Recently my SoulCollage partner, Sheila Filan, and I were asked to offer SoulCollage as a “final” for a nursing class. This idea was dreamed up by Sarah Seybold, a member of the Clinical Faculty for Mental Health Nursing, Oregon Health Sciences University. She supervises a 5 unit clinical course that takes the nursing students into mental health facilities for 15 hrs. each week for ten weeks. Only kidding about it as a "final". No grades, just the happy gestation that takes place when one is cutting and pasting meaningful images. This soul collage session was about integration of their learning at the end of their clinical rotation.We weren’t sure how SoulCollage would be received, since the students knew very little about it. It turned out they were delighted! Many loved art and had no time to dabble since they were loaded with homework and housework. They had just said their "good byes" at the sites they worked at. Each woman had much to share about what they had learned, and the people they had met. It was a wonderful afternoon. Here is the card made by Sarah. It was typical of the beautiful, and deep, work done by all. It was a blessing to offer this work to such a receptive group.
What follow are the words Sarah used in "speaking from her card".
I am the one who has been privileged to watch the soaring of nine women with organic wings.
I am the one who has seen my students go into dark places and seen a baby being born.
I am the one who feels so honored to have been present for all the births this quarter.
What does this card want from me?
It wants me to hold the memory of this quarter. To affirm the energy I’ve put into this time. To keep loving all the future healers.
What does the energy of this card have to give me?
Hope for the future. Belief in the value of going into the dark, the shadow, the shame. I can see that truth and wisdom come from the shadow connection. This card gives me connection, admiration, for all that my students carry.
