SoulCollage banner image
SoulCollage� Community Update
October 2015  
How SoulCollage� Helped Me Publish My Book
by Colleen Haggerty

Sharing My Story by Colleen Haggerty
Have you ever faced a looming project and felt completely overwhelmed? Wondered where and how to start?

That's how I felt eighteen months ago after I brought my just-finished book to a "hybrid" publishing house. They gave me the printing and distribution advantages of a big publishing house, yet the content and visual aspects of the book were in my control. It also meant I was in charge of my own marketing.

A friend, my sounding board while I was developing my marketing plan, loaned me her book Hiring the Heavens 
by Jean Slatter. In it, Slatter talks about how to recruit a specialized committee of angels to help us realize our goals and dreams.

In my spiritual view of the world, angels and Neters share many of the same qualities: they are guides, allies and challengers as we walk through life. (SoulCollage� uses the ancient word "Neter" to mean a specific energy, presence, guide, ally, or challenger - within oneself, or a person or situation one encounters.)

SoulCollage� had been in my life for eleven years by then, so I knew I could directly access my Neters anytime, but Slatter's idea was intriguing. As the marketer of my book, I was going to have to access a set of skills outside my comfort zone. So I decided to recruit a specialized team of Neters whose jobs would be directly tailored for my marketing project.

When considering who might be on my team, I thought about everything I had to do before my book was released. I had to write and submit articles to magazines, so I wrote down "Writer" and "Editor."

I needed to make calls to bookstores and various groups for book readings and there would be a lot to keep track of financially, so I jotted down "Marketer" and "Financier."

My publisher had warned me that there were multiple tasks assigned to me and many decisions to be made, so I wrote "Multi-Tasker."

And, knowing that I can get lost in the details, I added "Timekeeper."

But there was someone else wanting to be a part of this team. I closed my eyes and allowed this last angel to emerge.

You see, my book is a memoir about my walk into motherhood as an amputee (I lost my leg in a car accident when I was seventeen years old). A part of that journey was the two abortions I had when was in my twenties. In this initial marketing phase, I was still feeling the shame that had kept me silent about these abortions for thirty years. I had kept them a secret from most of my family and friends. My husband certainly knew, but my teenage children did not.

In my weaker moments, when shame tried to silence me, I considered cutting these chapters from my book. But ultimately I knew that I couldn't tell my story with any integrity or authenticity if I didn't show how my first two pregnancies were as important to my journey as my second two pregnancies were, the two that came to full-term.

With a shaky hand and tears in my eyes, I added another angel for my team: "Shame Tamer."

My list felt complete, but the exercise left me feeling a little empty and vacant. So I set out to create SoulCollage� cards for these angels. I had ripped and filed hundreds of images and quickly found one for each team member; it was as if they'd been waiting patiently in their folders for this moment. And with my affinity for angels, I had an abundance of angel images to choose from.

Writer Angel, Colleen Haggerty
Though these are simple cards, each with the angel in the background and the team member in the foreground, I finally felt complete with my Marketing Team.

Each morning I had a team meeting. "Okay, Writer, I have an article to write today; I'd like your support." Or "Today I have to get organized. I'm feeling jumbled and confused by my next steps. Multi-Tasker and Time Keeper, I need you two to step up to the plate today." I was the project manager and my angels were at my beck and call.

Sometimes I asked my Neters questions before I began working. For instance, when I had to write an article, I posed a question to my Writer Angel: "What do I need to keep in mind while writing this article today?"

And my Writer Angel answered,

"I Am One Who holds the truth of your wisdom in my heart. As you write, I am the keeper of this wisdom. I hold a gentle, safe, relaxing space for this wisdom to emerge. Trust whatever comes."

Marketer Angel, Colleen Haggerty
When I had to make calls to bookstores, I ask my Marketer Angel, "How can I best approach these calls today?"
 
And my Marketer Angel answered,

"I Am One Who shouts to the world the importance of your message. I Am One Who has your back. I unabashedly have confidence about this book."

Shame Tamer, Colleen Haggerty
And, every now and then my shame re-emerged. "Who do you think you are, sharing the stories of your abortions? People will think you are a terrible person, a lowlife, scum of the earth." At those times, I pulled my Shame Tamer card, who said,

"I Am One Who sings you home to your purity and goodness. I walk you through the winter of your grief and your shame and offer courage as you step into the spring of your awakening."

When I first started the marketing process, I felt incompetent and scared. I didn't fully believe that I had what it took to get my book out into the world. As I actively used my Marketing Team, these Neters kept me tethered to the larger story, reminding me, each step of the way, that my personal story, with its universal themes, is not just about me; it's about all of us. My fear shifted to a sense of connection with everyone who has ever felt the sting of shame and the pain of isolation. I understood, on a deeper level, that simply sharing my story meant healing. 

