SoulCollage® Committee Suit: Feline Familiars

I am one who is soft and curvy, and I am one who is fierce. I am one who enjoys pleasure and will communicate. I am one who is a mystery. I am one who is subtle. And I am one who is primal.

What is your gift or message for me?

Remember to indulge in things that give you joy, comfort, and pleasure.

What do you want me to do?

Watch things. Take your head and eyes out of your computer and watch kitty television, which is watching the world. Be curious about everything around you.

Why did you show up today?

It's been almost a year since Stella died. She was a good friend for 17 years and she is still with you.

If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?

The shadow is a tendency to laziness and to sneakiness. The light is the magnificent pleasure of being.

SoulCollage® Committee Suit: Drowning Samaritan

I am one who tries to rescue others from churning situations. I am one who is sometimes drowning. Parts of me flail in the chaos of living. I am one who tries to contain myself in a little boat, but it is too frail and too small for the task. The container has cracked, letting water (chaos) in.

What is your gift or message for me?

Adapt. Sometimes you can help others. Other times you need to rescue yourself. Learn to swim. Choose the right tool for the job; a bucket is not a boat.

What do you want me to do?

Recognize and respect the power of flow and chaos.

Why did you show up today?

Because you are preoccupied with the severe drought in California, and with Stella's increasing infirmities which feel overwhelming.

If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?

Don't get in over your head.

SoulCollage® Committee Suit: Contentment

I am one who appreciates what I have. I am able to accept what IS. I am free of striving, yearning, and clinging. I simply enjoy what I enjoy. I understand contentment. 

What is your gift or message for me?

I am the outcome of the practice of presence, attunement, experiencing all senses.

What do you want me to do?

Each day notice one small pleasure for each sense: sight, sound, scent, taste, touch.

Why did you show up today?

Because you deserve to be reminded.

If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?

Don't pursue me. I cannot be encountered through pursuit. I arrive when you are attending to life's pleasures.

SoulCollage® Committee Suit: Comfort Food

I am one who still enjoys the first food I was able to make in childhood. It was my first step toward independence to be able to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I also have fond memories of eating Fluffernutters. I am the go-to food of choice when a sense of nostalgic comfort is needed. 

What is your gift or message for me?

You are capable of nourishing yourself even if in the most rudimentary ways.

What do you want me to do?

Allow yourself to experience this childhood treat occasionally.

Why did you show up today?

It seemed as good a time as any. Go buy some Fluff.

If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?

My shadow is that too much of me will make you ill over time. 

SoulCollage® Committee Suit: 6th Extinction

I am one who feels the tension between the natural world and the human world. I am one who loves color. I am one who secretly wishes and fears that the 6th Extinction would be humans.

What is your gift or message for me?
Seek nature. Trust in the natural process.

What do you want me to do?
As much as possible, spend time not thinking. Imagine being in the body of a woodpecker or fish or mammal. Make this the practice!

Why did you show up today?
Because you need to be reminded that what looks huge on a small level is all part of the puzzle on the big level.

If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The light is the fact that I am not in control of any of this, and the shadow is that I am not in control of any of this.

SoulCollage® Transpersonal Cards

These are my transpersonal cards. Transpersonal cards do not have a voice or a story. There is the Source card, which represents the Universe; some people call it God, Chi, The Ground of Being, Consciousness and so on. There is Soul Essence, which is incarnated and expressed through one’s body. Lastly there is a Witness, an aspect observing one’s life, thoughts, feelings, and actions without judgment.

Source: The Unmanifest, the Mystery, Ground of Being, the Divine

Soul Essence: Each person’s unique spark of Source, divine potential

Witness: Our Self that observes what is; nonjudgmental consciousness

SoulCollage®

I facilitate a process of personal exploration called SoulCollage®, in which you (the creator!) make a deck of wisdom cards for yourself -- one by one. No art experience is required! I provide orientation to newcomers. 

We meet as a group, and each participant is free to let go of thinking and story, allowing her eyes to lead her to images that feel interesting. These images are trimmed and arranged on a mat board and then glued. When the session ends, we gather to share our cards; we meet that part of ourselves and hear its wisdom using a series of simple questions. 

The experience of being in a room full of people quietly working in the flow of creativity can be deeply heart-satisfying. It is also fun!

SoulCollage® Salons are generally 3-4 hours long. All supplies are included.

SoulCollage® Suits

Transpersonal Cards: Connection with a place of Spirit, a place of knowing Oneness as a container of your Many.

Committee Cards: Our many inner personality parts, our ego, our character.

Council Cards: The archetypes who guide and challenge us personally, and who are active also in the collective consciousness of the planet.

Community Cards: Our guiding sentient beings, teachers, loved ones, pets, even places.

Companion Cards: Animal guides imagined in our body’s energy centers.

You can also purchase the book by Seena Frost, SoulCollage® Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community.

May As Well Show

Not much to tell. Just showing today's art journal practice.

Feb 26 Art Journal

Every Day Like a Vitamin

I'm 62. My child is 18 and will head off to college this fall. I did the heavy lifting of mothering for 18 years, and while I will always be part of my child's life, they will launch into their own. I have more time, energy, and mental capacity free to use in different ways. Working as a therapist is one project, and I love doing the work. I missed it so much before returning in 2021. 

Another project of mine has been to renovate my life in such a way that I become physically healthier and more fit. Losing weight and regular intense exercise has improved my life so much, particularly my mental health. And goodness knows with the state of U.S. politics, I need to take care of this.

