I love the bed I've made

Who are you? I am the one who…
· Loves the bed I’ve made for myself
· Is comfortable and soft – surrounded by light in my bed
· Is artistic, spiritual, and happy – delighted with what surrounds me
· Loves the play of this world and other worlds together and the hands that make that happen
· Has traveled but is most comfortable at home
· Is surrounded by possibilities and reflections – bubbles and beads of happiness, gaiety and creativity
· Is colorful, floating, moving along in new and exciting ways
· Is colorful, buoyant, vibrant, discrete & yet pervasive

This card was made by Ava Walters. What a wonderful goal: to be able to love the bed you've made.

The Still Point

I am the one who is centered.
I am the one who knows I am deeply connected to the natural beauty around me.
I am the one sitting in the Still Point of my Being.

I made this card to bring back a day spent on the Willamette River in Oregon. Picking wild blackberries from the canoe, the sun and sparkling air--such a magical afternoon. But more memorable still was the drive home. In my car, on Interstate 5, I felt such stillness, such radiance. Driving home was Heaven.

Sweet Darkness

This is the latest card in a "suit" that represents poems I love and can speak from memory.

Sweet Darkness

When yours eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision is gone
no part of the world can fine you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:
the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

~David Whyte

Witness

This stunning card was made by Ava Walters, a member of our SoulCollage group. I asked her to talk a bit about her card. The Witness is one of the "silent cards" who does not speak in "I am the one...." language. This is what Ava had to say about making her card.

I have had the images for awhile. I love the woman with the elaborate eye make-up and the little angel and devil drawings. I have been wanting to make a Witness card. I started playing with the image of the woman on a card and was going to use her alone since she is so compelling -- then noticed the devil and angel drawings and started experimenting. As it started to take shape, I realized it was my Witness card. The woman looks down with a soft gaze while the 'good' and 'bad' parts of me do our thing -- It does not matter to the witness -- she just watches -- no judgment. Would that I could be more like that.

Ava

Joy!

This card is by Sue Ann Zderic. Here are her words:



"I am the one who is joyful in all that I behold, who says, Yes to life, who rejoices in all the love that flows to me."

Zero Circle

I made this card at Santa Sabina retreat center recently. I was attending my fourth meeting of the Embodied Life Mentorship Program with Russell Delman.

I haven't spoken from this card yet, so have no "I am the one..." statement. However, one of the participants at the gathering read this poem. The card and the poem seem like a perfect reminder of what to keep in my mind and heart.

Zero Circle -- by Rumi (version by Coleman Barks)

Be helpless, dumbfounded,
Unable to say yes or no.
Then a stretcher will come from grace
to gather us up.

We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty,
If we say we can, we're lying.
If we say No, we don't see it,
That No will behead us
And shut tight our window onto spirit.

So let us rather not be sure of anything,
Besides ourselves, and only that, so
Miraculous beings come running to help.
Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,
We shall be saying finally,
With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.
When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,
We shall be a mighty kindness.

Second Chakra - Dove

When I walked into Sheila Filan's house and saw this card I said, "Wow! Can I put that on my blog?" I knew other people would want to see it as well.

This card is from the SoulCollage Companion suit. It represents the second chakra, the place of creativity. Here are Sheila's words regarding this card:

I am the one in whom creativity and color are inextricably combined. I am the one who desires to express my creativity in expressions of peace. I am the one whose creativity is flowering and bearing
fruit.

What does this card want from me?
This card wants me to revel in the excitement of new discovery.

What does this card have to give me?
This card gives me the wonderfulness of trickling and oozing color. It give me a feeling of settled enthusiasm.

Sheila and I are offering a workshop to make Companion suit cards. Check out our website SoulCollage Adventure

Let's Celebrate!

I am the one who offers hope.

I am the one who cares about honest leadership.

I am the one who forges alliances to solve problems.


What does this card want from me?
This card wants me to help create a better nation, a better world.


What does the energy of this card have to give me?
Inspiration.

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."
--President-elect Barack Obama

The Lookless Door Update

I made this card at a recent workshop without any sense of what it might be about, but after sitting with it for a couple of weeks, I realized it shows my personal development from a space of chaos depicted by a card I made two years ago.

My SoulCollage practice is showing my development as well as supporting it! How cool is that?

One of the biggest changes in my life since that post of two years ago has been my journey with Focusing. I am now in a training program to become a Certified Focusing Guide. I would love to have you check out my website to learn how Focusing can add richness and self-understanding to your life and SoulCollage practice.

Last Night As I Was Sleeping

This is the first time I've ever made a card that so clearly represented a beloved poem. This poem, Last Night As I Was Sleeping by Antonio Machado (translated by Robert Bly) reminds us of the beauty and mystery of our Inner Life.


Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

Many thanks to Anna Chambers for her beehive photo. You can see more of her work at http://www.peoplesgardens.co.uk/