tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-213966182024-03-13T10:55:13.315-04:00Inner Wisdom Guide Jennifer BoireGently guiding you to become your own oracle. Listen to your inner wisdom with journaling and SoulCollage(R).Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.comBlogger568125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-28698670589854937122021-01-12T14:23:00.003-05:002021-01-12T14:23:35.617-05:00New Beginnings, New Website<p> Dear readers</p><p>I am moving to a new website at the end of the month.</p><p>Probably, most of the blogs on this page will still be recoverable. I am moving some of the most important ones (for me) to the new blog, and starting fresh from there.</p><p>If you are on my newsletter list, you will be notified.</p><p>To get on that list, see the side bar on my web page now, while it's still there :)</p><p><a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com">www.jenniferboire.com</a> the address will still be the same.</p><p>I am very happy to be starting over, with a new year and a new look. There has been a long period of incubation, and hatching eggs I didn't even know I wanted to hatch.</p><p>A few new classes got developed over the summer : <b>Mothering Ouselves and Self-Care</b> was offered through the World of SoulCollage(R) to facilitators. The recorded version is available to members.</p><p>Kaleidosoul invited me to offer <b>The Good Girl Archetyp</b>e to their members, and that went over well.</p><p>All that to say, some new offerings are coming - how to give ourselves permission to receive Sacred Rest and restore our creative fire, a retreat I hope to offer live in the fall; and <b>What Wants to be Born in Me </b>has finally started to come out of the chrysalis of development.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPlz1kn-LPSAaqjzxpKwgUx7gPyUVkY3RjS3LFtGW0k81qCFn2jOZ6LpUHUjtP8NC2ljONT35TleyouUJ424g_2qiGp5ZTebANRvfJcFMAfvO4THiTbe3qLfkeyzq4NsgZW6T/s960/chryalisimage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPlz1kn-LPSAaqjzxpKwgUx7gPyUVkY3RjS3LFtGW0k81qCFn2jOZ6LpUHUjtP8NC2ljONT35TleyouUJ424g_2qiGp5ZTebANRvfJcFMAfvO4THiTbe3qLfkeyzq4NsgZW6T/s320/chryalisimage.JPG" /></a></div><br />More news soon, keep safe, be well<p></p><p>Enjoy the Cocooning time - here's a poem for you to help with the Unbecoming, spiralling inwards.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Path of Unbecoming<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It's okay not to have New Year’s resolutions</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It's okay not to have big goals for your life</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
It's okay not to have plans you want to</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Manifest</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
It's okay not to chase your dreams</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
That path is not for everyone</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Some walk the path of</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Unbecoming</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
They are traveling the road</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Backwards</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Seeking the core</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
What is basic and essential</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
What has been there all along<br />
<br />
Though we may be headed the same direction</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Our spirals are mirror opposites</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Some walk the path of the visionary</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Creating abundance and</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Dancing inside a multiplicity of forms</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
And Some walk the path</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
of the serpent owl</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Becoming more and more naked</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Shedding layers of fantasy into the ash</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Night sky</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Sitting in the dark</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
And seeing the way the wind moves</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
They do not walk a line or</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
poise their arrow to the target</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
They sit at the bottom of the ocean</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
And wait</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Letting the waves devour them</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
They are following the pulse</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
of listening</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
To silence<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Like a tiger in the brush</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Waiting for existence to strike lightening</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Into the fire of the heart<br />
<br />
For this kind</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Nothing less will do</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Some are opening the palms of their hands</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
And unraveling</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
To become</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Less and less</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Until they are</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
No-Thing</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
To become the still point</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
In the center of</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
All</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
You know who you are</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Keep going<br />
<br />
~ Maya Luna </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<br /><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-83306146412964254372020-11-20T11:25:00.004-05:002020-12-01T08:52:23.327-05:00What wants to be born in you? musings and a poem<p style="text-align: left;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjb9kBOppXLOg5amtq_gZL-geW32ki6HTNCPMxPAc1hyraIimZeddkSawSeHfvL8WeVXu7bZrML3Sf80xy4KrgLnC-Fvo6qIwArKBw5WAD-Ic28qLSblAednwyJnlVwoP1yb1/s4032/IMG_3249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjb9kBOppXLOg5amtq_gZL-geW32ki6HTNCPMxPAc1hyraIimZeddkSawSeHfvL8WeVXu7bZrML3Sf80xy4KrgLnC-Fvo6qIwArKBw5WAD-Ic28qLSblAednwyJnlVwoP1yb1/s320/IMG_3249.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo: Jennifer Boire</div><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />What Wants to Be Born in You? </span></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">by Hollie Holden</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="background: white;">I have become grateful for the moments</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">When I remember to stop</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">In order to listen</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">To what the earth has to tell me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">This morning it was a flower</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Who took me by surprise</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">And shared her secrets with me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">She told me of her journey.</span><br />
<a name="_Hlk41314360"><span style="background: white;">How it began in darkness,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">In the quiet, cool embrace</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Of the quiet, generous earth.</span><br />
<br />
</a><span style="background: white;">She told me how the light called to her,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">And how, slowly but solidly,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">She began to unfold towards</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">The simple inevitability of her calling.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">She told me <a name="_Hlk41314414">of the
exquisite cracking-open</a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk41314414;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Of all she knew herself to be;</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">The opening that felt like death</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Until she realized it was her birth.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">And then, with her open petals,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">She asked me in the way</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Only a full-bloomed flower can ask,</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">'What wants to be born in you, beloved?</span><br />
<a name="_Hlk41314339"><span style="background: white;">What does the light want
to call into being</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">From the quiet, generous earth</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">That waits patiently</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">In the cave</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Of your heart?' </span></a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk41314339;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk41314339;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>Dear gentle reader,</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>This question has been on my mind for months now. Since my mother passed in April and I began seeing an art therapist, I've been actively writing, journaling and processing so much. The following is an excerpt from my journal notes, because I feel that this work of recovery in the cave of the heart is the most vital work I have ever done. It's not over yet, but here are some musings on the process.</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;">In my reading and writing of
family stories, I have discovered what is possibly the mythos or motto of
origin for my ancestors. My parents were both brought up during the Great
Depression and WWII. Their underlying motto, like many in the same period, seems to have been: strive, push
ahead, work hard to succeed and rise above; and at the same time, the underlying message was to ignore those pesky
emotions that show weakness, too much feeling is dangerous. This combo led to generations passing down anxiety,
depression, harsh self-criticism, and a low level of loving kindness to self and
others. Toughness was valued. There was also a playful side, thank goodness, in
their younger selves, manifest in their love of storytelling, theatre and music.
But it was regulated overall by the authority of the Father figure, who gave
permission for it if there was good behavior, and shut it down if it got too
loud or out of control. In my family, with eight kids, the latter was very likely.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Their motto worked in times of
adversity, something like being in the army - the expectation is you keep soldiering
on; and my father was a lieutenant during WWII and a captain in the reserves
after the war. As children growing up, even though we received the needed
care if we were sick, as soon it was deemed feasible, it was <i>up and at at’em</i>!<i> enough whining. Time to get out of bed, get back to school or work.</i> That
was my father’s attitude at least. Whereas my mother more and more began to
drag and resist this military model; no longer the sub-lieutenant or sergeant
- she showed her resistance by passive-aggressive
behavior, always late for church and with eight of us that was a lot of organization, pulling back, or letting the housework slide into abandon. Drinking to feel her ‘spirit’. As
the eldest, the yoke of responsible one was placed on my shoulders (along with
my second eldest sister). Overarching boss of everyone comes naturally to me. My psychological profile said I would make a good army sergant! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Last fall I came up against all
of that programming and not for the first time. But now, it made me feel stuck,
frozen, unsure of how to move ahead with my work. I began to see a therapist to talk it out. Then COVID-19
happened in March, my mother died, my dog died,
and I began to withdraw to tend to my grief, and also to
all the other small griefs - the endings of things that hadn’t come to pass, the two miscarriages,
the death of beloved pets, the books not published or feted, I began to create
space for honouring these ‘slivers’ of pain with slivers of time. Mostly, I
read books, poems, made SoulCollage(R) cards and wrote in my journal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This whole season of Covid has
been a descent to the Death Café, (gently) allowing the grieving process to be
felt, allowed, ritualized, veiling myself in a subtle shawl of sorrow. Swimming
into the deep DNA of ancestral wounds, reverberating with echoes that go all
the way back to a great grandmother's story of time a mental breakdown and time in a sanitorium. A grandmother who lost both her parents at a young age and was brought up by an aunt. My mother’s own depressive tendencies and time spent in detox and recovery. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Oh <i>Goddess of Never Not Broken</i>
– I am feeling broken, not whole, but am willing to abide, and befriend all the mixed
feelings. Feeling and dealing is healing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFm9Ghx7-Xn2wbZTKdFxjlGmfcrAkpNTp-R6PgsBf6kvlDryNiZV0m8oAcHQdHSFEULeFfdq5tUBxYfpu8BQa-aEkyQT4HQCA7rg736PXBd7CDfyhGl_y-LKS5GBwOi5pXEzes/s4032/IMG_0111.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFm9Ghx7-Xn2wbZTKdFxjlGmfcrAkpNTp-R6PgsBf6kvlDryNiZV0m8oAcHQdHSFEULeFfdq5tUBxYfpu8BQa-aEkyQT4HQCA7rg736PXBd7CDfyhGl_y-LKS5GBwOi5pXEzes/s320/IMG_0111.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">SoulCollage(R) card: Hiding, Not Knowing</div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And still the question comes up -
What is calling me? What wants to be born in me? Constant listening for that,
constant questioning. Never feeling ready or sure of a complete answer – little
bits and drabs of a vision still float in the haze around me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I wish I could learn how to say
no to all that distracts me from my artist’s vow and know in my bones that I am
worthy and deserving of taking time for creative loafing, dreaming, reading,
soul-tending, writing or collaging. It gets easier, because during this time of
pandemic, there are fewer outer distractions (aside from the US election, gawd
what an awful mess).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I want to learn how to say Yes to
what my soul is calling me to; I do say yes to daily meditation, and journaling
time; to weekly yoga, walks outdoors. I am still asking, <i>What is mine to do in
this world?</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the meantime, while I’m musing
on this and wondering if I should spend money and redo my website, and what do
I want to put on it anyway about who I am and what I have to offer…. I had a
therapy session that shed new light on matters. The big aha moment came when I heard - it’s ok to hang out in
the swamp of not knowing. What if I am simply not ready yet to hang up my
shingle and announce anything new to the world at large? What if the box I have
imagined I fit in is just too small and I can open my imagination wider to include
all the parts of me? The writer, the poet, the singer? not just the facilitator, trainer and workshop leader.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What if I need to feel safe,
secure and connected to my solidity, to anchor my inner child who feels overwhelmed
and unsupported in the Center of my own presence? What if safety and belonging
are the secret keys to my well-being and also a clue to what I offer in the
Mothering Ourselves and other workshops. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What if I widened the portal and
let in the music, the love of singing, the visualizations with soothing voice
to calm and reconnect the soul to the heart to the body to the mind? This new
thought entered my mind and allowed me to stop pushing myself to find a definite
answer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What if I didn’t <i>rush rush
rush</i> like a mad hatter or the hare, and paced myself to the pace of my body,
of my tortoise breath (really, I have been saying this for years, but only now
that the body feels safe enough, am I beginning to take care of my Little Jenn).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There’s also the Vision of a Sanctuary </span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">– a retreat center that we can share with other wellness practitioners occasionally. A drum circle, a fire pit, a center for a circle of wild
women to howl at the full moon…the possibilities are endless.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsrghgOTbdsdfQr8aNI-zbfvwDm0Lt8bxyplchJiCLq8F9HMRKLRc8f6cT5YmONV74G0w2nsZnCo8lWarrjFCgzydAaxI-zW8gozwj1P_w6U3Kt6a2JZZaAo3TFoOUeav3ML4/s4032/IMG_0302.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsrghgOTbdsdfQr8aNI-zbfvwDm0Lt8bxyplchJiCLq8F9HMRKLRc8f6cT5YmONV74G0w2nsZnCo8lWarrjFCgzydAaxI-zW8gozwj1P_w6U3Kt6a2JZZaAo3TFoOUeav3ML4/s320/IMG_0302.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">women's circle on retreat </div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What do I love is part of the
question, and what would I do if I removed all the limitations and false
beliefs about myself? From the book <b><i>Finding The Deep River Within</i></b>, came these questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What would I love to
do if it weren’t so selfish?</span></i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Get a weekly massage. Take long
drives in the country just to explore the landscape. Spend a whole afternoon
chatting with a small group of women friends (oh for the days before Covid
prevented us gathering in circles!). Read a book all day long and sip soothing chai.
