SoulCollage® Community Update
December 2015
|
|
How SoulCollage® Deepened My Connection with My Family Even When Sharing Felt Risky
by Laura Seligman
|
|
| |
Bodybuilder by Laura Seligman
I Am One Who knows and
shows my true power.
|
As a freshly minted SoulCollage® Facilitator in 2014, I began offering classes around Los Angeles to build my practice. Several months into the process, I visited my extended family in Florida. They are a warm, rowdy, fun-loving, and adventurous group of nine men and women, ranging in age from 28-82.
As the introvert among them, I had to gather my courage to propose we do SoulCollage® together. I was so grateful they were game to give it a whirl. I kept my preparations simple, so that the experience could emerge without too much structure or explanation. I would have been satisfied with just going through the steps to lead a class, but what happened surprised all of us.
After I set up a place for each person on the dining room and mahjong tables with glue, cutting mats, cards, card frames, scissors, and a variety of images, we sat in a circle. Although I'm a seasoned group facilitator with women's groups and in my former professional life as a nutritionist, it took a delicate but firm touch to corral their energy to create a safe space where I could guide intuitively. I wondered, "How can I convey the power and depth that SoulCollage® offers for self-awareness and inner guidance? How will this group shift from their lighthearted banter to a more heartfelt, authentic sharing? What varying layers of depth will open and be held in a nurturing way by our extended family?"
|
| |
Essence by Laura Seligman
I Am One Who rests in essence
|
I invited everyone to pick an image and encouraged them to use their imagination to let it "introduce" itself, then perhaps say what had drawn them to this particular image. The first person who felt ready to speak was the newest member of our family, who recently married my cousin. He began with an image of a man naked from the waist up with chains wrapped around his back and arms, saying that this expressed his angst about feeling stuck and held back in his life. He had recently lost his mother to cancer and had been casting about for meaningful work for two years. He simply said what was true, and it touched each of us at a deep heart level that brought the room to stillness. Our love for and appreciation of this man and his search for meaning and personal value hit a deep collective nerve. That set the tone for intimacy and vulnerability for our time together.
As we dispersed to make cards, I discovered that some had not developed scissor or gluing skills past kindergarten! Once we got beyond the basics of making cards, the family dynamic revealed itself. It was a riot to see how my brother was already competing for how many cards he could make, while another family member felt challenged to let the image find him or speak through him (this is quite common at first for many people).
|
| |
Delight by Laura Seligman
I Am One Who feels
pure joy and delight
|
Once everyone was finished making at least one card, we sat around sharing them. Exhausted from herding this wild group of nine with varying motor skills and levels of emotional engagement, I was thrilled at first just to get this far.
After dinner, though, I challenged myself to take it one step further; I quietly invited my cousin to do a reading using cards from my deck. Her experience was so powerful that she told her husband he had to do it, too. Gently, I pointed out that it was his choice. He jumped at the chance. (The couple treasured their cards so much that, on visiting months later, I found them prominently displayed for all to see.) His reading was also rich and rewarding. He told everyone else to get in line. The next three family members wanted to do their readings in the presence of the whole group, which felt like a stunning gift of trust and openness.
Most challenging for one of my sisters was confronting my card of an African American body builder wrapped in a huge cobra. This man has an unmistakable life force and presence, echoed by the dramatic power of the cobra. Shaken, she told us she hated snakes and didn't like the card. I hoped that she would be open to the possibility that even snakes could offer her a gift.
In a moment of grace, I remembered to talk about the shadow aspect any card can reveal. The shadow is an imbalance, either too much or too little of an energy that is essentially positive. Sensing the energy of the shadow and being willing to face the darkness inside us is fundamental. In fact, I told her, I had found this to be a doorway to accepting and loving all aspects of my life, as expressed in my cards.
These were completely new concepts to her, as to the rest of my family. Nevertheless, she took the leap and considered how the power of snakes was actually a gift. Its symbolism was a clear reflection of the healing energy manifesting in her upcoming wedding, a true transformation and life change.
|
| Life by Laura Seligman
I Am One Who loves life |
We ended up spending the entire afternoon and evening making cards, writing about and naming our cards, and then reading cards together individually and as a family. I have never loved them more. I feel my sense of belonging to this family more fully as I share my passion for the gifts SoulCollage® can offer. It has taken time to find and rest in my place with this rowdy, extroverted bunch. I recently moved across the country to see them more often and share in all of our joys and sorrows more personally. How thrilling to imagine the next time when we have a chance to build our decks together!
Author's Note: Relationships were changed to protect the privacy of my family.
Laura Seligman is an artist who divides her time between Los Angeles and Ann Arbor, where she recently relocated. She is a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a student of the Diamond Approach®, a spiritual practice. She offers SoulCollage® retreats and classes in Los Angeles and Ann Arbor.
|
A well-designed, perfectly-sized tote to safely carry what you really need. It beautifully identifies you as a proud SoulCollager as well. Perfect for use as a bag for work, babies, pets, or you. Great for short SoulCollage® trips to groups or workshops. Get a few!
|
The cards of the Community Suit represent sentient beings that have influenced your life as allies, guides, or challengers. They can be living or dead, friends and loved ones, ancestors, teachers, pets, and others whose energy is powerful in your Soul. The developer of SoulCollage®, Seena B. Frost, talks about the value and uses of Community cards.
|
 Keep your SoulCollage® cards with you when you store and back up your deck on your iPhone or iPad. Do readings anytime, anywhere. This is a powerful program designed to facilitate your personal practice of SoulCollage®
|
 In this book you'll find out how to make "MeCards4Kids™." Every "MeCard" has a collage and a poem, and the kids who love making them teach you how. They show you their cards and "I AM" poems, and they tell you what matters to them.
|
From the SoulCollage® Blog Archives
|
 From the SCU Archives
|
 |
Photo by Diane Karen Born
|
UNITED STATES 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!)
THE NEDERLANDS (Groesbeek) UNITED KINGDOM Stroud (Hawkwood College) BRAZIL Recife - In Portuguese and English - EMAIL to register ITALY Orvieto ( Terni) - In Italian - Contatta *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. |
|
|
|
|
