious connection with other women, and a divine sense of my own wholeness.
My next favorite thing about the process of SoulCollage is that it gives me permission to be exactly who I am: dark parts, bright parts, and every shade of gray in between!
Here are 2 of my favorite "dark"
SoulCollage® cards:
 Lucius Malfoy
Suit- Committee
I made this card in response to some work I was doing with my therapist on feeling like I was not enough. We worked with that energy for a while (which I imaged in a separate card as Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter stories), then I discovered the part of me that was making me feel small and shamed (imaged here as Dobby's master Lucius Malfoy, also from the Harry Potter stories).
At the beginning of my work with him, I kept calling him by his last name, Malfoy, which means "bad faith." During one written dialog I was doing with him, he said "Call me Lucius, that's my name." When I looked up his first name, I got little shivers of delight when I found out it means "light."
One of the things I do when working with a "dark" part of me like this is to ask it an additional question during the interpretation. Sometimes I ask a dark part "Are you related to anyone else in my inner world?" Sometimes I ask it, "When were you born; when did you come into being in my inner life; what happened to make you act this way?" But this time I asked Lucius, "What was your role in my life before you turned so cold and hard and shaming?" And he answered quite quickly, "I used to be a teacher."
At that point he stopped terrorizing and taunting and shaming all of my other parts. At that point there was a major shift in my inner world and outer life. Simply because I spent some time "talking" with him, listening, not judging, not fearing, not running away, not trying to alternately ignore and kill him.
I am the one who shamed you and all of your inner parts. I am the one who is shadow, destroyer, evil, malicious. I am the one who terrorizes the inner children, those who are defenseless and small. BUT I am also the one who is a wise teacher. I am the one who loves children. I still have the potential to shame you and all your inner children. But my positive intent is to teach you, and them of goodness and inner wisdom and light and all good things.
When you are feeling shamed, less than, and not enough, I give you a signal that something is amiss in your inner world, a clue that something is out of sync, out of balance. I also give you the means to lighten the weight of the shame, to tip the scales of imbalance. You need not fear me. All you need to do is come inside and talk with me.
Negative Nancy
Suit:
Committee
I made this card when I finally became aware of a very big voice inside of me that was stopping me/holding me back from all kinds of good things.
I am the one who says no. No you can't have that. No you shouldn't do that. No you'll never have what you want. No. Not. Never. Nothing. These are my words. I am the one who is stopping you from breaking free. I am the one who has memorized the tapes of your past, whose mantras are keeping you from what you really want. I am the one who holds you back. I am the one who makes you feel chained and tied down to your small small life. I am the one who is overpowering and strong, who you never argue with. I am the Bully's aunt and the Inner Critic's daughter.
I am the one who is rooted in the past, grounded in your mother's truth. I am the one who says: Don't bother, it's useless, give up, you can't do it, you'll never have it. I am the one who focuses on everything that is wrong.
What I give you is protection from failure, disappointment, and pain. I give you a small, small life because that's the only kind of life I know. I also give you boundaries, and the ability to say No to things and people that get in your way.
Want to share your SoulCollage story and cards with other
KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits?
Send them to members@kaleidosoul.com.
We'd love to hear from YOU!
Kindred Spirits Member News
Making the most of your KaleidoSoul Membership
Keep track of all of your member benefits on the Kindred Spirits Home Page.
If you're having trouble viewing the Home Page in the above link, try this Text-Only Kindred Spirits Home Page.
And remember, as a Kindred Spirit... everything in theall-new, all-improved, easy to use Kindred Spirits Shop is 50% off!
Don't forget to take a look around your Members-Only Audio Library, which is a treasure trove of SoulCollage information and ideas.
NEXT TELE-PLAYSHOP.......
Embracing Our Shadows....
with very special guest Seena Frost!
Wednesday October 18 at:
5 pm Eastern, 4:00 pm Central, 2:00 pm Pacific, 11:00 a.m. Hawaiian,
10 p.m. in Europe, and Thursday 7 a.m. in
Australia
.
This informative, insightful tele-playshop
 (not quite a class, not quite a workshop!) will gently tackle a sometimes challenging subject- our shadow sides. Special guest Seena Frost, creator of SoulCollage, will lend us her wisdom and insight on this fascinating topic. We will talk about the shadow sides of our SoulCollage cards. There will be lots of time for asking questions!
Stay tuned... the phone number to call will be posted in the October 16 issue of Soul Treasures.
 Announcing an All-New KaleidoSoul Retreat for Kindred Spirits Only:
Creating Inner Sanctuary
with SoulCollage
March 30 - April 1, 2007
Essex, MA
Join us for three days of creativity, community, and renewal as we explore the depths of SoulCollage at this beautiful retreat center located in the lush forest of Essex County, near the ocean. There will be lots of time for card making, sharing our cards and stories, and readings with our decks.
There are only 15 spaces at this retreat (some of them are single rooms!), and as a member, you have first dibs on these spaces. If the 15 spaces are not filled by November 1, we will then open the retreat up to everyone on the Soul Songs Newsletter Mailing List. Also, as of November 1, the price will go up by $50.
We're announcing this retreat early so that you can spread out the cost, with
6 inexpensive monthly payments instead of taking a big chunk out of your checkbook at once. For more details about the Retreat, the Essex Conference Retreat Center, and registration, please click here now.
 Soul Nourishment
Books, movies, music, & websites to support your inner work as you dive deeper into your soul....
Books:
 At All Books 4 Less, you can get this Debbie Ford book, The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, for only $2.25. This is much cheaper than Amazon.com, and I'm only telling my Kindred Spirits friends about the great savings. This is the best book I've found yet that lovingly and full describes our shadow parts, and gives practical, easy-to-understand examples and ideas of how to incorporate our dark parts into our light-ful selves.
You can also read Debbie Ford's book, The Secret of the Shadow: The Power of Owning Your Whole Story,
or listen to the cassette version, both at greatly reduced prices.
Movies:
A Christmas Carol, starring Patrick Stewart. This is my favorite story of someone whose darker side serves him well in the beginning. But watch as he is given a chance to come face to face with these darker selves in his famous ghostly dream! And then watch him break through to reclaim his own true light-ful self at the end. This is my favorite version of this universal story, but there are many other excellent versions as well.
Websites:
Embracing Shadow Self- this link takes you to a beautiful painting, an artist's vision of what it means to embrace her shadow self. There's also a short poem to go with it.
Shadow Work- Shadow Work® is a personal growth process which brings your hidden powers out of the shadow and into the light.
Spinning the fragments of your world
into wholeness and beauty
through SoulCollage®
Published by KaleidoSoul.com
and Anne Marie Bennett.
Please do not reproduce or forward
this newsletter in any way.
Inner Journeys, copyright 2006,
Anne Marie Bennett
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