Dance to great 70s music and twirl around the room. Stay in bed and have coffee
and toast brought to me!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What would I do if I
didn’t care what people thought?</span></i><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dye my hair with blue streaks,
wear long skirts and lacey gypsy shawls. Create big colourful murals on the
walls. Enclose myself in a small cabin with a roaring fire and talk out loud,
record visualizations, make up myths and stories for women…<i>Once upon a time
there lived a woman…<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><i>“That which you seek is seeking
you.”</i> says Rumi.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How to relax and surrender into
the longing of your heart?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That, my friends is where I begin. Stay tuned.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOmsdDJX6Cz2opUOUBA_M1OoIY5Wabr1uBBd2ACfyZPIT5Q6KOjo6xnMaqAWXsIE5pTDRa0D-XMyIRvY59V85Y02dRIcf9eZ7ZkonnWGXgnArzuSLFTwn4_drWQrds0KIk6HA/s4032/IMG_0040.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOmsdDJX6Cz2opUOUBA_M1OoIY5Wabr1uBBd2ACfyZPIT5Q6KOjo6xnMaqAWXsIE5pTDRa0D-XMyIRvY59V85Y02dRIcf9eZ7ZkonnWGXgnArzuSLFTwn4_drWQrds0KIk6HA/s320/IMG_0040.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-12021636109071282282020-10-22T08:33:00.007-04:002020-10-22T08:34:32.766-04:00Eve poem from Collected Poems 2019 in Translation<p> This poem first appeared in a chapbook, A Place of Trees published in 2003 </p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Eve hears about her birth<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Batang, serif;">Perhaps you have no memory</span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">of how you got here:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">you arrived steaming from this wet place<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">stretched her skin, skull screeched through <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">muscle; blood streamed with water,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">salty, precious; nine months long<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">fed through the cord of life, you breathed
water,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">turned somersaults in brine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">Tiny seahorse swinging by one leg,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">you forgot whatever came before. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">Now you have been cut<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">away from her body, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">you must re-enter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">through your own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">Surface, into bright sun, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">parrot’s screech, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">water steams off broad jungle leaves,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;">morning in Eden.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">Ève apprend la vérité sur
sa naissance</span></b></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Batang, serif;">Peut-être que tu ne
te souviens pas</span></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">
comment tu t’es retrouvée ici.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">Mais tu es arrivée à
toute vapeur<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">de cet endroit
détrempé, <br />
déchirant sa peau, poussant avec ton crane<br />
à travers ses muscles, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">ruisselée de sang et
de l’eau<br />
salée et précieuse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">Pendant neuf mois,
nourrie <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">à la corde de vie,
tu respiras d’eau<br />
et pirouettas dans la saumure, <br />
Hippocampe menu brimbal</span><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">é</span><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"> à bout de jambe.<br />
<br />
Tu oublias le fil menant à ce moment<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">et maintenant que tu
es <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">séparée de son
corps,<br />
tu dois te réintroduire<br />
à travers le tien.<br />
<br />
Refais surface, dans la matinée ensoleillée,<br />
parmi le cri perçant des perroquets.<br />
L’eau s’évapore sur les larges feuilles tropicales <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">au jardin d’Ève.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><o:p>copyright Jennifer Boire</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><o:p>Little Red Bird Press</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFooter" style="margin-left: 1.2in; tab-stops: .5in;"><span lang="FR-CA" style="font-family: "Batang",serif; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-78089695880462631892020-10-07T07:53:00.004-04:002020-10-14T09:43:57.182-04:00Fall Launch of Collected Poems with French Translation<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Happy News! </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A poetry project long kept on hold is now published on Amazon.ca and .com, in Canada, UK, USA and France.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Malheureusement nous pouvons pas celebrer en personne! Unfortunately, due to the pandemic we cannot celebrate the launch in person. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHujVNjy3n54VIaqcDcDa0JJyNCM1FpceO1elywTXHB5Z2_ioHub2EmboBM3Kj0pqHDhEuluqEbNvwap5_vIA_G_-qHAhzHA6AzR1Oz6bMPP9a5-OOPCLLUZsrgmvXMgaEhSn_/s499/cover+Collected+Poems+2019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHujVNjy3n54VIaqcDcDa0JJyNCM1FpceO1elywTXHB5Z2_ioHub2EmboBM3Kj0pqHDhEuluqEbNvwap5_vIA_G_-qHAhzHA6AzR1Oz6bMPP9a5-OOPCLLUZsrgmvXMgaEhSn_/s320/cover+Collected+Poems+2019.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Poems-2018-French-translation/dp/1794669663">https://www.amazon.ca/Collected-Poems-2018-French-translation/dp/1794669663</a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I welcome visitors to my blog to click on the link above to order the book. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Si vous parlez français, voila les versions transformés par André Jérôme, un ami de longue date qui a commence </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">à</span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">traduire mes poèmes il y a belle lurette.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Je suis très contente que ce livre voit le jour!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thanks for checking it out and taking a peek.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">bonne journée,</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jennifer</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com">www.jenniferboire.com</a></span></p><p><br /></p><p>p.s. artwork for the cover was done by Suzanne Marier, a long time friend of my in-laws who lives and paints in France.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-77510453241302272952020-09-18T13:36:00.001-04:002020-09-18T13:37:01.761-04:00Fall into Fall - seasons and cycles <p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6VjPLuokxj1vJ_Oy8qvxG5NlutehynzJnARQQreaLZ2erVnIvZzI8hVvQKRFjMxdWm1ee08DR-X3XaGrqD6FdMksgmBx0acVBhhDLeQIOvV7nyCDfvpFVS60Arz6neGnhHZT/s2048/wheel+of+fortune+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6VjPLuokxj1vJ_Oy8qvxG5NlutehynzJnARQQreaLZ2erVnIvZzI8hVvQKRFjMxdWm1ee08DR-X3XaGrqD6FdMksgmBx0acVBhhDLeQIOvV7nyCDfvpFVS60Arz6neGnhHZT/s320/wheel+of+fortune+card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">SoulCollage(R): Wheel of Fortune card </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">As the wheel of the year turns, and the equinox is upon us, I am musing on endings and beginnings, the seasonal cycles of pausing and returning, while the world burns in fiery conflagrations, tossed by tornadoes and hurricanes, floods and storms. It is time for me to pause and give thanks in spite of the turbulence, or maybe because of it.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here in this protected oasis (for the moment) I look for what is solid
and real, while around me everything appears to spin out of control.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">In the northern hemisphere, we are wrapping up summer, tr</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">ansitioning to
fall; it is reassuring that the seasons keep changing, following more or less a
regular pattern. Here in our Canadian harbour, we are planting seeds for a new construction
– a future home in the country and retreat center slash music space – a new
beginning for both of us, as we tear down the old horse barn, (recycled to an
alpaca farm) and get ready to clear the land and rebuild. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hopefully next spring it will be ready to move
in. A dream project is unfolding as we enter a new phase of being (almost)
grandparents (due in January), and partial retirement for my husband next June.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This year has seen the end of a work cycle for me as all workshops and
retreats (in person) were cancelled – with the Covid pause, there was less
workflow, and more rest time. It was a needed break after spinning my wheels
and ramping up my networks. It feels like the end of a part of my life cycle
too – my mother passed in April, and her house of 54 years was emptied - the
overflowing basement and closets, her five bedroom house finally cleaned and
cleared of smoke, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>furniture, old boxes
of memories, letters and photos, and just plain junk. We made a big bonfire at my brother's and burned some old desks and things. That felt good.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqSB1j3crIaVaJSah9KZzSol_Rq4IRVvvEg-ZxweFQQziqphoY9VXP9ahogsPZddKuNGp5LVtVmcTmhxL5XplMCk7W0-oN1dBNEDpc0W40CXu7oVUc7Da8haOdIVFHRxq4HUH/s2048/burning+furniture+august+2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqSB1j3crIaVaJSah9KZzSol_Rq4IRVvvEg-ZxweFQQziqphoY9VXP9ahogsPZddKuNGp5LVtVmcTmhxL5XplMCk7W0-oN1dBNEDpc0W40CXu7oVUc7Da8haOdIVFHRxq4HUH/s320/burning+furniture+august+2020.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this blessed pause from more public activities, there’s a strong pull to write family history or memoir (as I sort through
all the slides, photos and movies, letters and treasures found in my mother’s
house). There is a freedom that comes with emptying. I may become able to write more, as I let go of all the shoulds that
weigh on me. I step back and imagine letting the basket of <i>shoulds </i>lie
on the floor – maybe writing them down on small pieces of paper and burning the
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>words, emptying myself out just like my mother’s
house-- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of all the internal boxes,
baggage, collections of hurts, past grievances, allegiances, lists of things I
think I must do, responsibilities for others I have taken on – sifting and
sorting what is mine to do or not mine, (releasing the good girl, rescuing others,
being a busy body); leading women’s circles, performing a public role, or
wearing the mask of One who knows how it should be; the desire to be seen as wise
mentor – all that – scuffed, sloughed off, recycled and composted. An emptying
out of the inner house too. Perhaps an invitation to the muse.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_G-NYVyMyrEA92un0DS9IFH2GQ5-hFe70oyYEh7_nJzGvwDVEaUgDRUrNC9deBgHPcjHpeTLB-Kb_sbXzEk7LC5GIr3NOd_mW9DGgDRVihAQ_iEDrJxIy2I134mSJMbfl4MN/s2048/sept+hostas+2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 18.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_G-NYVyMyrEA92un0DS9IFH2GQ5-hFe70oyYEh7_nJzGvwDVEaUgDRUrNC9deBgHPcjHpeTLB-Kb_sbXzEk7LC5GIr3NOd_mW9DGgDRVihAQ_iEDrJxIy2I134mSJMbfl4MN/w240-h320/sept+hostas+2020.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_G-NYVyMyrEA92un0DS9IFH2GQ5-hFe70oyYEh7_nJzGvwDVEaUgDRUrNC9deBgHPcjHpeTLB-Kb_sbXzEk7LC5GIr3NOd_mW9DGgDRVihAQ_iEDrJxIy2I134mSJMbfl4MN/s2048/sept+hostas+2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 18.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here and now, fall means making arrangements to close up the deck, the
dock, the porch, the cushions and couch, the outdoor places ready to be sealed
up, the garden put to bed, the hedges clipped, although I want to leave the flowers
with seeds and tall grasses for the birds to glean this winter. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It will soon be
Thanksgiving, and already the stores and markets are overflowing with an abundance
of tomatoes, squash and cauliflower; the harvest is plentiful, we are ready for
gratitude, feasting and parties flowing with the grape/wine harvest too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">May the cycles and seasons hold to their course. And may all the
fullness of the season, of autumn and its rich blessings, find you well, keep
you safe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For those who are gathering the broken pieces of their homes after a
disastrous season of fiery storms and hurricane flooding, may the homes you rebuild
be safe and free from harm. For those faced with illness and loss in this
pandemic time, may you find the grace and benevolence of life cycles, even
there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">May the teachings of fall, about cycles, endings and beginnings remind
us we are part of the natural cycle too, and help us find our own season of
fallow, of rest and renewal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">May the muse be with you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBofNtiUqukcq5L0gZSEAM3JLwynnW1wr55UlLRlcy0xXZgdwUdWLC3e7yZyA0Yt83rnpR6CDPFbAFj4ghdYauxg_4_HxKSnI_0H-7juhdi5n52OVtfneIMxeyLBlXBvyZhlf/s2048/soulcollage+writer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 18.6667px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBofNtiUqukcq5L0gZSEAM3JLwynnW1wr55UlLRlcy0xXZgdwUdWLC3e7yZyA0Yt83rnpR6CDPFbAFj4ghdYauxg_4_HxKSnI_0H-7juhdi5n52OVtfneIMxeyLBlXBvyZhlf/s320/soulcollage+writer.JPG" /></a></span></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-56624158905536973822020-09-01T10:53:00.003-04:002020-09-01T10:58:30.401-04:00Time for Serenity Today<p> </p><p style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -3pt;"><b><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;">Time for
Serenity, Anyone?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -3pt;"><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;">William
Stafford<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: -3pt;"><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: -3pt; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;">I like to live in the sound
of water,<br />
in the feel of mountain air. A sharp<br />
reminder hits me: this world is still alive,<br />
it stretches out there shivering toward its own<br />
creation, and I’m part of it. Even my breathing<br />
enters into this elaborate give-and-take,<br />
this bowing to sun and moon, day or night,<br />
winter, summer, storm, still–this tranquil<br />
chaos that seem to be going somewhere.<br />
This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it.<br />
This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.</span></i></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: -3pt; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: -3pt; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 15pt;">(Found on Parker Palmer's page, he adds this note: "</span></i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">The poem also gives voice to a simple sabbatical insight I want to keep alive: The most radical thing I can do during this era of intense social and political turmoil is hold to inner peace, as best I can. This isn’t the first time I’ve learned that lesson, but I needed to learn it again."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some of us are seeking serenity even more than usual this year. There's a lot of turmoil going on, it's a time of great unrest. And although the
summer has been gorgeously long and hot, the river water beautiful and the mountains
majestic, we are also preparing for a seasonal shift, to fall and cooler weather and a return to
school. This year that return is very needed yet very stressful –
uncertainty about the virus spreading amongst children, whether the kids will wear masks or not in
classroom, all the little bubbles of friends spreading and mixing.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Parents getting their freedom back!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even though my kids are grown and living on their own, my son’s wife is
pregnant, and therefore limiting her contacts with the world at large, safely working
from home. But as thirty somethings, the invitations for weddings, funerals, christenings and baby showers are frequent - and have to be negotiated, considered, sometimes declined. It is not an easy time for any of us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In this continuing pandemic chaos, we need a little serenity. I offer this poem as a reminder that the seasons are still turning, the
dance of life is on-going, and we are part of this creation of nature. My
breathing is part of the give and take.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I need to find tranquility in the
midst of the chaos surrounding me, on the news, in the airwaves, around the corner.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the moon is shining on the water, I am reminded of that beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the wind is blowing the leaves from the trees, I watch in wonder.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the storm clouds blow and shake and shiver the sky, I am grateful
to have shelter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;"><i>Laisse le vent souffler! </i></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let the wind
blow, sings Zachary Richard (amidst hurricane season).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is beauty even in the madness – <i>il y a de la beauté dans la malheur</i>,
sings Kevin Parent, two songs I’ve shared recently on my Facebook page.
