hmmm

Went to watch "7 car pile up" yesterday. They were amazing. Mario had a friend who he played with when he was a young boy who just happened to be there at the right time. They hadn't played together for 40 years but they got to sing a couple songs for the show. It was very nice. All the band rocked--singers were having fun, musicians were getting crazy (cept Susan, who I think was going crazy) it was a really fun time. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Rehearsals are going for our little show. Yesterday was fun trying to find a place to rehearse. We are muddling through though. Got some good news that maybe we may have sound! The kids are working so hard, I hope someone comes to see them. It's a crazy weekend. Wish we had known that when the dates were set but what are you gonna do? Every day is crazy at our venue.

Isn't it funny how things turn? One minute you're the cat's meow and the next you're the cat's litter box contents. In Zen, there's a card that's called Success. It has a person riding on a tiger's back with confetti and streamers all around. The message of the card is to not get attached to riding in the parade--things go up and things go down and it's just all part of the grand scheme of things. It's to learn to enjoy the down as much as the up. The down is where the next phase or idea comes from. It's a good message. The down is also a very freeing place, let's you see what you were missing while you were up.

Barry and I are taking a huge leap of faith right now. We are starting the process of renovating our garage and office into a large studio/comfy room. We are very excited and quite scared since financially this is not a great move for us right now. My income has dropped tremendously and his ot is gone due to the housing market slowdown and we have had so many twists and turns with broken things and dental crud and blady blady....So why are we doing it? We must. It's time. We have faith that it will all turn out okay. We may be crazy but we can see the beautiful space, feel the quietness and lack of conflict, sense that this is the right thing to do. It's been a long time coming....

Keep your fingers crossed and maybe send a prayer or two our way. Anyone know how to build a fireplace? Wouldn't it suck to get the room all done and then light the first fire and poof! it all goes up in flames? That would definitely be falling off the tiger's back for sure LOL!

Latest Card:

"Creativity"

I really like this card, I painted the mat with watercolors. After it dried, I cut the images smaller than the card and glued them on. You can't really tell from the picture but it looks really cool. The painting of the dog looks just like Gus, our family's best dog ever. The top picture of the open air festival reminded me of Oregon and all the artist I learned from at the Salem Farmer's Market.

This is what I need to focus on. A place to create, to explore and commune. It feels peaceful and right. Read "Women Who Run with Wolves"... that's this card.

"I am the One who has a inner space where the beauty of the world can be expressed. I am the One who knows the power of art. I am the One who can express myself creatively in many ways without needing to be perfect"

"Color"

I am One Who Loves Color and Vibrancy.....

SoulCollage

I had the most amazing weekend. Have you ever had one of those experiences that you know is going to change your life while you are in the middle of it? Like you step out of the experience for a moment and witness yourself changing? At one point, we all laid down the new cards we made in a large circle and walked slowly around viewing each other's work and it hit me, this is something far bigger than I ever imagined, what a community we created and how exciting to have the opportunity to take it back to our communities and share it!

Wow. Let me back up. That's Seena Frost in the middle of the circle. She created and developed SoulCollage. SoulCollage is part art, part therapy, part good old fashioned wisdom. You create cards with images that you cut out of magazines or books or pictures you've taken and you paste them onto a sturdy 5x8 card and then you let the images speak. The process is amazing--I have done many, many forms of healing; BioSpiritual Focusing, therapy, tarot, yoga, meditation, tai chi, prayer, etc and I have NEVER had an experience as safe and enriching as I did this past weekend. And that says a lot, I have had some amazing "mountaintop" events in my work and in my life. The potential for helping people from all walks of life to REALLY get in touch with themselves and get some guidance and wisdom as they learn to trust their own intuition is enormous. Plus, the whole art side of it gives a remarkable opportunity to pass on a real legacy of your life.....who you are and where you've been. What a gift to leave behind.

SoulCollage is being used by hospice workers, art therapists, bereavement counselors, ministers, spiritual directors, the list goes on and on. Anyone who works with people who ...... well, who are people, I can't think of ANY group who wouldn't benefit from this. Kids, teens, people getting married, people having children, people getting older, people in all stages of life and death, the list goes on and on.

I was in a group of 60 women, Reiki Masters, Ministers, Hospice Workers, Therapists, Psychologists, Artists, Counselors, Teachers, Writers....It was unbelievable. Just to be a part of it was an overwhelming gift. The energy brought me to my knees. At one point, my "pod" mate, Martha, and I had our backs up against the wall, tears in our eyes, shaking with the intensity of the positive energy of all the various voices in the room. We all laid all our cards out in a large circle, the "One" Source card as the center of the circle and then the "Many", all of the other cards that everyone of these women have made as spokes in this great wheel of voices...

There are no words to describe the feeling of the many different parts of our souls combining and sharing at the same time. It is futile to try. After we laid ALL these cards, hundreds, we got to walk into the center of the circle with our "Pods", 4 of us who became real Soulmates after all we shared this weekend, we quietly, reverently, soaked up the energy of the cards while all the rest of this amazing group of healers sent energy to the center and to each of us. It is an experience I will never forget for as long as I live.

That's all I can say right now. Talk amongst yourselves.....

If you do nothing else, do this. It will change your life in a way that you could never imagine.