SoulCollage® Community Update
February 2019
My Unlikely Life-Changing Card
 By Alison Cameron
 

"If you need to make two cards - and you know who you are - take two cards," said our workshop leader. I wanted to make two cards, but now I felt greedy. Then I hit on the solution: use both sides! Nobody told me that using both sides meant you could never use the card in a deck - like that Old Maid card with the dog-eared corner everyone knows to avoid. Never mind. That card, front and back, holds pride of place as the Card That Changed My Life.

Rifle Girl (Committee Suit)
by Alison Cameron

I Am One Who is a brave fighter and still completely feminine.
It was November 2013 and I was attending an all day retreat called 'Harvesting Our Inner Wisdom' for 'women of uncertain age.'  The day included "collages out of magazine images to inspire our practice and to joyfully practice concentration and insight." This was my introduction to SoulCollage®, although it didn't go by that name. Our leader was a highly respected meditation teacher, Peggy Rowe Ward, who had learned the technique from Seena Frost, her friend, years before.

A handful of people were expected; forty showed up. We were each given two National Geographics, one piece of card stock for our collage (two, if we insisted), and we were timed - 20 minutes for the mad gathering of images; 20 minutes to pick and choose; 20 minutes to glue. We were given a theme: "Our Journey." Women working together quietly, creating something meaningful while communing with our deepest selves - I imagined it like an old-fashioned quilting bee. It remains one of my favorite things about the process.

When time was up, we were invited to introduce our card with the words ' I Am One Who...' Women shared pretty cards with images of a path, flowers, butterflies and so on. My card horrified me. There was nothing pretty about it. I said, "It appears that ' I Am One with a bloody great rifle slung across my lap while sitting under a hair dryer at the beauty parlor,' and I don't know what it means." Everyone laughed. Peggy advised, "There's an important message in that card for you. Stay with it."

Peggy was right. Slowly the meaning of that card has revealed itself and insinuated itself into my bones. That young woman gives me courage. She says that you can be strong and brave and stand up for yourself - be a warrior - even while being completely feminine. This is not something I learned growing up. The old woman and the monkey, representing traditional ways and the chattering mind, are gossiping about this over a cup of tea, while the young woman ignores them. Focused on cleaning her rifle, she sees nothing incongruous in her actions. To know that that young woman is a part of me strengthens me no end. I like to think the old woman is secretly cheering me on, as I do what she could never do.

The month before this workshop, I signed up for a yoga teacher training which would last one year, during which I would turn 60. We had just had our first meeting. I was feeling a great deal of anxiety about this: too old, too fat, nobody's idea of a yoga teacher. Rifle Girl inspired me to think otherwise. Why NOT me? I could encourage others who feel they are too old for yoga, just like me. I finished that training and am a yoga teacher to this day.

A few months later, when I turned 60, I threw myself a collage-themed birthday party based on SoulCollage®. Creating my card had been life-changing for me: why not share it with others? Of course I worried about creating a meaningful experience for my guests. I had invited four yoga teachers, hoping that one of them would think up some sort of ritual or find the right words to help get us centered and in the proper place. None of the four could make it, with three of the four cancelling that very day. So I, the 'learner' yoga teacher who hadn't even finished training, and couldn't do a push-up without falling on her face, had to come up with the words and create the mood. I channeled the casual strength of Rifle Girl, found the words, and stepped into my new decade -- and vocation as a yoga teacher -- with confidence

My Life Journey: Deep and Goofy (Council Suit)
by Alison Cameron

I Am One Who easily rests between pairs of opposites.
You may be wondering, what about the card I created on the other side of Rifle Girl? If I was embarrassed about her, the other side was far worse. It was supposed to be a contemplative, deeply spiritual card (remember the theme 'Our Journey') - statues of the Buddha, a wise old crone, that wild golden stuff which is actually the headdress of a medicine man - and then! I was compelled to glue these balloon unicorns front and center, ruining the whole card! I was mortified. I hid that side away until I came across a cartoon that showed two clowns talking in a café and one clown exclaiming to the other, "YOUR spirit animal is a balloon poodle?  MY spirit animal is a balloon poodle!"


Spirit animal? Balloon poodle? Balloon unicorns! I showed the card to my husband and daughter and they saw what I hadn't been able to for at least three years. My daughter said, "Mom, you can just show people that card and they will know everything they need to know about you. You are deep AND you are goofy. You are BOTH."

Wise words! We are all BOTH/AND -- a multitude of opposites. My two-sided card, and many more since, have taught me this over the years. I believe something in us craves balance. Rifle Girl was shocking to me, this embodiment of nonchalant strength in a woman - was she really me? Balloon Unicorns were my attempt to not take myself so seriously. Together they make a whole. Deep AND goofy, both.

Recognizing the healing and strength inherent in SoulCollage®, I formally trained as a Facilitator in 2015. I still use the 20-20-20 'rule' I learned from Peggy. I automatically give each person two cards. And I encourage everyone who creates a card they cannot explain to stay with it. Important messages will be revealed over time. Who knows, it might even change a life!



Alison Cameron is an enthusiastic yoga teacher and SoulCollage® Facilitator, who hosts monthly workshops at her home, cozily sitting around the dining room table, cutting and pasting and welcoming all those opposites. More information can be found on her website.




Store your cards, your cards and do readings anywhere! This is a powerful program designed to facilitate your personal practice of SoulCollage®.