They remind me that music, songs, poetry, nature are balms for my soul – they remind
me to stay where I can breathe. To re-center and lift my eyes to the sun and
moon, to the stars and the sky. To dance with the wind.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tomorrow is a full moon. I’m going to get outside and fill my
eyes with light.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I want to remember the basics, the in-breath, the out-breath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Soften my belly and feel my feet on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stand like a tree and receive the life energy flowing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sending me signals, messages, this moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Serenity is within my reach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p>SoulCollage(R) Card: Heart Focus </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxW0RP2A1gTmBrRcGSnIj2Slk0X8Sh4t1zI9DF7uZQsSMCp5lRXVrRFjDNcTmxIlupqgm3bRIDsDLSvjE_DwpHRwmgUkYxKVypigLmWOTIxdv4yq43-nM6rfHXd9-8uTFLqYpj/s2048/heart+focus+card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1258" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxW0RP2A1gTmBrRcGSnIj2Slk0X8Sh4t1zI9DF7uZQsSMCp5lRXVrRFjDNcTmxIlupqgm3bRIDsDLSvjE_DwpHRwmgUkYxKVypigLmWOTIxdv4yq43-nM6rfHXd9-8uTFLqYpj/s640/heart+focus+card.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-90337420290584230912020-05-25T13:03:00.005-04:002020-10-14T10:22:15.692-04:00Hearing the call, what is waiting to be born <span style="font-size: medium;">This period of confinement due to the corona virus shutdown around the world is a challenging time for some, and a blessing for others.<br />
<br />
If you are struggling to make ends meet, going crazy working at home while your children also need attention, I get it. I have the greatest sympathy (having been a writer who worked at home while my children were young).<br />
<br />
But if you find yourself with some extra down time, and have managed to meet all your basic needs for shelter, food, safety, love and belonging, perhaps you are feeling the call for finding a deeper meaning and purpose.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
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Especially during the mid-life transition, there is often a call to transformation, to reinvention. This is not so much a mid-life crisis involving little red sports cars as it is a sense of dissatisfaction, of wanting something more, of longing to get in touch with a deeper, soulful part of self. Or of finding meaning and being able to give back to the world.<br />
<br />
Personally, I felt it most strongly during menopause, where everything I had done from age 30 to 49 began to drift away. I had been writing and publishing poetry, actively involved in the writing community doing readings and volunteering with the League of poets and local writers' organization, when I suddenly lost interest. I had two teens entering puberty at the same time as my hormones were rising, so the hot flash clash was part of this issue.<br />
<br />
But I remember going to a week long writers' retreat and discovering over the course of that time that my true interest was not in belonging to a literary group. I wanted to reach out to women like me, mothers who were at home, part-time or full-time and trying to find their creative flow. I was not motivated by literary prizes as much as getting together with a circle of women and exploring our needs, our themes, our angst and our blessings. My women's circle became a sacred space for me to feel seen and heard.<br />
<br />
The Creative Circle I was teaching from home sustained and fed me, as well as providing support for other women for about ten years, but then it happened again, I heard the call to reinvent myself. Maybe because I had been giving and supporting others all my life, as a eldest daughter, mother, and teacher, my well was a bit empty. I wondered how I could continue to serve while taking care of myself and feeding my soul. I took a year long course on Rites of Passage and how to create rituals so I could incorporate that on retreats with my circle of women and also celebrate their turning fifty.<br />
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But soon I was 60 and menopause long past. I was not an elder yet, nor a grandmother. Who was I now? What did I really want to do with my wild and precious life? I did what I often do when in a period of not knowing, I left for two weeks on a pilgrimage to Ireland visiting various sacred sites of the goddess with a Celtic Shaman. During a drumming ritual and ceremony, she helped remind me that my creative center was calling out for me to nourish it with something just for me. I came back still reluctant to stop leading workshops.<br />
<br />
I was, however, keenly interested in my mother's ancestors from Ireland. How had my great grandmother's voices been shut down, and how could I dialogue with their stories of anxiety, depression and other challenges, and learn more about my own? I began writing a memoir, using letters and information from my mother, my maternal aunts, and a memoir written by a great-aunt about her life in the early years of the 20th century. I lost my mother recently, at age 89, and feel a need to get back to that writing and expand it.<br />
<br />
All this to say, my life pattern since my mid-forties has been one of frequent reinvention, new projects, studying with teachers and travelling on pilgrimages, but above all, seeking to listen to the inner call and follow my intuition. Honing the feminine side and listening to my intuition may have been the real goal all along, rather than changing my role, giving myself a new job to do, or even a new book to write.<br />
<br />
This call to finding our core values or selves, and honour our inner depths, may lead us to leave behind certain roles or aspects of our selves. We may feel disoriented or lost in the maze of choices available to us and not know what we really want. I know many women in my circle have gone through this in their late forties and fifties.<br />
<br />
What I have found is that creative process has been so helpful - whether it's by using journal writing, taking a class on fairy tales and myth, using ritual and ceremony, or making collages and using the symbolic language of images, we need to find a way to go beyond our rational selves, and get back in touch with our deeper longing.<br />
<br />
This inner voice is often covered over by the outer world of busyness, or by guilt of not being seen as productive - which makes this confinement period a great gift - we may have less structured work time, more silence, more alone time, and more opportunity to reflect, and get a clearer picture of what the elements calling out to us are. If we choose to, of course. There is always the option to pig out on ice cream and chocolate, binge-watch shows on Netflix and zone out, which I also have resorted to over the past two months. Right now my hunger is for something real, something deep and authentic, and perhaps you feel that way too.<br />
<br />
What I want to offer you is a path to regain strength and serenity from simple practices that help to tend the soul, listen to your heart, and find where your life is calling you. Sorting and sifting, like Psyche in the underworld sorting peas and beans, is an essential task. Making peace with the past, embracing all the parts of us, the fabulous and the flawed, are also important mid-life tasks.<br />
<br />
Life is a process of growth and change. Little by little, we find new versions of ourselves waking up, or older versions and dreams we had forgotten being revealed. Paying attention to our lives requires we grow out of the limited awareness of ourselves as merely the 'roles' we play. Learning that our struggles and challenges are great teachers, and that we have hidden allies on our side, will help us discover our dreams, our loves and fears and bring new self-awareness, as Bud Harris, the author of Sacred Selfishness says. SoulCollage(R) and journaling have both helped me redefine who I am, embrace all the parts of myself, the fabulous and the flawed with greater self-compassion.<br />
<br />
I hope to offer an on-line class coming soon which will help us remember What Wants to be Born in You. It is never too late to dig deep and hear the call.<br />
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See my website for more information about what I offer and sign up for my newsletter so you can find out when this class will begin. online classes can be followed by zoom from the comfort of your living room or bedroom; a circle of support created with you in mind.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com/">www.jenniferboire.com</a><br />
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<br /></span>
<br /></div>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-2409004258096239012020-04-02T11:32:00.001-04:002020-10-14T10:36:14.997-04:00How Corona-Quarantine is a Descent Motif<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
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I am reminded today
that this pivotal moment has archetypal overtones and not just because it
reminds us of the Black Death, or the Plague in the middle ages. It brings me back
to a class I have taught several times called <i>The Heroine’s Journey</i> – based on
Joseph Campbell’s mythological studies of the structure of archetypal stories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Right now, in 2020, we
are experiencing a huge disorientation from the shutdown and fears generated by the global corona virus pandemic. Suddenly we are realizing it’s not going away in a matter of days or weeks, but probably months. Despite watching for clues from the
pundits on TV every day, the future remains unclear. We are living with the
Unknown every day. We have fallen through the rabbit hole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In other words, we
have stepped into a fairy tale or myth <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– we have stepped across a threshold into the unknown, just as the hero or heroine does in myth – they leave the known world and are faced with a new landscape, one in
which their bearings are thrown off. Nothing works the way it should. Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Persephone in the Underworld.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For most of us, there is
no office to go to, no clients to see, the kids are at home, not in
school, there is the prospect of illness and a sense of danger from the virus
keeping us on high alert. Even shopping for food has become fraught with danger. Our adrenal glands – the defenders – are on the ready
for fight, flight or freeze. Borders have been closed, we can't escape to
the country cottage. Some people have family in the hospital – like me - my 89-year-old
mother who went in for emergency gall bladder surgery a few days ago, now has pneumonia. We are not sure when or if she can even come home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So what does the
heroine do? She takes a deep breath, and looks for her Allies so she can face
her Challengers – but first she must name these challengers – it helps to Name them
and Claim them by writing them
down. That's where we begin on this quest motif.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Allies: Whimsical bear with Butterfly, Spirit Bear brings Hope </span></div>
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Check in with yourself. How am I feeling? What
is off kilter? Am I sleeping and eating well? Am I getting enough support or do
I feel alone and helpless? Are my childhood traumas of not being seen and heard
coming to the fore? How am I getting help? Who can I call on, and what are my
inner strengths? Who can I count on for help?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In my Heroine’s
Journey class, after the students found and named their Allies and Challengers, I had them imagine a deep cave full of crystals which they entered in a visualization, and
searched for 3 tools – three aspects or qualities that they could draw on – for
example, patience, courage, a brave heart. Or symbols that represented that – a
rose, a pot of herbal medicine, a sword.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do not under estimate
the power of your imagination. Our psyche loves to work with images, and uses metaphor
and symbol to communicate with our conscious self. You could do this work with
painting, drawing or collaging in an art journal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In our class, we made
SoulCollage® cards for our Allies, and our Challengers, using cut out images
chosen intuitively from magazines. I also suggested they make a Protector card –
to call up an image of their most powerful defender, Warrior Ally or Angel of
light they could picture, or maybe a strong animal guide, someone to have on their side, to have their back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Warrior with Wolf Energy & Medicine Bundle </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Once the allies were
found and met, the tools gathered, we began the descent, well equipped and less
fearful. The descent to the abyss is never our favorite part of the journey. It may
feel like entering a dark night of the soul. But again using imagery, imagine a caterpillar's transformation - first it has to spin its cocoon and sleep for a while. Did you know that before a caterpillar
becomes a butterfly, she actually dissolves into a liquid mass of cells and
then regrows into a butterfly with gorgeous wings? That is the transformation and turning point part of the journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Where we are at
right now in 2020 feels like the cocoon phase, or bug soup of uncertainty – outwardly we are facing the challenges of a new
life schedule, or we may have even settled into a kind of rhythm of working, studying
or staying at home, and fighting off germs by washing hands frequently and mask wearing. But the
inner mood may be dark – we may feel hopelessness setting in. The frequent depressing
news reports about the number of deaths, the number of infected, not just in
our town or city, our province or state, but in our country, and the whole world –
is all a bit staggering. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How do we get through the
Bug Soup phase? The quest story tells that we can't fight it, we can only advance by softening, allowing, accepting, and trusting the power of the dark to soothe
us and rock us and hold us. And by being grounded in our bodies, in touch with our intuitive knowing. This is the power of the inner Feminine, the earth mother, if you like. Imagine you are being held, soothed, coddled and sung to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">SoulCollage(R) card: Home and Hearth </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Perhaps you are like
me and are trying to stick to a routine, or perhaps you are dealing with
troubled clients and feeling maxed out like my husband, who is a financial adviser. This is where the wisdom of the
feminine comes in – that we can allow ourselves time every day to sink down into our bodies and feel
what we feel. That we can breathe into it and allow the allies of Stillness,
Surrender, and Simplicity to guide us. That we acknowledge how we feel, and
reach for what will truly help us – meditation, soothing music, yoga,
stretching, chicken soup, homemade chocolate chip cookies. The main thing is –
our old way of keeping busy will no longer work, or it may help for a little while but feels like a temporary
fix. Powering through will not help in the long run. We need the soft power of the deep
feminine, the inner knowing, a calming Presence to see us through and a lot of self-compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A suggestion for a new way of getting
through this challenge on this weird new journey, is to challenge yourself to not Soldier On Through as usual, but find a more yin way – be receptive,
gentle, inward, reflective. By rooting ourselves and grounding, moving slowly,
taking deep breaths, watching the sky, listening to the birds, keeping true to the
rhythm of life, the rhythm of </span>our body which is in need of more sleep, more rest, more exercise
(but not strenuous), more self-care. Be gentle in the cocoon phase.</span></div>
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Rest and Self-Care, Comforting Rituals </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’d like to reassure
you that just like in the myths and fairy tales there will be a happy ending. Know
that like in every Hero’s Journey, after the descent into the abyss, there is a
turning point –a moment of Hallelujah! a moment where your fears and tears turn
into hope and jubilation. It may be a small moment, a sick person turning the
corner and feeling well, a husband coming out of quarantine to rejoin his family, a collective moment of gratitude for the marvelous
generosity of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>human beings who are
helping us survive in hospitals, clinics, grocery stores and food production as people sing and clap in the streets and on their balconies.
Whatever it is, we give thanks for new learning, for new growth, for transformation
of hopelessness into Hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Return or end part of the
journey involves a return to life; it is a natural part of the cycle, like Spring after Winter; it’s a
rebirth or resurrection. A major part of the rebirth or recovery is that you have
now been gifted with new knowledge to take home with you, and share with the world.