Colleen Haggerty
is an author, speaker, coach, and SoulCollage� Facilitator.  Her book, A Leg to Stand On, an Amputee's Walk Into Motherhood  (She Writes Press, 2014), was a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards.  She shared her powerful message of forgiveness as a TEDx speaker.  She coaches women to lead from their heart.  You can reach Colleen here.


Discover how to catch whatever Life throws your way and turn it into personal treasure. In this book, Ann Hughes shares how we can use SoulCollage� to make energy magic, heal our pasts, get our lives unstuck, flow with change, all the while on a journey of deep inner exploration.
 
 


These handmade boxes (made in the USA) are made to fit your 5" x 8" SoulCollage� cards. They are lined with midnight blue flocking to cradle your cards' edges. They will hold up to 75 cards but are shipped to you filled with card-making supplies: 2 Cardpacks, 1 Glue Stick, 1 24/pk plastic card sleeves, and 1 Precision Tool Set.  




Emblazoned with a SoulCollage� circle-of-cards logo and the website address, these pens are the perfect little something to give your workshop participants at very little cost to you.  Not only are they comfortable to use, they are a great way to have a little SoulCollage� with you all the time.  10 pens per pack.

 
This app is a completely different way to store images of your cards. You can easily share your cards with others and do readings with your cards - wherever you are.  You can even save your readings and the notes you take as you do the I Am One Who exercise.     

October is the third anniversary of the release of the video,Oracle: SoulCollage� and the Paradigm Shift.  Though this video is 50-minutes long, it is a must-see. Cozy up with a cup of tea for a rare and essential window into the SoulEssence of SoulCollage�.

 
From the SoulCollage� Blog Archives  
seena.cropped From the SCU Archives    
 
Read Seena Frost's article from the February, 2013 SCU
SoulCollage�: Why We Use Collage to Create Our Decks of Cards 
Interested in Learning more about SoulCollage�?
Find SoulCollage� Workshops Near You OR
Here is an online course to get you started    

Join the SoulCollage� Facilitator Community around the world... a place is waiting for you.
Photo by Diane Karen Born


UNITED STATES
   
October 8-11, 2015
- Mariabruna Sirabella, M.S., LMFT & Sue Gelber
(and, on Sunday, Founder: Seena Frost, M.Div., M.A.
California (Santa Cruz) TRAINING IS FULL.  Email to Inquire about Waiting List.

October 23-25, 2015 - Diane Karen Born 
Oregon (Portland) - The Kennedy School

November 13-15, 2015 - Catherine Anderson 
North Carolina (Charlotte) - Catherine Anderson Studio

March 31-April 3, 2016 - Mariabruna Sirabella, M.S., LMFT  & Sue Gelber 
(and, on Sunday, Founder: Seena Frost, M.Div., M.A.)
California (Los Gatos/Santa Cruz area). Registration opens next week. 

 
INTERNATIONAL
(Editor's note: US and Canada residents, keep your eye on the Euro. The exchange rate has been advantageous to you. Perhaps you can combine a European vacation with a SoulCollage� Facilitator Training!)  
 
October 9-11, 2015
- Audrey Chowdhury, M.S., ATR-BC
CANADA Quebec (Granby)  en Francais TRAINING IS FULL - Waiting List Available.

October 17-19, 2015 - Lucy Schaaphok & Mirabai Kolari
THE NEDERLANDS (Groesbeek)

October 30-November 1, 2015 - Karen Mann
AUSTRALIA Melbourne (Templestowe)  Click here to find info and to  Register.

January 31- February 3, 2016 - Lucy Schaaphok
THE NEDERLANDS (Groesbeek)

 

*No degrees or certificates are required to attend the SoulCollage� Training. The purpose of the Training is to prepare people to share SoulCollage� with others.  The pre-requisites for  the SoulCollage� Facilitator Training are your own active practice of SoulCollage� and your enthusiasm for sharing it with others, as well as reading SoulCollage� Evolving by Seena B. Frost and listening to her CDs: Introduction to SoulCollage� and Facilitating SoulCollage� in Groups.

Before attending a Training, we want you also to have a SoulCollage� workshop experience with a trained SoulCollage� Facilitator or listen to a recorded class Fundamentals of SoulCollage�, make some cards, do the exercise, "I Am One Who...", with your cards and do some SoulCollage� Readings, letting your cards answer at least one of your questions.

Either click here or go to www.soulcollage.com, scroll down the right column and click the link to Amazon.com there before you start shopping. Thank you!