An award winning book, SoulCollage® Evolving  gives the basic instructions for how to make and do readings with SoulCollage® cards, and describes how individuals and groups are using this intuitive collage process with various groups. Also available in Kindle ebook format.
Watch This Video celebrating the life work of SoulCollage® founder, Seena B. Frost, who passed from this world three years ago on January 13, 2016.
 From the SCU Archives
Read Anne Marie Bennett's reflection of Seena's favorite poem, Song of a Man Who Has Come Through, by D.H. Lawrence in the February 2017  newlsetter.
Get Ready For the Facilitator Training

Download a recorded video course to help you start doing SoulCollage® or to prepare for the Training.

Introduction to the Fundamentals of SoulCollage® with Mariabruna Sirabella

Relationships are probably the single most important factor in living a meaningful life. So if you're looking for a good relationship or want a better relationship, we have good news: our friends, Kathryn Curtice and Kathy Kelly, professional energy healers and contemplative coaches, are on a mission to support people in creating and enjoying communicative, trusting, loving relationships-no matter where you're starting from. To that end, they're hosting a complimentary interview series, Remarkable Relationships!, starting February 14. It brings together 21 experts, including two of our very own Facilitator Trainers, Kylea Taylor and Mariabruna Sirabella, to share strategies for-and insights on-creating happy, peaceful relationships. Kylea will be speaking on Right Relationship! How to Communicate in Challenging and Profound Moments and Mariabruna on SoulCollage® and the Golden Triangle of Love. You can reserve your spot at no cost, here: CLICK HERE


if a Training is listed as " FULL", please connect with the Trainer to  be put on  
the waiting list for a particular Training or a mailing list for future Trainings.
  
February 14-17, 2019 -  Mariabruna Sirabella, MFT
USA   California  (San Juan Bautista) St. Francis Retreat Center in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
February 14-17, 2019 -  Chantel Zimmerman
USA   California (Los Angeles - Encino) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
March 14-17, 2019 - Catherine Anderson 
USA North Carolina   (Stoneville) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION. 
March 21-24, 2019 - Mirabai Kolari
USA California  (Sonoma County) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION
March 21-24, 2019 - Mariabruna Sirabella, MFT
TAIWAN (Taipei) in English & Mandarin -  INFO & REGISTRATION
March 26-29, 2019 - Mariabruna Sirabella, MFT
USA California (Los Angeles) at the Expressive Therapies Summit  in English -  CLICK HERE FOR INFO & REGISTRATION
March 30-April 2, 2019 - Lucy Schaaphok
THE NETHERLANDS (Groesbeek) in Dutch -  INFO & REGISTRATION
April 11-14, 2019 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC
USA Arizona  (Prescott) in English - 2KatStudios - INFO & REGISTRATION  
THIS TRAINING IS FULL. 
April 11-14, 2019 - Amy Rogers, MFT, ATR-BC
USA Vermont  (Burlington) Bishop Booth Conference Center (at Rock Point) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
April 26-30, 2019 - Marcia Chadly
USA Minnesota  (St. Paul) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
May 1-5, 2019 - Mariabruna Sirabella, MFT
ITALY Montegrotto Terme  in Italiano -    CLICCA PER DETTAGLI e ISCRIZIONE
May 1-5, 2019 - Cristina Pinto Lopes & Fabiana Geraldi
BRAZIL Rio de Janeiro (Teresopolis) in Portuguese  INFO & REGISTRATION
May 23-26, 2019 - Bronwyn Shaunessy
AUSTRALIA NSW(Rutherford)  in English -    INFO & REGISTRATION
BRAZIL Camaragibe, Pernambuco in Portuguese - INFO & REGISTRATION  
June 13-16, 2019 - Kellie McComb
CANADA Guelph, Ontario St. Brigid's in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
June 12-16, 2019 - Linda Woolfson
UK England in English -  INFO & REGISTRATION  
June 19-23, 2019 - Marcia Chadly
USA Colorado  (Westminster) Creative Life Center in English - INFO & REGISTRATION  
June 27-30, 2019 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC
USA Arizona  (Carefree) in English - 2KatStudios - INFO & REGISTRATION  
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*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 taking at least one introductory SoulCollage® course, reading SoulCollage® Evolving by Seena B. Frost and listening to her CDs: Introduction to SoulCollage® and  Facilitating SoulCollage® in Groups.

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INFORMATION FOR THERAPISTS

CEs (up to 24) may be available
 for the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training 

Information on SoulCollage® as a therapeutic method:


Some SoulCollage® Facilitator Training events may be able to award CEs to LMFTs, MSWs, LPCs, nurses and psychologists  in many states (but if so, only by pre-arrangement with your SoulCollage® Trainer.) Please inquire about the availability of CEs for a particular Training or a particular license or a particular state by writing to your Trainer. Most Trainings offer them, but not all.
Before attending a Training, we want you to read SoulCollage® Evolving by Seena B. Frost, to have a SoulCollage® basic 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.
© 2006-2019 by SoulCollage Inc.

SoulCollage Inc., PO Box 8051, Santa Cruz, CA 95045
Editor-in-Chief: Kylea Taylor
Executive Editor: LeAnne Nesbitt
Associate Editor: Katherine L. Ziegler
Soul-cial™ Media Coordinator: Sue Gelber

The opinions expressed in the SoulCollage® Community Update are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent SoulCollage Inc. Authors retain the copyright to their individual articles. Please send feedback and questions to info@soulcollage.com.