You will receive the gifts of the depth work you have done. Then, in gratitude, you can give
thanks for the difficult lessons learned, and the revelation that the inner strength,
the courage you needed were there all along; the patience was there too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When this is all over,
how ever many months from now that will be, we will truly give thanks. I know I
will appreciate those hugs and kisses, those handshakes and greetings, the physical
closeness of my adult children, siblings and friends SO much more. In this time
of trials and uncertainty, have faith that the journey will wind around to its
conclusion, and then of course, a new beginning, another journey begins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">May we all be a little bit
wiser by then, a little more compassionate with ourselves and others, and in the meantime, hold
ourselves with love and acceptance during this adventure.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If this speaks to you, here is an exercise you can
do: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the myth I used as the basis for my class, the Sumerian goddess Inanna,
Queen of Heaven decides to go down into the underworld (hers is the first
written archetypal descent and rebirth story). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On her way down, at each gate she is stripped bare of every worldly power, all the symbols of her persona as Queen of Heaven – her
headdress or crown, her breastplate and armour, her lapis lazuli staff or
measuring rod, her jewels and her robe or dress. She arrives down there naked and
vulnerable before the eyes of Goddess of the Underworld, her sister Ereshkigal,
who looks at her with the eyes of death. Inanna’s corpse hangs on a hook for 3 days
until her assistant raises a hue and cry and the gods send some little
creatures representing the water and food of life to come and resurrect Inanna. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She rises again with new knowledge, the powers
of the Underworld and of Heaven are hers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Faq_i73chunMypAne_Ag7eMbKSoJxd8UTT6rxoFq-YK3Tm7MZA0FzFiLxSnd5AD8lnR5oUudh7oLUdECI2mKTznjIM_jCq755vLzz4UQ_Qm_NjEo4fOHbz4zZgTiK2GBFQ67/s1600/isolation+march+2020+soulcollage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="986" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Faq_i73chunMypAne_Ag7eMbKSoJxd8UTT6rxoFq-YK3Tm7MZA0FzFiLxSnd5AD8lnR5oUudh7oLUdECI2mKTznjIM_jCq755vLzz4UQ_Qm_NjEo4fOHbz4zZgTiK2GBFQ67/s320/isolation+march+2020+soulcollage.jpg" width="197" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Corona Virus Quarantine: Sheltering in Place </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I asked my students,
what they needed to let go of on their descent, like Inanna, or what had been stripped from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What I had to let go on my descent:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">shitty
shoulds</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> – the good girl, the perfectionist, the inner critic voices that
tell I am not doing enough, I am never enough. I should be less selfish, be
better, help the world more, do more.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Fear of
change</i>, of this new thing coming into being, of the unknown future; paralysis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Impatience</i>
– the pressure from my Yang inner masculine side – to be productive at all
costs. To not stop. To keep working harder. It’s hard for me to tread water,
stay in place, not go anywhere. Everything is on hold.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Doubt and
hesitation</i> – second guessing, not trusting my intuition, that inner voice of
wisdom. The more I listen, the stronger it gets.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Anxiety </i>about
putting everything off till later. I need to accept that I don’t have the head
space right now to write a book, research a new project. Patience with myself is required. Deep breaths, my allies are also
anti-anxiety herbs….calming tinctures, Tulsi tea, chill pills, cannabis tincture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Do you also feel like this
is a time of transition that could lead to a transformation?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Name your allies
and challengers - make a list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What do you need to
let go of in this descent period? What is being stripped away?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What are some of the hidden gifts you may receive?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I hope putting this
into an archetypal journey context has helped you. I may look at offering this
course again on-line, once my bug soup phase is ended…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span>much peace to you,</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p>jennifer</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-24280319242238579382020-03-26T13:38:00.001-04:002020-03-26T13:45:24.170-04:00Corona Quarantine Update<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSAb3BydrWzO4cBXfDhV8lM3EzWCqSPePV77qBgXIW7QB5cu7NJu4GBJ6eJWGcWn5xgLEBqeOfuy2vabI7H4Jnl6j4apBj0qbY13x4NiovduzOCWlsGxQ47cMc__erGJlm5_a/s1600/homeandhearth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1030" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSAb3BydrWzO4cBXfDhV8lM3EzWCqSPePV77qBgXIW7QB5cu7NJu4GBJ6eJWGcWn5xgLEBqeOfuy2vabI7H4Jnl6j4apBj0qbY13x4NiovduzOCWlsGxQ47cMc__erGJlm5_a/s320/homeandhearth.JPG" width="206" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
SoulCollage(R) card: Home and Hearth</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s a blast to be at home
full-time, isn’t it? I feel safe, protected, not too lonely cause of Skype, Zoom and whatever tools to stay connected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But what a drag
to have all my outside classes for the next two months cancelled! I planned, prepared and wrote scripts for
retreats and workshops; I booked rooms and paid deposits and advertised like
crazy; I made videos to promote my retreat, communicated with people who were interested
in SoulCollage® training, workshops and intros like never before….all to have
it be postponed due to this beep-beep virus. I will be writing a newsletter soon, once I have some new dates to announce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hey, but on the bright
side, Jacques and I got some singing done. My hubby and I are half of Silk Sky Band </span><a href="https://www.silkskyband.com/">https://www.silkskyband.com/</a> and we love
singing acoustic duets together. I love harmonizing with him (36 years ago, that's how we met!) He works from home since the past two weeks, and is
loving it - working without having to deal with traffic, without constant interruptions, but he also spends a lot of draining time on phone
calls with nervous clients. It’s been a rocky road for the market and investors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzvAKtqRQE653KclsdIS12h4t839Xh8Z1TU2bVH6WhhqhOrzWmd4ly2QWbcamRxqrt4y5a4x6mTTE-okctndpuirV5ogrKAj6HGGC_ALSsDbHWDShKnwgRpXOcS4_We1Xxql3/s1600/Jacquessingstogeese2020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzvAKtqRQE653KclsdIS12h4t839Xh8Z1TU2bVH6WhhqhOrzWmd4ly2QWbcamRxqrt4y5a4x6mTTE-okctndpuirV5ogrKAj6HGGC_ALSsDbHWDShKnwgRpXOcS4_We1Xxql3/s320/Jacquessingstogeese2020.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At least we have
each other – right? I have three sisters and two brothers who are single and I can sympathize. We went to Florida one week, then two weeks together at home, three meals a day, evenings binge watching Netflix on the couch, getting out to walk the dog together…until she had a little back pain episode two days ago; her
legs just gave out on her briefly and she couldn’t get up - she lay there making a horrendous noise for a minute until we got her into her crate and then to the vet. She’s better
now, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on more pain medication, as well as her heart
medication, and yeah, at 15 she’s probably reached her best by date. Poor little Mollie, our Shiztu-Bichon mix, little cutie, who still gets heads turning when we walk
with her, is not going to have any long walks for two weeks. She is good company, if quiet these days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-1w3tT0ArqC986BLwMbFczkHxGAstY_CD7sumB9FseeW4wEmPgtcR4s4cu0nvu9IpmY3_dagRq3z_PYJLoQINXkS6lkU0SAKXv-cxnjSVVmxu3gu1ZI6-Lwbn_S_Db_Kedev/s1600/Mollie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-1w3tT0ArqC986BLwMbFczkHxGAstY_CD7sumB9FseeW4wEmPgtcR4s4cu0nvu9IpmY3_dagRq3z_PYJLoQINXkS6lkU0SAKXv-cxnjSVVmxu3gu1ZI6-Lwbn_S_Db_Kedev/s200/Mollie.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All this down time - what to do? I don’t know how
productive you all are. But I can’t seem to concentrate. I thought this quiet time would help me reflect and focus on my writing. Hmmm, instead what I find
is that every two days my anxiety amps up, and I need to do something like lie
on the floor and breathe, or watch a video with some EFT, or take a chill pill.
Especially if I have to go out somewhere, with gloves and mask, to pick up
groceries or get to the notary to sign the closing on our new hobby farm! I
feel like I should be overjoyed to get outside, but instead I’m even more
nervous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are so many
unknowns, and for a control freak like myself, probably traumatized in
childhood from growing up in an alcoholic environment with tons
of unexpected, unpredictable little crisis’s popping up, these unknowns are a little bit scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See, that little ball of worry in
my tummy, it comes from past experiences and rushes up to greet me in this new
crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Anyways, I keep active, and creative and love making SoulCollage® cards and collages in my art
journal. However, my brain is too full of worry to calm down and write
creatively. I'm giving myself a pass on that one. And I am reading a lot instead. I have read four or five novels in the
past two weeks (I know, I’m a speed reader). Good thing Amazon and Chapters deliver!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for family, I keep in
touch with our almost 30-year-old son and his wife, and our 27-year-old
daughter by Facetime and their favorite app HouseParty. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiJzBGB1ncCZqEtrQCQxROmvNb0CHsGCi7VvV8h4OFlYWW44yYa9F-07wTVa_AmHqkFYR5aZ9sLsh-qJ8A0DxVHUGEGqdBpl4SGQwwFaYMvrsFsUbnXgWpqkicB7xaO5dUH3B/s1600/touchscreenswithvirus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiJzBGB1ncCZqEtrQCQxROmvNb0CHsGCi7VvV8h4OFlYWW44yYa9F-07wTVa_AmHqkFYR5aZ9sLsh-qJ8A0DxVHUGEGqdBpl4SGQwwFaYMvrsFsUbnXgWpqkicB7xaO5dUH3B/s320/touchscreenswithvirus.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) card: Touch me through the Screen</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We call or email with
siblings and my 89 year old mom,, we see neighbours walk by and occasionally stop and chat at a good six
foot distance. (the local policemen drive by on motorcycles checking out the parks and gathering places). We do not feel isolated, yet, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and we do have a pretty scenic view of the St
Lawrence where it widens out into Lac St Louis, right in back of the house; barring any
spring floods, with all the recent Geese flocking here on the ice floes, it’s been
very peaceful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My relationship with
the wild world is increasing. Definitely gonna make a card for those Canada Geese because they
are good guardians and companions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The most fun thing we’ve
done so far, besides making popcorn and watching the show Sex Education (a hoot!) on Netflix, is do some singing and post it on Facebook. We received a lot of good feedback, so I
put two songs up on my YouTube channel. That’s a first! Life is Beautiful! </span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos">https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We also
shared some of our favorite songs on a new playlist on Spotify called Corona Conge</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (means Corona holiday),
with some uplifting, heart-full and happy songs. </span>It's public. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LpjAh6Jk1rnuLrcSjMeau">https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LpjAh6Jk1rnuLrcSjMeau</a> One of them is by Alison Kraus
and James Taylor (two of our faves) doing “How’s the world treating you?” <br />
<br />
So that’s my question for today, How is the
isolation-stay-at-home sheltering in place working for you?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Love and hugs, toodles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jenn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">www.jenniferboire.com</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-19579382406253451132020-03-24T12:35:00.001-04:002020-03-24T12:37:02.930-04:00corona quarantine song LifeisBeautiful<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0O2uvBEbEYE?clip=&clipt=EAAYAA%3D%3D" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
We sang this last Saturday during our Corona Quarantine<br />
Am uploading a few such songs to my YouTube channel<br />
<br />
Enjoy and spread the Love and Light!<br />
<br />
Music heals,<br />
<br />
Life is Beautiful, by Keb Mo<br />
<br />
Jacques & Jenn<br />
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-24461888647061846322020-03-19T14:51:00.000-04:002020-03-19T14:51:12.410-04:00Good News: Spring Equinox and Canada Geese ReturnIf you haven't noticed, but I'm sure you have, there is only news about the coronovirus on the tele, radio and in the newspapers. Everything else has shrunk to invisibility.<br />
<br />
Today, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, the breaking news is that Spring has sprung, the geese are returning in grand conflagrations, honking all night outside my window. We have a front row seat, or should I say, a back yard seat, to this glorious gathering - no social distancing is being practiced and the rules of isolation do not apply.<br />
<br />
It makes my heart glad to see and hear them. I saw my first robin as well, and a few cardinals have been peeping and piu-ing all week. On my walks along the Lakeshore (part bike path, part pedestrian and only one lane for cars), I have never seen so many kids on bikes, skateboards, scooters, and loads of happy smiling faces glad to get outdoors after a long Canadian winter, and despite much self-isolation and quarantine. I heard one mom say, no dear we won't go down the boat ramp to see the geese, there are too many people. We are all respecting our 1 metre (or is it 2?) distances.<br />
<br />
But what a glorious thing, despite the terror, confusion and tumult of health crisis, economic crisis and lock-down everywhere imaginable (except apparently on Florida March break beaches!), we are thriving and surviving.<br />
<br />
Now I know my neighbourhood is mostly protected from financial hardships - my husband is working from home but his salary is not affected. Others I know who are self-employed fitness instructors, yoga instructors, workshop leaders like myself, and airline attendants who are laid off, are not so lucky because all gyms are closed, schools and universities may be closed for the term, and nobody is getting massaged, or trained or even treated at the osteopath.<br />
<br />
So inspite of this gloomy scenario, I do feel better today, on day 7 of our quarantine. It may be the chill pill I took to help rid me of anxiety attack this morning...but hey, whatever helps you stay calm, I say. Yoga, meditation, listening to soothing music, and yes, creativity! I have made four SoulCollage(R) cards since Monday, done several readings, in groups on Zoom and alone at home. And journaled to keep my heart happy. Art journaling is another passtime that brings me into flow and serenity. My poor hubby is caught up in the financial crisis, holding his clients' hands and trying to reassure them all is not lost. So I am really aware that these are troubled times.<br />
<br />
I took a short video of the geese and put it on both my Facebook pages, if you want to get a taste of spring. Get outside and celebrate the return of the light. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/beyourownoracle/posts/?ref=notif">https://www.facebook.com/pg/beyourownoracle/posts/?ref=notif</a><br />
<br />
It won't stay dire forever. Keep hope alive.<br />
<br />
xxxxx<br />
jenn<br />
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SoulCollage(R) card: Coronovirus pandemic panic </div>
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I am one who is too aware of all the social media posts and warnings.</div>
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I am one who seeks balance in this tipsy turvy time.</div>
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I seek to switch my focus to what is well in the world.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLr7gQ_jRWygx8VQi1-HGt3K8zR7KEkQxXAZx5FikM6NXnpqLlQrzk1AgVyNfls3dPMP_3VCephsVUFTudIIp_ncylA9QTGr_V3fevQ8pLEVkkeVBMvgGgtU1N3_AhueYmLkm/s1600/isolation+march+2020+soulcollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="986" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLr7gQ_jRWygx8VQi1-HGt3K8zR7KEkQxXAZx5FikM6NXnpqLlQrzk1AgVyNfls3dPMP_3VCephsVUFTudIIp_ncylA9QTGr_V3fevQ8pLEVkkeVBMvgGgtU1N3_AhueYmLkm/s320/isolation+march+2020+soulcollage.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>
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I am one who is dealing with the isolation well.</div>
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I feel calm and at peace, if a bit lonely.</div>
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Social distancing and solituded are my natural habitat.</div>