Lately, though, I've noticed I am prioritizing creating daily. It brings such joy and equanimity. It feels as important as eating and sleeping. It puts me in a flow state that enables me to be a decent human being and do good things in the world. But most of all, as I'm getting older, I'm acutely aware that my remaining time is finite and precious. I am going to die. Every day I wake up and put that awareness front and center in my attention, because I want to spend some time every day doing this activity that makes my life rich. When I'm on my deathbed, I want to have no regrets. I want the satisfaction of knowing that I gave myself to life and really engaged.

So every day since January I've been collaging (posted here). And lately I've been making small abstract paintings with watercolor, and converting other painted paper into notecards. It makes me grateful to be alive. And I am grateful to myself that I've made this practice a daily priority.

Eva Cassidy - Over The Rainbow

Our Life's Prayer

Our Life’s Prayer

Carnal syrup which flows within,
why not make it art?
It has been spilled
enough to fill
the gloomy pit of Tartarus.
Ferry to us the draught of life.
Preserve us from dissolution,
for our gene codes fight dauntlessly,
against this.
Be not used to segregate others,
for humanity is one tribe.
Thou are the mystery, the
sinew, and the richness
that makes our lives worth living. Yes.

-Kathryn Harper 

This poem was written using a style called ekphrasis. The photograph is of a piece by René de Guzman and is titled Blood Color Theory. His artworks allude to current issues such as the HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 1990s. In this piece, de Guzman sandwiched his own blood, mixed with preservatives, between two Plexiglass sheets. The work's impact lies partly in the shock value to convey the message, and the work takes on the formal qualities of a minimalist painting. What I find intriguing are the images reflected. This poem, which echoes The Lord's Prayer, is the result. 

Practice

The art journal practice is strong. Some days I do one page and others result in several. The process draws me into wordless intuition. It's a little mysterious. I always enjoy it and like the results, and sometimes I feel as though a bit of magic unfolded. Today felt like that.

Art Fun

Somewhere across one of my social media feeds a person shared a little hobby that caught my attention. It involves graph paper, one-inch squares of paper, scissors, and glue. I have a lot of extra bits of paper from painting and crafting, so I went to town on making them into squares. The goal of this is the process, not perfection. So the squares need not be perfectly one-inch, nor do they need to be affixed in perfect alignment. I had a lot of fun with these two pages and will definitely do more.

This Year's Intentions

I took this photo at Maker Faire last fall. It's difficult to explain what this was, but people were invited to enter into this space of whirling light. It depicts how time feels to me. Soon enough we'll say good-bye to 2026. Here is what I aim for in my life practice.

Daily

• I will continue to meditate daily for five minutes; it's the holy pause, and even brief episodes have a positive impact.
• Each day I walk, at a minimum, 2,000 steps; given my sedentary job and life, it stuns me how few steps I could take if I don't make the effort. Last year my average was 4,835 steps (2.28 miles per day).
• Read a book -- it requires deep attention.

Weekly

• Make art. It can be small, quick, and simple. Or it can be elaborate.
• Seek and invite spending time with my child, who is leaving in eight months.
• Date night with Hub; this has vastly improved our connection in the past several years.
• See clients -- my work, which I really enjoy.
• Exercise four to five times a week, including strength training.
• Write one blog entry.

Monthly

• See friends!
• Go on side quests with Hub.
• Attend Open Studio with friends.

Yearly

• Improve overall physical fitness, including shedding more weight.
• Read at least 30 books.
• Travel with Hub on a couple of trips.
• Get my child moved to college.
• Explore and create new community.
• Attend a few Ecstatic Dances.

Throughout the year I will check in with myself to ensure I'm attending to these small projects that help me to live richly. 

Whetting My Appetite

Having received the gift of books as I usually do at Christmas, I decided to assemble my to-read pile. The four bottom books were gifts from the most recent Christmas. The other books I "shopped" from my library, because of course I have a collection of unread treasures. These are all non-fiction. I usually rely on serendipity and recommendations for my fiction choices. 

The top three books have been in the queue for several years. Many clients have mentioned the two Ruiz books as being helpful, and I'm curious to know more. The other book, Having Everything Right, contains essays on place, particularly the Pacific Northwest. Usually I remember purchasing a book or that it was a gift (and from whom), but this one is a mystery. The Pacific Northwest beckons me as a possible place to live in retirement, whenever that happens. Thus it caught my eye.

The next five books are poetry, three of which were written by the too-soon departed Andrea Gibson, and the last book by Maggie Smith, who is unknown to me, except for the poem "Good Bones". 

Women Who Run With the Wolves has been on my shelf for the past decade. I started it when I bought it, but it didn't hold my attention. Ten years ago my mental energy was devoted to mothering an eight-year-old, and it wasn't the right moment. This year my child is graduating high school and headed to college; it's time to explore the Wild Woman and give her more room to live. I found this critique fascinating and have offered a gift link: The Wild Woman Awakens.

The other tome in the stack is a memoir (one of my favored genres): A Walk in the Park: The True Story of A Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon. This book also offers another feature of books I enjoy reading: misadventures, particularly ones related to nature and national parks. Thankfully no one dies in this story, as far as I can tell.

Lastly, I was given three books for art exploration. Last year I began playing with watercolor paint. When paint is of good quality, it is delicious to use. I'm looking forward to exploring and learning its ways.

Do you have a stack of books you look forward to reading this year? Leave a comment if you'd like to share. 

Wishes

"If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets." 

 - Scottish Proverb 

Practice, Practice, Practice

"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something." 

- Kurt Vonnegut

River Stones

 

Watercolor Play