What is your gift or message for me?
The intangible is accessible.
What do you want me to do?
Continue seeking, absorbing, learning.
Why did you show up today?
It was time.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is narcissism and superficiality.
What is your gift or message for me?
That there is really nothing to lose, ultimately.
What do you want me to do?
Jump out the window. Have confidence in your strength and in your problem-solving capacities. You must do the work to create the life.
Why did you show up today?
Because hiding has become a deeply ingrained habit, but you know it doesn't serve.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is over-judiciousness, and the light is freedom.
I am one who sees pain and is pained by what I see. I am the starving child with piercing, beseeching eyes. I am one who watches intensely and with fierce concern. I am one so laden with despair that my gaze is pinned to earth. My eyes are portals to the core of my soul, and the pain cannot be unseen. My eyes are a drought that no tears can cleanse.
What is your gift or message for me?
Pay attention. See the pain and suffering of existence. Do not numb yourself or hide from it.
What do you want me to do?
I want you to look into the yes of people you meet. It is healing. I want you to see what is in front of you, than act to meet the needs that arise.
Why did you show up today?
Because I cannot bear witness alone. The more eyes that awaken and see, the greater the healing.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is depression, isolation, resignation. The light is bearing witness.
I am one who is powerless, for whom the world is hard and cold. I am one who feels hunted, and I hide to remain undetected. Being invisible is my survival.
What is your gift or message for me?
Invisibility was a valuable strategy when you were a child. The world was frightening and you were not in control. You survived by disappearing but at some point you also hid yourself from your own self.
What do you want me to do?
Remember me and let this part of you be a source for compassion. Yet make room for other parts of yourself.
Why did you show up today?
You are in a place of experiencing a lot of "young stuff" emerging from your soul. It's part of healing.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The light is compassion.
Sacraments of the Morning
Isn’t it enough
to feel a chill as you rise from a warm
bed, stumble to the bath and with
nimble fingers attend to your body’s
needs, button your shirt, to balance
as you put pants on one leg at a time?
Isn’t it enough
to hear the morning news, the coffee
maker gurgling as you eat your
Wheaties with skim milk, to listen in
the comfort and illuminated safety of
your kitchen as rain rattles the roof?
Isn’t it enough
to inhale the earth’s perfume of wet
dirt, worms, roses and jasmine blooms,
to smell even the faint fumes of the
world’s morning commute as you join
with humanity for the day’s business?
Isn’t it enough
to taste the fresh tender day and
savor the strong bitter brew from
your steaming paper chalice as
you await the train under the shelterwith others huddled like pigeons?
Isn’t it enough
to observe the blur of cinderblock
fortresses adorned with graffiti, the
lonely artifacts of life strewn across
anonymous backyards, to notice the
window cat watching the morning?-- Kathryn Harper
“Cold Rain, Warm Colours” by Fred Rune Rahm, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
I am one who, though small, takes risks. I brave challenges of cold and dark to reach a distant goal. I am unfettered by trappings. I am fresh and curious. I will find a way.
What is your gift or message for me?
This baby is doing the improbable, using intelligence to find solutions to get closer to her goal. Even though you feel small and vulnerable like an infant, you have the ingenuity to design options.
What do you want me to do?
Use what is at hand to solve challenges. Use tools that may be unusual choices.
Why did you show up today?
I felt you needed a visual reminder of how brave and intrepid you are.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is recklessness.
I am one who practices non-distracted awareness when life storms around me. I am one who sometimes manages to release her head in order to be in big mind. I am one who breathes Presence. I am one who needs a teacher.
What is your gift or message for me?
The connection is within you. Practice opens the path. There is more to you than mind. Pay attention and wake up!
What do you want me to do?
Sit regularly. Sit some more. Sit, sit, sit. Just sit.
Why did you show up today?
Because you showed up.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is being seduced by ego into thinking about what my practice is doing, focusing on measuring, comparing, projecting progress. Light: the secret is within you and is always present and accessible.
I am one who is stronger than I appear. I am one who labors through time and perseveres. I am one who likes to be seen and feels seen for enduring, and who stands in light.
What is your gift or message for me?
There is power in small things and incremental movement.
What do you want me to do?
Do what needs doing that is in front of you, and remain open.
Why did you show up today?
As you listen to intuition, you are moving mountains of energy.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
My shadow is hubris.
I am one who likes form. I am one who looks into nothing and sees structures and creative possibilities.
What is your gift or message for me?
The spark lives within you.
What do you want me to do?
Stoke the spark, brainstorm, tend the flame.
Why did you show up today?
Because I'm taking greater prominence in life.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is flightiness.
I am one who would rather be reading than cleaning. I am one who is comfortable living with a certain level of dust and grime in order to attend to what interests me. I am one who would rather be somewhere else when cleaning.
What is your gift or message for me?
It's all right to ask for help at home from other family members. It's okay to let chores slide.
What do you want me to do?
Let go of guilt. Be present when you do these mundane chores. Teach Claire good habits.
Why did you show up today?
Because you are here at a SoulCollage® session instead of doing chores.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is slovenliness.
I am one who is intensely focused. I seek clues and meaning. I persevere. I am one who practices attention through my eyes and through my mind.
What is your gift or message for me?
That being a seeker is only one part of who you are.
What do you want me to do?
Live in your body and all your senses.
Why did you show up today?
I have shown up today because you have noticed concerning lapses in memory. So this is a worry. I want to remind you that attention and retention aren't the same.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is the addiction to pursuit and perceiving with the eye to the exclusion of the other senses.
I am one who waits with dignity, with the composure of the Buddha. I am one who understands the difference between psychological time and the eternal present. I understand how to use psychological time in my life situations, yet I remain aware of my connection to timeless Presence, from which I come and which embodies me.
What is your gift or message for me?
I am subtle, and the world's noise can be distracting.
What do you want me to do?
Identify what makes you feel most alive and practice it daily, even if for a few moments.
Why did you show up today?
Because you were ready.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
Both light and shadow are needed.
What is your gift or message for me?
That I am bottomless and endless and full of energy.
What do you want me to do?
Enjoy imbibing without guilt or concern. Go out more to coffee shops. I am not meant to be drunk alone all the time. Life is messy and it's ok to spill, and sometimes art arises from what feels like a mistake.
Why did you show up today?
Because I'm ordinary and deeply integral to your life. And because you are feeling like hibernating and more tired because of the season.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The shadow is that drinking more coffee will not resolve your exhaustion if it is coming from other sources. The light is the pleasure of the ritual.
I am one who feels very small and wants to be invisible. I protect myself and want to remain hidden. I have survived because I am skilled at being elusive, furtive, and alert. I don't want connection; I don't want to be tamed. I mind my own business and remain wild, untouchable.
What is your gift or message for me?
Just because I move through the world unnoticed does not mean my life is pointless.
What do you want me to do?
Create and distribute your art, your words and thoughts, without concern if it will be seen by others.
Why did you show up today?
You are worthy of existing in your own eyes alone.
If you have a shadow, what would it be? Or, what light do you offer?
The light is you do not need external validation.