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but I do miss my 'school' of fish, retreats and workshops.</div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-14377527059088190442020-02-02T11:19:00.001-05:002020-02-02T11:19:46.758-05:00Harvesting Inner Beauty Feb1<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aPRpSger74c" width="480"></iframe>Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-6252880352513681452020-01-29T11:39:00.001-05:002020-01-29T11:39:17.278-05:00Transitions: how to take care of your self when you hit a rough patch <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I hit a rough
patch, I usually have two choices: to call on the Warrior, the get up and go
survivor who keeps on keeping on, or to call on the Caretaker archetype, the soft,
soothing one who wants to fall back into bed with a cozy blanket and have a
nap.</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am a stubborn mix of
both, Warrior and Caretaker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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It must stem from the way I was raised - I was brought up an army captain Dad, who was an engineer, a planner and builder, a competitive guy who loved sports and worked hard.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcVNu50Aw3INxZbWx0X1lc6YaPbSomS9B72pebfuYqYNF8mC7WSApfGk0EkL8dqTCPCYjZhKJsVGPeBl86pNU9NizvdYAQ3888a-YIrd6EKXopBVEx1Hi1LaeFIgzsIrKsOOw/s1600/Dad+sawing+Braeside.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcVNu50Aw3INxZbWx0X1lc6YaPbSomS9B72pebfuYqYNF8mC7WSApfGk0EkL8dqTCPCYjZhKJsVGPeBl86pNU9NizvdYAQ3888a-YIrd6EKXopBVEx1Hi1LaeFIgzsIrKsOOw/s320/Dad+sawing+Braeside.JPG" width="180" /></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He brought us out into the woods
to chop down our own Christmas tree and if we complained our feet were cold he
would encourage us to stamp our feet and clap our hands. He got us out the door
(almost on time) every Sunday, to mass at 11:00 am<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in spite of my mom’s dawdling or purposeful
resistance to getting ready on time. He was a leader, a manager, a pusher and a
striver. He got things done and he taught us to do the same – shine your shoes,
iron your clothes, stand up straight, eat everything on your plate and don’t
whine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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My dad would push me to compete in races even when I just knew my wee little legs wouldn’t go as fast on skates as the other kids. “I can’t” was my motto. Yet I loved winning at cards, and I was often left “in charge” of my younger siblings. He was my hero in spite of everything.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My mom was an
alcoholic in recovery for most of my life, and as a young mother she was quickly
overwhelmed by having eight kids in ten years, one after the other. She was a beautiful,
bohemian spirit at heart who would have made a great writer or journalist but instead
worked as a secretary and got married at age 21 (1953). She was brought up Catholic,
so no birth control was allowed. She cried easily, used the fly swatter to keep
us in line, but had a kind, generous heart, loved telling stories and at the
bottom was a good caretaker, making us ginger ale and orange juice fizzy drinks
when we had measles, mumps, scarlet fever, or chicken pox….imagine four little girls
all sick at the same time, nestled in our bunkbeds with the blinds drawn, and
her running up and down the narrow stairs in that 3-bedroom house in the
country where the pipes froze often in winter. We lived there until I was
twelve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All that to say, I grew
up a feminist in my teens, believing she was the weak one, seemingly pushed around
by her stronger, bully husband. She was a homemaker, not a role model for me, not a ‘success’ in the outer world – yet, she is still here,
a survivor at 89, and he died at 83….she, who can barely digest anything and
weighs 90 lbs, has all kinds of health issues from depression to IBS and a heart
valve, still smokes, and still survives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Who am I to call her weak?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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She was the one who
sang to us, <i>Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile,
smile</i>. If we were feeling sorry for ourselves, or whimpering, she’d sing, “<i>Nobody
loves me, everybody hates me, I’m going to the garden to eat worms.</i>” We didn’t
cry much in front of her. She grew up in the depression and lived through WWII
so she learned a thing or two about Keeping On.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So I am definitely on
the fence about how to treat myself in a rough patch - not sure how I feel about this self-compassion thing everybody touts in the yoga and
Buddhist community. I am a big proponent of self-care, self-love, and kindness, theoretically. But is it self pity? If I'm truthful with myself, I have a harsh inner critic, nourished and watered from
childhood by the belief in Strength, Courage, Soldiering On with the battle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I hate whiners. </span>Those who fail, are doomed. Those who give up,
die. It’s like I am living with WWII forever in my head. The photos and articles
on the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Auschwitz drum it in to us – to survive,
you have to resist, you have to believe, you have to fight. Never surrender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Warrior Courage with Cougar Protector</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’m lying in yoga class when
this insight comes to me. I want to stay in assisted child-pose for another
twenty minutes. I want restorative yoga, not strength building, ab-crunching
plank pose. Yet, I also want that muscle strength so that when I do downward dog
or sun salutation, I can lift myself with ease. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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Where is the middle ground,
where I can be strong and soft at the same time? Without fear of collapsing
like my mother into a depressive, hoarding mess, (she survives, but she lives
in a very disorganized house), or becoming too strident and harsh, in army
captain mode, pushing myself beyond my limits all the time, feeling overwhelmed
and fatigued.</div>
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Caretaker Archetype</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So that is my question
this morning and I don’t have the answer. I do not want to fall into self-pity,
but I also recognize the signs of frozen emotion and know that not allowing myself
to cry is not the answer either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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As I lay there, tearing
up in corpse pose, (<b>the</b> best recompense of a tough yoga class) the feeling of
Presence overcame me. A feeling of a soft, loving power greater than me, a light inside, a
feeling I cannot describe. In that moment, everything was ok. All was well. I wanted to stay there longer and soak it up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Maybe that is the
middle ground I seek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the struggle
quiets down, when the noise in the head calms, when the body lies still. But now, class is over, it’s up and at em, ready to carry that Peace into my day, like a Peace Warrior
fighting with calm, reminding myself to simply be Present, Curious, Aware,
self-compassionate, and kind to others as well. Let the tears fall, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For we are all
fighting a hard battle, inside – and we must be kind not only to others, but to ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p>namest,</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p>jenn</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-74442645724776881872020-01-14T09:38:00.001-05:002020-01-14T09:38:41.118-05:00Visioning 2020 and New Starts<i><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have
come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have
begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The
impeded stream is the one that sings." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Wendell Berry</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></i>
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SoulCollage(R) card: Take a Flying Leap </div>
<i><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></i>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It seems change is the only constant. We are in constant flux, even those of us who rigidly resist change will grow older, lose loved ones, contract illnesses that force us to rest or review our lifestyle; we watch our children grow up and become parents, and if you are a woman, you could potentially even go through at least three metamorphoses from puberty to pregnancy and menopause, where your body transforms and you lose an old identity to become a new person.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here we are at the start of a new year, and perhaps the whole month of January is a good time to revision what came last year, and what is coming ahead in 2020. Perhaps you are in the middle of a reevaluation, a reinvention or transition of some kind. Perhaps you are ready to take a leap, but have a fear of the unknown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I seem to go through transitions regularly - in the early fall of 2019 I remember facing the new season with a certain amount of resistance. There were big changes in my role as facilitator that made me uncertain, fearful or just plain stuck, blocked. Something new was on the horizon, I hadn't stepped into it fully yet, and it felt overwhelming or just mystifying. Who will I be if I let go of how I used to be, or what I was doing before? Who will I become?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The creative process of SoulCollage(R) is a great tool for exploring these inner parts of self - to use the random intuitive side of the brain to choose images, create cards for them, and dialogue with them to find out what new insights or perspectives my inner wise self comes up with. Especially when I feel stuck, I am always surprised by the depth and wisdom my own psyche discovers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Looking back from this vantage point, the frozen dam got unblocked and a wealth of new connections were made, the energy I needed arrived, and the new year has begun with many new opportunities for exploration and growth. I did get some counselling help, which was wonderful, to be able to say out loud what had been simmering underneath. And my daily card readings helped clarify my relationship to some underlying issues.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What transitions are you facing? Is there something unclear, some unknown future beckoning to you? A change coming that you are resisting? At midlife this happens frequently - and according to psychologist Elizabeth Strazar, the midlife shift involves the awakening and emergence of the soul - a longing for creative inspiration, meaning-making and spiritual connection. Our deeper self wants to be seen and heard.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Come explore those inner parts of self and let them out to play with a creative process I love, SoulCollage(R), on Sunday, Feb 2 at the Yellow Umbrella Center in Beaconsfield, Quebec from 1-4 pm. We will find some allies, discover what our challengers are, and find some of the gifts hiden in the bottom of our travel bag. No art experience is necessary.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You will be amazed by the surprising inner wisdom that pops up with the use of your imagination, your intuition and selected images. The soul speaks the language of images. And you may find some inner guidance that satisfies you in this time of transition. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SoulCollage(R) is the doorway to your inner wisdom.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">see the link on my Home page under Events <a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com/">www.jenniferboire.com</a></span></span><br />
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Heart Focus card </div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>"Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are
always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up
in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an
ideal situation, a situation in which we don't get caught and we can open our
hearts and minds beyond limit. It's a very tender, non-aggressive, open-ended
state of affairs." -
Pema Chodron</i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-7428878580970814712020-01-13T17:25:00.001-05:002020-01-14T09:43:05.174-05:00Harvesting Inner Beauty Day Long Retreat Sunday March 29, 2020<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgfrsz5YFCE" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
COME OUT AND PLAY WITH TWO CREATIVE PROCESSES: SOULCOLLAGE(R) AND INTUITIVE MOVEMENT.<br />
<br />
SUNDAY MARCH 29, 10-4:30<br />
<br />
$85 - EARLY BIRD SPECIAL SAVE $20 -<br />
<br />
REGISTER NOW! www.jenniferboire.com<br />
<br />
watch this video to find out more about what Kim and I are offering. Our true beauty is shining within us, if we have the eyes to see!<br />
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-66608944699988143032019-11-29T14:35:00.001-05:002019-11-29T14:39:28.797-05:00Sacred Feminine in the Center of the Circle Dear readers,<br />
<br />
I had such a beautiful morning and am feeling like sharing a bit of it with you. This has been my year of trying new things - a new Dance your Bliss class, seeing a counsellor bi-weekly ot overcome some writing blocks, attending a drum circle for the first time, and today I got brave and attended a Red Tent circle in Hudson, Quebec.<br />
<br />
Run by Aine Sun, a beautiful heart-centered woman, this new Dana Center is a place for women to gather, listen to each other, share their stories and feel welcomed, seen and heard, with a minimum of ritual and ceremony.<br />
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Being seen and heard myself this morning, made me feel like a bucket of sunshine had been poured on my heart. I have been in a lot of circles in the past 20 years, lead some, started some, and I always come away from that deep listening space feeling renewed and happy. It's simple, in a way, that really all we want is to be accepted for who we are, have a short space to express how we feel, and feel the invisible embrace of listening hearts mirroring back to us, I am valuabe, I am loved.<br />
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SoulCollage(R) card: Brigid </div>
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On my drive home, I thought back to 1986, when I went back to University here in Montreal to study creative writing and a minor in women's studies. I already thought of myself as a feminist since my teens, bu my thirties I had let that slide a little. I loved the courses on mythology and women's religions around the world, and on women's literature. It began a life-long fascination with writing the feminine, writing about taboo subjects - breastfeeding, sex during pregnancy, the joy of children in their bodies, (although my daughter when she was seven or eight did not appreciate coming across my poem of her vulva dance, dancing with blue chalk all over her two year old body, like a little Goddess), and later a book on the emotional turmoil at menopause.<br />
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I have written about the feminine mysteries of menstruation and menopause, published articles and books, taken courses like the one I'm doing online right now called Goddesses of Self-Care, read a ton of books about When God was a Woman, and the 5,000 year period since the goddess has been demonized and relegated to the underworld as a witch or fertility figure. But now, today, I felt the light fill me up from within. I felt this sacred part of me could shine as I danced to some gentle music at the end, mybody was moving in tune with the heart-filled center, the feminine essence.<br />
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My struggles to understand both the feminine and the masculine as archetypes, and release myself from wounds and patterns instilled during childhood, have lead me here - to embrace the sacred feminine at the center of my being, as a living energy, not a stone statue, nor a picture on a wall, but inside my flesh and bone, my belly and thighs, my breasts and uterus, my legs and arms and all.<br />
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I can dance with my sacred feminine life energy in the center of my body. I share my appreciation, my wounded brokenness, my joy and my wild feminine life force with other women in the circle.<br />
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Next thing I'm going to do is take every book I have written, every poem, every class offering on the feminine, and dance around it, to celebrate my creative participation in awakening the goddess within, the sacred feminine energy of life within.<br />
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Aho!<br />
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Watch me dance!<br />
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-69315277696520722502019-10-11T11:22:00.001-04:002019-10-11T11:23:24.110-04:00Healing the inner masculine, Journaling and SoulCollage®<br />
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Sometimes our inner
world throws us a curve ball, we are thrown into chaos or confusion internally,
the way ahead appears to be lost. I finally got up the courage to see a
counsellor to work through some resistance I felt to starting my list of projects.
It was the beginning of fall, and I was busy planning workshops, retreats, and proposing
to write a book about my father. It’s difficult to not feel like my usual
creative self. And it’s even harder to ask for help, to admit that I feel
stuck, and uninspired. I set myself up as the Inner Wisdom Guide for Pete’s
sake. It took me six months to make the call, but I’m glad I did, even if it
feels very vulnerable to even talk about.</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We started talking
about my life, my family of origin, and of course, my mother’s alcoholism and
how I was raised to be the little mother, a good Catholic girl, the eldest, responsible one.
For a few sessions, she asked me to prod into any residual anger that may be
blocking my energy. I couldn't feel any anger, just sadness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Good Girl Saying Grace (angel watching) </div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Because I work with
SoulCollage®, I showed her some of my cards and she was willing to work this way. Talking was helping, but I needed to consult my cards to see what
they had to say about how to deal with any simmering anger hidden under the
surface. Who would help me deal with that? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first card that appeared was one I named <b>Healing
the Masculine</b>. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The image on the card is of a bronze statue with a broken
right arm, being cleaned by a female archeologist, against the backdrop of the
Aegean Sea, or ancient Greece. My right arm has been chronically stiff, first with
calcific bursitis, then a frozen shoulder and has been bothering me for almost
ten years. I’ve had every kind of treatment, from physiotherapy, osteopathy, rolfing,
acupuncture and now talk therapy. Looking at this card, I realized the one who
carried rage in our home was my father. I looked up to him as a role model
because my mother had collapsed, checked out in my teen years with drinking and
depression. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> My dad </span>was an engineer, a logical thinker, an army captain, a man
who always wanted to excel at what he did, who graduated with honours. But who
had demons of his own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Healing Inner Masculine</div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In search of more answers
about this imbalance of masculine and feminine, I’m also consulting books,
getting massages, and trying to figure out how to be less numb, more in touch
with my body. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What I’m learning and what
I feel intuitively is that the way to heal the masculine is by approaching the
inner feminine, those values I always forget are my healing medicine – rest,
receptivity and allowing feelings to arise. Being at home allows me to take the
time required, and embrace my Inner Hestia, the side of me that loves to putter
in the house, who heals herself and others with chicken soup, slow simmered stews,
herbal tinctures and teas (especially in fall and winter). The cozy home and
sanctuary is already here, if I can only appreciate it. They say compassion
begins at home, so Jennifer, it’s time to lay down the sword and mantle, the
staff of being the one in charge, put aside the crown of Overarching Boss of Everything.
Descend, my lady, to your inner comfort zone and refill the well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This does feel
awkward, not in line with the goal setting I’ve been doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since last year I’ve been revamping my
website, gearing up to lead trainings for facilitators, which involves more
workshops, outreach and marketing. I also have a few creative projects, singing
with my husband in a band, as well as a barbershop quartet, publishing a book
of poems with translation, there are lots of pots on the burners. So it feels a
bit backwards to be focusing on doing less when there is so much I want to do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DJ2u8g6p3XQygXMgPwgL3OENZKHMx0xvHqaVNjKYXXpdgH2Hnq5IREppSYcQ3wWEzuWEFz-y_bYoYyZFkXnmceYd2ZP0VW3MmBz9hem5Dw5q9KEGrqBnYMmW4We0Pv-FQEz0/s1600/motherearthhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="998" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DJ2u8g6p3XQygXMgPwgL3OENZKHMx0xvHqaVNjKYXXpdgH2Hnq5IREppSYcQ3wWEzuWEFz-y_bYoYyZFkXnmceYd2ZP0VW3MmBz9hem5Dw5q9KEGrqBnYMmW4We0Pv-FQEz0/s320/motherearthhome.jpg" width="199" /></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It feels absolutely unheroic
and unproductive: instead of going up and at ‘em, dreaming big, and expanding
my reach, for the moment, I’m headed down and in, asking questions of my body, and
composting the dark shadowy stuff in the heart. I’ve always been one to counsel
others to listen carefully to the body’s wisdom and practice self-care. Now
it’s my turn (menopause was also a big teaching moment about descent into
feeling). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not time to Go Big or Go
Home. It’s time to find out where Home is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At 65, I have accomplished
most of my dreams already: I am grateful for my wonderful hubby and grown
children, beautiful home, a creative community of women, working with
SoulCollage®, and journaling. There were a few disappointments -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>two miscarriages, and none of the books I
published were best sellers. But the books did bring me out in the public for
speaking engagements. And I have had the opportunity to study with some amazing
teachers, Dr. Clarissa PInkola Estes, Nathalie Goldberg, Joan Borysenko, Cat
Caracelo, and Mariabruna Sirabella. Maybe this is a good time to digest what I
have learned, and explore where my passions lie. I still have lots to share,
and more to grow, but my soul purpose will only be achieved if live in
connection with my heart and body, not just my head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s not always about
being productive, and doing more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For some of us, who
are always striving for bigger and better, an illness we need to be cured of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– embracing our flawed, imperfect selves and
limitations can be a huge relief and healing balm. When I accept myself, and feel
enough, when I know that I am small but mighty, I can relax. I can trust my
intuitive knowing to lead me (which often goes against the received wisdom of coaches
and marketing execs). I do not feel the need to go faster, dream bigger or be better
than I am. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It feels like back peddling
sometimes, this downward, inward work, but it also feels good, like a big
release, like something transformative is taking place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ideally, I imagine
standing up for myself with self-protection, rooting and grounding in presence and
real-ness. Learning to acknowledge and know my limits, being able to say, I can
do this and no more, and calling in my angels and guides to support me. Maybe I’ll
even learn the ability to say no without feeling bad at displeasing others. Mostly,
I realize, the one I fear displeasing is my own inner Father figure, who
expected only the best from me but installed a very loud critic voice in my
right ear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I think it’s also time
to release the superwoman rescuer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
cannot take on all the woes of the world and still feel my inner Wow. I feel a
deep need to self-nurture in a cocoon for a while, and have that be ok. I have
one foot in the underworld these days, as I release the hold of the inner
tyrant, and learn to snuggle in the arms of the Great Mother, the eternal
feminine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some weeping happens, as I
write in my journal and of course, having the support of a counsellor lightens
the load.</span></div>
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Great Mother/Nurturer as Tree</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I had a curious dream
last night – I was playing a violin in a
trio with my husband, for a party indoors. We were looking in at them, from outside
on the porch, and a very tall woman stood there, bare breasted, with large
pendulous breasts, nursing a baby. I leaned over drew the bow across her breast
and drops of milk came out through the skin. I was in awe of the power of those
breasts. It felt like a puzzle, and I was not afraid, only curious. Intrigued. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The power of the feminine is like the power of milk, it feeds our hunger. The
power of the feminine is to nurture, hold, soul tend, be tender.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That is how my path is
unfolding right now, on this healing journey, moving towards embracing what I
am, and what I was born to be, a woman who forgives herself for not being
perfect, who can hang out <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here in the
shadow realms as long as needed, so I can learn to love myself, just the way I
am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Battling Dragons collage</div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-44389430896932726842019-09-21T11:50:00.001-04:002019-09-21T11:52:16.547-04:00Peace Day Video Prem Rawat in Conversation with Jeremy Giller<a href="https://www.timelesstoday.tv/interview-peace-day-2019?utm_source=email&utm_medium=edition_141&mc_cid=077d5116a3&mc_eid=dd3bf34d86#.XYZGRWcdzoA.blogger">TimelessToday</a>: The Message of Prem Rawat<br />
<br />
Click on the link above to watch this heartwarming and touching vide, the perfect way to enjoy Peace Day.<br />
<br />
They talk about the importance of the need for action now, to reach each individual, the importance of love, and of family, very deep.<br />
<br />
enjoy the video - about 22 min long.<br />
<br />
xxxx<br />
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-39243307708770134762019-05-27T14:05:00.000-04:002019-05-27T14:06:10.416-04:00Midlife tasks : Rite of passage, Crisis or Transition? <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So much gold can be found in transition times, but mostly, we feel challenged by the unexpected shifts, changes and challenges - whether it's menopause, divorce, the death of a spouse, parent or child, job loss, empty nest or chronic illness - we are propelled into a process of Change, forced into letting go of the old way, and freaked out perhaps at what has not yet been revealed as the New Normal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This wonderful article really helped me reframe the mid-life transition, not as a crisis but as an opportunity for personal growth, a time to take inventory mid-journey and decide what is really important, finding meaning and purpose in the second half of life as a quest for authenticity. I especially like that she says creativity plays a central role in supporting this mid-life review. It also calls on our inner boldness and courage to be inventive and creative in the second half of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Here is a short synopsis of the tasks that help us do this: (ps journaling and SoulCollage(R) have helped me get started on these.)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Midlife is a
time when our wisdom knocks at the door, sometimes forcefully in form of a
crisis or life-changing moment. The following midlife tasks support a
life-review and provide helpful signposts along the way: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Access Repressed Dreams and Unexpressed
Aspects of Self <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tell
and Revise Life Stories <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tend
to Regrets and Shame <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Name and Tame Fears and Inner Barriers <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Make
Peace with the Past <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Clarify Values and Goals <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Redefine Body Image and Sexuality <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Deepen
Confidence to Live Wholeheartedly and Authentically <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Transform
Anger into Self-Advocacy and Action <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Identify
Personal Gifts and Passions <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Offer
Gifts and Passions to the World <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Balance
Tending to Others and Tending to Self <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Reformulate Intimate Relationships Based on
Speaking and Honoring Core Needs and Personal Truths <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spiritual
Quest: Define Meaning and Purpose <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nurture
Creativity and Creative Self-Expression <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Cultivate
a deeper imaginary with self and others<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Trust
intuition and wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Explore
and create new possibilities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Discover
more meaning and purpose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Journaling questions to help you gain clarity:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What are my
unique gifts?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What dreams,
goals and longings have I neglected? (ie what did I used to love, or dream of
doing?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
self-doubts and insecurities block me from being the best version of myself?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What beliefs
undermine the expression of my full potential?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I
need to give myself permission to let go of?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I
need to give myself permission to embrace?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What are the
missing pieces (unmet needs) from my childhood that I can now give to myself?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What feels
challenging and leaves me feeling drained?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What brings
me peace and satisfaction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What brings
me alive, excites me and gives me joy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I
value the most in myself?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What qualities
do I admire in others?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What would I
like others to have said they learned from me?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Allow any newly
emerging ideas and feelings, goals and beliefs to surface. Honour and hold them
safe, and if you need to feel held in a safe container, find a counselor who
will do so, allowing your rite of passage to continue to unfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Adapted from
an article <b>Midlife: the Tasks of the
Journey</b>, by Elizabeth Strazar, MA, LPC Thimble Island Counseling </span><a href="http://www.elizabethstrazar.com/"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">www.elizabethstrazar.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-84374112394078619992019-05-23T11:31:00.000-04:002019-05-23T11:32:02.356-04:00Here be Dragons: Transition Times, Facing the Unknown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3h_T6uyOZ2pUi_ASCJ-n3M7l6DOfpEGiqbRJ6aDgaQvFn_Ba-iATT-guH4wMAFNxg5f-pObvaG06J7GDgAgaGAMaQ7zt4R9UE9THhkQcWqOHGmSf_aJ8j6gA5_c1046SQTug/s1600/dragoninthecave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1012" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3h_T6uyOZ2pUi_ASCJ-n3M7l6DOfpEGiqbRJ6aDgaQvFn_Ba-iATT-guH4wMAFNxg5f-pObvaG06J7GDgAgaGAMaQ7zt4R9UE9THhkQcWqOHGmSf_aJ8j6gA5_c1046SQTug/s320/dragoninthecave.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) Card: Taming the Dragon </div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span style="color: #0d0c0c; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">“The
human spirit is capable of an endless number of extraordinary feats. It is a
dragon slayer, animating its presence within our being to challenge images and
thoughts that arise from the depths of our darkness, intent upon reshaping how
we see the landscape of our life.”</span></i></span><span class="s1"><span style="color: #0d0c0c; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">
- Carolyn Myss <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">A few years ago, I took a class
called Dark Gifts. I was intrigued by the title and ready to face my fear of
writing the true stories of my childhood with a dysfunctional (but loving) family.
I knew it was going to be scary, even though I had previously written a book of poems called
“Little Mother”, and dived deeply in my journal for many years. But I also knew there was
treasure to be uncovered in that dark cave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">At each transition point in my life,
it seems, the dragons raise their heads and blast me with “thou shalt not pass
here” messages. I am a brave and curious soul, usually, not reckless, not Game
of Thrones kind of adventurer, but eager to understand my own processes and
move onward and upward. Still, after the dizzying mid-life transition at
menopause, I felt a bit weak in the knees, a bit less sure of myself, so this
course beckoned to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Here’s the thing about dragons – what
I found out when I asked it why I couldn’t pass (in a guided meditation), is that
there was no good reason – and when I imagined my little girl self singing it a
lullaby, the dragon actually lowered its hoary head and let me come closer. The
tears that flowed from my eyes melted some of my own armour, showing me the
true nature of courage; by allowing myself to be vulnerable, as Brene Brown says, more courage began to flow. It felt like a pivotal moment. (I’m still working
on those childhood stories). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">What I’m discovering with my
creative practice of SoulCollage® is that the first step, after creating a safe
space to play/work in, is to call in my allies and guides for help in facing the dragons. I have made
several Protector cards, Wise Elder and Earth Mother cards, cards that feel
nurturing and loving and accepting. I also have a few warrior cards, and a
ferocious Mountain Lion who stands guard and protects my boundaries. Now I also know that my innocent girl child has a light and power that can fight the dark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoy3VXiI2-_nj7ueGYJIr4cAVbIY7cAxq5j_C6vs9JPEnk4z6rRgSnYdsjXprt8Mu6e01KlZd9VHGmSISOAF_egsBbHpvRTXBOIqgECGGFwhLVoWXwf9flE5EG9GpkJXUNfBg/s1600/Mountainlionprotector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoy3VXiI2-_nj7ueGYJIr4cAVbIY7cAxq5j_C6vs9JPEnk4z6rRgSnYdsjXprt8Mu6e01KlZd9VHGmSISOAF_egsBbHpvRTXBOIqgECGGFwhLVoWXwf9flE5EG9GpkJXUNfBg/s320/Mountainlionprotector.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) Card: Mountain Lion Protector </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">In the workshop I’m offering this
weekend, called </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Darkness to Light,
Navigating Transitions</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">, we are going to name and claim our dragons, the boogeymen who say – </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Stop! You can’t go forward! There be dragons here! </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">And we will also find and name our allies. We have
all been through many transitions in our lives, but in the face of the
current transition or challenge, we sometimes forget the skills and tools we learned the last time
around. For instance, most of us have survived a lot of challenges: we made it through adolescence, challenging
relationships, illnesses, loss of a loved one, or a job change – but when we are in the middle of it, it feels just as scary every time to face the
unknown, to be uncertain of the future. I remember Joan Borysenko describing it
in a workshop on Change as being in the hallway, with one door closed and the
other one not opened yet. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">It’s normal
to feel uneasy about what is not seen yet, and unknown.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5sg70c63MyvnbSHfR3Cs4J58cUJUOE5_xBCBACl8URs8y7Qxg4zWMHWblV9ZefcZTBqfZvH_hnLFH-vWfHGEPWuIJ0sKuRBX0icvrv3uJxqgJ46qHu3FIhYCZlwJI81Q17tj/s1600/goddessblessingirish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1600" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5sg70c63MyvnbSHfR3Cs4J58cUJUOE5_xBCBACl8URs8y7Qxg4zWMHWblV9ZefcZTBqfZvH_hnLFH-vWfHGEPWuIJ0sKuRBX0icvrv3uJxqgJ46qHu3FIhYCZlwJI81Q17tj/s320/goddessblessingirish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) Card: Goddess Blessing Child with Sun and Water</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">This is why we need to call in our
allies. We also need to name our challengers, pull the dragons out of the dark
and ask them to speak to us, ask them: what is the treasure you are guarding? What gift
do you have for me? What can I give you in return? There is always a gift in
the darkness; hiding in the shadows is our gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Writing this article, I came across
this powerful piece called <i>Meeting the
Dragon</i>, by Robert Holden: “’On the
path of bliss you will meet a dragon. On the dragon there are many scales.
Every one of them says ‘Thou Shalt Not’," said [Joseph] Campbell. The
dragon may take many forms. For instance, a person who discourages you, who
says “You can’t” and “You shan’t.” When I was 20 years old, I worked at a BBC
radio station for the summer. I loved it. On my last day, the station manager asked
to meet me. It was a short meeting. He told me I shouldn’t pursue my interest
in radio as I didn’t have the personality or the talent for it. I burst into
tears in front of him. What he said sounded like the truth; not just an
opinion. This month marked the start of my ninth year hosting my <em>Shift Happens!</em> radio show
for Hay House Radio. Not every “Thou Shalt Not” is true. <br />
<br />
The dragon is, essentially, an inner experience. It’s often a self-doubt, a
judgment, or a belief that breathes fire at you. One of my dragons is the
“inner critic” that would roar at me when I sat before the blank page. Over the
years, I learned to tame this dragon. Initially, I did everything I could to
avoid it, to outrun it, to heal it, and to slay it. One day, I had a revelation.
It struck me that the “inner critic” had never been published! I was released.
The inner critic still roars at me from time to time, but it has no fire.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">This piece spoke to me personally, because I studied Radio & TV Arts for one year at university, but gave it up, thinking I was not the competitive type of person it took to make it. These days, I have the chutzpah that I didn't have at age 19.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">While some people express and explore through words, others use images or dance, breathwork or yoga or any other expressive art to feel the fear, find their strength and glide
around the dragons. No matter which modality you use, one thing I’m sure of, your spirit has more power in
it than you know. Reclaim your inner resources, your inner wisdom and find your
playful spirit of resilience. Perhaps you won't slay the dragon, but have a conversation with it. Use your
intuition, your imagination, and most of all, use imagery and symbolism, the
language of the soul, to get to the bottom of your treasure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">And of course, if it feels too overwhelming and difficult, consult a professional who can help you face your fears and move forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">There may be dragons here, but there
also be Transformation and Healing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Playfully yours in creativity, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Jennifer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylPyEkNz1NuRvm8jtof4oI0LqFqfAt_Q7yDoQt60OywwdHBuxM9kn0-yNVzX7WylE9BEkreSw2oaqio3A9B3hCvPd6VDTYZQP0p3JHlA4nNTNt3yyucIsNYGWEM2qqFyi6zgw/s1600/warriormonkinflight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1175" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjylPyEkNz1NuRvm8jtof4oI0LqFqfAt_Q7yDoQt60OywwdHBuxM9kn0-yNVzX7WylE9BEkreSw2oaqio3A9B3hCvPd6VDTYZQP0p3JHlA4nNTNt3yyucIsNYGWEM2qqFyi6zgw/s320/warriormonkinflight.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
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Art Collage: Warrior Monk Flies down the Path with Eagle </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-13534509545380304192019-04-10T10:42:00.002-04:002019-04-10T10:42:28.412-04:00Inner Critic vs Inner Coach, creating a self-nurturing voice<br />
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journeys start from where we are. Everything starts from where we are.
Where we are is <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">where we’re supposed to be.</i> —Evelyn Eaton.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Journaling can serve as a private, personal journey to
self-awareness and self-love. A journal can be a place where, once we have
purged the negativity, we can start to forgive ourselves, boost our
self-confidence, appreciate who we are and bear witness to our accomplishments.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Calming the Critic or
Self Saboteur</b> – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the goal is to learn
how to recognize and silence debilitating self talk; because our secret belief
is that if we don’t put ourselves down, we’ll never be motivated to achieve. By
building a loving, self-nurturing voice or Inner Coach, we can change our
self-talk.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember, we don’t have to like every single thing about
ourselves or what we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in order to
develop, we have to accept ourselves as we are. The biggest impediment to self
acceptance is the inner critic, who can be so loud and continuous that we think
it is our own true voice. However, it is only one aspect of our psyche. From
the book<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">20 Minute Retreat, </i></b>by Rachel Harris Ph.D. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Self Deprecating Critic Voice vs Self-Nurturing Coach Voice**<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The best way to silence your inner critics is to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nurture your inner coach</i> – when he or
she is cheering loudly for you and supporting you every step of the way, your
critics will pipe down and know they’ve been beat. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Here are some ideas to calm your Inner Critic and build your Inner
Coach: </span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
1) Know that your Inner Critic will never go away completely. By learning
strategies to calm it, you can reduce its destructive power and live more
freely. </span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
2) Become mindful of when and how your Inner Critic talks. Start with noticing
the words it uses and write them down. </span></span><b style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Make
a list of 10 ways</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> you hear yourself </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">criticizing</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> you. Notice the patterns of
what your Critic says and how it makes you feel. This will create awareness of
your negative self-talk and the affect that it has on you. </span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
3) Explore the sources that have fed your Inner Critic. Whose voice is it? Consider
who in your life disappointed you by being critical rather than helpful.
Remember that many people misguidedly think that being critical is useful, even
loving. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br />
4) Interrupt your negative self-talk & replace it with<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> a neutral and encouraging inner voice.</b> Imagine a mentor or coach
speaking to you. As you repeat this process over and over again, it will become
easier. Imagine that your inner coach is sitting next to you as you write in
your journal. (It will take practice to speak words of compassion. As is true
for all <a href="http://www.selfgrowth.com/learning.html"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">learning</span></a>,
we develop through imitating.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Base your image on a real person: perhaps a mentor or a sports coach or
a best friend who supports and encourages you, someone who has had a
significant influence on your life. Visualize that person’s face and hear his
or her voice. <br />
<br />
</span>Now draw both your Inner Critic and your Inner Coach (inner sweetheart)
and give them names.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or make a SoulCollage® CARD FOR EACH. DIALOGUE WITH THEM IN
THEIR VOICES.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Example: </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Inner Critic:<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>Inner
Coach:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 216.0pt; text-indent: -216.0pt;">
You never
listen; you talk too much<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not
always true. When you are interested you listen closely.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I should have been there for my son today.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s not too late; you do care for him,
spend<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>time
with him at supper tonight.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Your thighs are too wobbly.<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>Your
legs are strong, they carry you through </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>the
day. Give them more walks outdoors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can’t handle this. You’re a failure.<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Little by little, I address
this issue bothering me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 216.0pt;">
One step at a time, with
patience and love I grow stronger.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 216.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 216.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcXHyTAQt-GpDcjz80sywxZmN8Cnna632DOPXDnNcuFDpWE4HeKQinpSywbjrc058adqGKjfFgiWg9uw43zH8HHlTKvJnozSC6wtM6mJt-KWvX_dbm2zRBa1hqk1CjAtcmbdy/s1600/innercriticnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1003" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcXHyTAQt-GpDcjz80sywxZmN8Cnna632DOPXDnNcuFDpWE4HeKQinpSywbjrc058adqGKjfFgiWg9uw43zH8HHlTKvJnozSC6wtM6mJt-KWvX_dbm2zRBa1hqk1CjAtcmbdy/s320/innercriticnew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) card Inner Critic</div>
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<br /></div>
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**taken from various sources on-line, and adapted for my Creative Circle Journaling Class</div>
<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-51387459562313135122019-04-02T11:17:00.002-04:002019-04-03T15:16:13.340-04:00Why Become a SoulCollage(R) Facilitator?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrK2mO2KmZQLwlddZSVZI_x-83Dh7h_aJvVxoGKh2N4FAcmLxdFzMz_B3ZPVLHh2EVYrnkrzAyrvDQBdhbTanKVD8YdE-DxfJvpIsQ8FM7gR5rs16M-d0lzcCAopv99VuqCKi/s1600/heroine+card+jboire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrK2mO2KmZQLwlddZSVZI_x-83Dh7h_aJvVxoGKh2N4FAcmLxdFzMz_B3ZPVLHh2EVYrnkrzAyrvDQBdhbTanKVD8YdE-DxfJvpIsQ8FM7gR5rs16M-d0lzcCAopv99VuqCKi/s320/heroine+card+jboire.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">SoulCollage(R) card: Heroine's Journey</span></b></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What is SoulCollage®?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">SoulCollage® is
a creative, intuitive process for personal growth, healing and
transformation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You create a deck of
cards for personal consultation, using images, intuition and imagination.
Synchronicity and surprise are a few of the main elements that give this
process its richness and value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It is easy,
fun, and satisfying and can be used by individuals or in groups (families,
churches, schools, therapy, coaching, and many other contexts). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="AtextSCFTMan">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">By
participating in a four-day Training, you will learn how to prepare for a workshop,
create safe space for participants with connection, permission and protection; consult
your cards in a SoulCollage® reading, as well as learn how to promote your workshops.
You will be given access to a rich archive of information available to
Facilitators on the SoulCollage® website. <a href="http://www.soulcollage.com/">www.soulcollage.com </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Facilitators of this process come from many
fields including writers, artists, coaches, and labyrinth facilitators. They
may be individuals seeking a creative way to give back to their
communities, , cancer support groups, schools, writing groups, and hospices, or
therapists, art therapists, counselors, nurses, chaplains, and other licensed
professionals working in trauma recovery, addiction recovery, with
teenagers, at risk children, </span><a href="https://www.soulcollage.com/sites/default/files/imagepicker/PDFs/Training%20Materials/Applications%20%26%20Contexts%20of%20SoulCollage%20072210.pdf"><span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none;">and many mor</span></a><span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">e.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Find out more about the training with Trainer
<b>Jennifer Boire in Montreal, July 3-7, 2019 at the Villa St. Martin,
Pierrefonds</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span><a href="http://jenniferboire.com/the-soulcollage-facilitator-training/">http://jenniferboire.com/the-soulcollage-facilitator-training/</a>. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "montserrat" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Note: The tr</span>aining will be held in English, with French
materials available. A French speaking facilitator will be on hand to answer
questions and guide small groups in discussion.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">As of March 29, 2019, there are 3,837 Facilitators in 48 countries, including Aruba, Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Taiwan, Turkey, and Venezuela.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Watch founder Seena Frost explain how to do SoulCollage(R) on the short video:</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><a href="https://youtu.be/rtDBTTneHfY" style="font-size: 18.6667px;">https://youtu.be/rtDBTTneHfY </a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><o:p><a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com/">www.jenniferboire.com</a> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">for more information on the Training in Montreal</span></div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-65514709977623716232019-03-15T14:40:00.002-04:002019-03-26T15:14:20.532-04:00SoulCollage®: How to become your own oracle<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Have you ever gone to a reading by a clairvoyant, or picked up an oracle deck of cards to find out the answer to a question that has been bothering you, or has gone unanswered? Have you ever wanted to get more in touch with your own intuition and find the answers to your own questions?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">SoulCollage</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">®</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">unique </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">way to explore your Self, all the parts of you, your light and your shadow, your talents and gifts</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, your allies and
challengers</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Using only images, intuition and
imagination, you create a deck of 5 x 8 cards that</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> becomes a visual journal of your journey</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, one</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> that evolves </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">as you evolve</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With this deck</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, created</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">using
images and symbols that call to you</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">, you hold a symbolic
reflectio</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">n of your one and many-faceted Self</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> in your hands. Once you have a dozen cards or so, you can do consultations or readings with them. It's quite astounding how our own psyche loves this process of dialoguing with images. The SoulCollage<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">® </span>process was designed by Seena Frost, MS, MA in Div.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> a psychotherapy clinician and supervisor in California for over thirty
years</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
international </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">community now includes more than 3,700 Facilitators
in 45 countries,</span> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">and a team of <span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">SoulCollage</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">®</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span> trainers who offer training programs all over the world. </span> </div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What I’ve learned from this unique creative process is that the body uses metaphor and
images to send us signals. Sometimes working with images is a more direct path
to seeing our own truth than working with words. We all have our own personal
totems, images, symbolic animals, and SoulCollage® helps us feed the feedback
loop between psyche, body and mind. It’s a fun, creative process that is very light
on the surface, as we cut and paste images, but leads us to deep truths that
resist interpretation by the linear mind. We learn to trust our intuition, the bridge
that connects what we feel and what we know sometimes in a flash: mental logic
and heart wisdom come together and communicate. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“When the soul wants to
experience something,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">she throws out an image in
front of her and<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">steps into it.”</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Meister Eckhart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The voice of our embodied soul, or wisdom, is our intuition. It sends
messages in symbolic form and metaphor from deep inside us – thoughts, guesses,
hunches seemingly come out of nowhere. When we are in touch with our inner guidance, and feeling connected to our own truth, we can heal a relationship with ourselves that has been
aching to be known. Images are one of intuition’s most powerful
voices, and have been called the food of the soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Ultimately</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> it is the voice of
the soul... When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you
will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper
and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism
and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own
soul. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you.”
~John O’Donohue, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty, The Invisible
Embrace<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I invite you to come and <b>learn more about SoulCollage®</b> in a safe and
friendly environment, at an all-day <b>introductory workshop Sunday April 7</b>, with
a small group of people (maximum is 10).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We will spend time making cards, playing with images, and witnessing how
our intuition guides us to exactly the right image for the card it wants to
make. You are a unique being, and your soul essence is waiting to reveal some
of the pieces of your puzzle to you, so you can begin to gather the whole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As Seena Frost, SoulCollage®
founder puts it, “Every soul essence has a special imprint or pattern within it;
some have said it’s like our mission. This pattern is a blueprint for your
deepest self, the self beneath the persona we all must develop to live in the
world. Its imprint is recognized by the archetypes who gather and who act like
magnets drawing you into manifesting your pattern; remember, it’s not a goal,
it’s more of a map, a map of your potential, uniquely yours.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you are feeling stuck or
overwhelmed, or just curious about all the parts of you, this creative, fun
process can help move you along to a deeper understanding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Come join me, Sunday, April 7, Ermitage Ste-Croix, from 9:30 am to 4:30
pm,</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> with
lunch included, for $60. If you invite a friend, I will gift you with a package
of cards/frame/pen and glue so you can get started with SoulCollage® and
discover your own inner wisdom. Register at: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com/">www.jenniferboire.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWIoW2CIQs_vcANtJG2Ly3gyC3gZP5OKiM8Iqve0EW-Gm_ElMm5L-WBbUzHcnwDg36Td34k96hKj74qqMAMrUd9BIQWp5HuJJW3yY6wSPfg4vZICrcLEZLctHXpGnkRHhz43h/s1600/Jennifer-Boire-Inner-Wisdom-Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtWIoW2CIQs_vcANtJG2Ly3gyC3gZP5OKiM8Iqve0EW-Gm_ElMm5L-WBbUzHcnwDg36Td34k96hKj74qqMAMrUd9BIQWp5HuJJW3yY6wSPfg4vZICrcLEZLctHXpGnkRHhz43h/s320/Jennifer-Boire-Inner-Wisdom-Guide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">NOTE ON FACILITATOR TRAINING</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you already
love SoulCollage® and would like to train as a facilitator, read this: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Facilitator
Training is different from a SoulCollage® retreat or workshop, even
though in both settings a participant may experience deep personal
process. We expect that you are interested in taking the Training because
SoulCollage® has been meaningful to you in your own process, and you are
eager to share SoulCollage®, even if you are not clear just how you
will be doing that. Many people become clear about how they will use
SoulCollage® during or even after Training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">SoulCollage® has also proven to be a valuable therapeutic
tool when used by therapists and professionals as a part of their practice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">See <a href="https://www.soulcollage.com/facilitator-training">https://www.soulcollage.com/facilitator-training</a>
for more information on what is required before you sign up. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">I am <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">holding a training in the Montreal area</b>
from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">July 3-July 7, 2019</b>. See my
website <a href="http://www.jenniferboire.com/">www.jenniferboire.com</a> for
details and costs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-19876299303111745492019-03-07T15:42:00.000-05:002019-03-07T15:44:25.444-05:00What is SoulCollage(R)? <h3>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This easy, fun, creative process allows you to explore your inner parts of self by making a visual journal of cards that you create. It is deeply transformative and helps us answer the age-old question, Who am I and what am I doing here?</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ga1dpSzGdG91fUAteMockYvrHmtp5h5vq2RcLiPgvKlcYWou8itoxaQMBKG_iBj8d4gWWt2RqypdmJI8Omk7vapPM0I6vnJp1R6e-EFB556zSUxYDH8emDevmeyj8xbExuQF/s1600/creative+soulful+woman+J+Boire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ga1dpSzGdG91fUAteMockYvrHmtp5h5vq2RcLiPgvKlcYWou8itoxaQMBKG_iBj8d4gWWt2RqypdmJI8Omk7vapPM0I6vnJp1R6e-EFB556zSUxYDH8emDevmeyj8xbExuQF/s320/creative+soulful+woman+J+Boire.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Watch this short video to see and hear more:</span></h3>
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4NlG9JW4Go">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4NlG9JW4Go</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I am keenly interested in helping women find creative
tools that feed and tend the soul, that make us feel
nurtured and protected in what are turbulent and confusing times. I
believe we are beings filled with light, yet we often live in fear of shadow.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are limitless and courageous in facing our
challenges with persistence. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yet we doubt ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are women with heart, connected to all living
things. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And we thrive in community.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Come join me and learn more at:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>One Day Introductory
SoulCollage® Workshop: </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Gathering the Pieces, Finding Wholeness</b>, from 9:30 - 4:30 pm </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">on <b><span style="color: #365f91;">Sunday April 7,</span></b> at the Ermitage
Ste-Croix </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">21269 boul. Gouin, Pierrefonds (near Montreal)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cost $60</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">pre-pay by e-transer or paypal </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Registration on my website or by email info@jenniferboire.com </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">xxxx</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jennifer</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">www.jenniferboire.com</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #17365d;"><br /></span></b></span></span>
Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21396618.post-82932575262585289262019-02-04T15:18:00.001-05:002019-02-04T15:20:24.627-05:00Cultivating your Inner Spark in Winter <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88L36VS41BldOXKn9Kmqex9lLZbppbyoFTgrAdY7E6P8f6FSQfHtwdnRU5-bfnS8Mlb4aWTTDahaT35T7mxx1_r8jhrmkUKSVTb3ZWGdHu3rzYsej6LAotuxl5MO-29s0BdbX/s1600/Jennifer-Boire-Inner-Wisdom-Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88L36VS41BldOXKn9Kmqex9lLZbppbyoFTgrAdY7E6P8f6FSQfHtwdnRU5-bfnS8Mlb4aWTTDahaT35T7mxx1_r8jhrmkUKSVTb3ZWGdHu3rzYsej6LAotuxl5MO-29s0BdbX/s320/Jennifer-Boire-Inner-Wisdom-Guide.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Recently I was looking at a photo of mine taken this summer for my website;
and, oh how she glowed! Yes there was make-up and a hairdresser involved, plus
sunshine and a little perspiration making my skin particularly shiny. I remember
it was a very hot day for a photo shoot. So it’s unfair to compare it to my
face mid-winter, pale skin, and bags under the eyes. </div>
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But I do find that on these dark gloomy days that I am
missing some radiance, and need to find that sparkle in the eyes. How do I do
that, I wondered, when it’s -20C outside and even my dog doesn’t want to walk
very far....going down south is not an option for another month. What to do?</div>
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My resolve this year has been to muddle on through winter,
especially January, when my body just wanted to curl up and sleep. I decided to
do just that yesterday, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nap on the couch
with a book instead of berating myself for not having any energy. It’s that
time of year when you think you should be planning ahead, at least for this self-employed
workshop leader, it’s a good time to plan my year. However, my creative mojo
was way down in the basement, and pulling up my socks was not helping. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlrKQsAUwFigUda2J_e0ieV41QcZe-up0E21Ke8_AukFAX7p8eydMuucjGZYfUWyBr7I8V2D3P-BZ_g81RHf22lIeUgxIWvn47LTw_VfP7YKSURKS5btwdmYumwlVXi3olC3C/s1600/girlwordfalcon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlrKQsAUwFigUda2J_e0ieV41QcZe-up0E21Ke8_AukFAX7p8eydMuucjGZYfUWyBr7I8V2D3P-BZ_g81RHf22lIeUgxIWvn47LTw_VfP7YKSURKS5btwdmYumwlVXi3olC3C/s320/girlwordfalcon.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) card: Seeking words</div>
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I realized my energy needed more pumping up or plumping up,
like a duvet cushion that needs a good shake and thump. So I decided to attend
yoga class more often – bump it up to twice a week and also hired a personal
trainer to get me started with some cardio and stretching. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I vowed to stick to my small daily practices
that I know work.</div>
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For me this means sitting down to meditate every morning,
first thing, while it’s still dark. Breathing into the silent mantra of breath:
rest, silence, breathing. Such a sweet (and sometimes challenging) practice
that fills me up from the inside. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
benefit is immediate, and leads me to appreciate and be grateful instead of
listening to the overactive whiney, critical voice. This morning in my
restorative yoga class the teacher had us do a few heart opening poses, and hip
openers, lying back on a bolster, breathing pranayama style, 4 counts in, 4
counts out. I looked at myself in the mirror once I got home, and I am feeling calm,
less frazzled than yesterday.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudWe99kGbHafcH2Ns_wQD0k4EOktYz2LFX-En7qgk_OS2ez23eSRqcFYRjvuT-uaj0tWo87SNhGLFHx0wGiYPy8ccV0OMYdiCPA8gzyO1YFMl0O4EGgrit3Yay9EYodnY622s/s1600/IMG_3510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudWe99kGbHafcH2Ns_wQD0k4EOktYz2LFX-En7qgk_OS2ez23eSRqcFYRjvuT-uaj0tWo87SNhGLFHx0wGiYPy8ccV0OMYdiCPA8gzyO1YFMl0O4EGgrit3Yay9EYodnY622s/s320/IMG_3510.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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SoulCollage(R) card Tasting the New</div>
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Beauty flows from energetic presence, the Yoga Journal
article I’m reading says. And I believe. All of a sudden I have patience. I can
give attention to my work, to my dog, to my friends in need. I have energy to
share. Last week, I was a muddled mess of confusion. But after sleeping in,
napping and eating lots of home-made chicken soup and slow simmered stews,
pampering myself with good vibes and yoga, I am slowly coming out of that swamp
of emptiness into a pool of fullness again. Soothing oils in a diffuser <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like frankincense, lavender and rose also help
me feel good and keep the cold bugs away....</div>
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It is true that building energy with quiet, calming
practices like Creative Flow helps fill the well too. When I am really unable
to work, plan or think, I head to my collage table where all my supplies are
laid out: images, glue, cardboard. It helps that in an on-line class we had a
vision board project to make, and that deadline got me moving. But before the
vision could come, I needed to plump up the heart energy with some rest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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What do you do to find your inner spark?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XjR55bjlWCNKtXcDXHmpDDXFqwBeKHhdk-yrK4q17PNP9EUU4Gmhrq__6PSBnvl5eFRmJi53uAA9C0Ann12d_a8Mnp3wWktMLfALlz9i1Ds-7HS4E7L81z8hTtLcEQPXPjRt/s1600/heartonfiresnow.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XjR55bjlWCNKtXcDXHmpDDXFqwBeKHhdk-yrK4q17PNP9EUU4Gmhrq__6PSBnvl5eFRmJi53uAA9C0Ann12d_a8Mnp3wWktMLfALlz9i1Ds-7HS4E7L81z8hTtLcEQPXPjRt/s1600/heartonfiresnow.png" /></a></div>
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<br />Creative Soulful Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01544165208876808443noreply@blogger.com0