Simplifying my life

As you have surely noticed, I have not added any new entries to this blog in a very long time!
For those who do not know, I have been pretty sick this year with MS. For now I have begun blogging again but just on one of my blogs. At this time, that is more than enough blogging for me to manage. I am still coaching clients over the phone and via e-mail if you are interested in being coached or you could send me images of your cards and I would be happy to witness and scribe for you one on one. If this interests you let me know and we can talk about my fee for this service. I would love to connect with you no matter what, so send me an email laura@shinethedivine.com or consider friending me on facebook.

God willing I will start up this blog again in the future, but for now if you want to find out what's new, creative and spiritual in my life feel free to visit me at Shine The Divine: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice. You can follow that blog using the google follow icon. When my vision returns to normal again and my hands become steady I will begin to create my beloved SoulCollage cards again. For the time being...I receive pleasure and guidance from the many cards in my deck.

shana tova...may this be a year of great healing for all the worlds.

Gentle steps always,
Laura

Chodesh Nissan: Bouyant Freedom

This is one of the first SoulCollage cards I ever made (nearly 3 years ago).
Her message continues to unfold for me, changing as I do.

Her original name was Weightless-But as in the Torah, when transformation happens, names change too.

Her new name is Bouyant Freedom.

In this moment it seems a perfect image for a rapidly approaching Chodesh Nisan-
the month of renewal and freedom-releasing what is old and birthing what is new- supported by what we have learned. This is a continuous theme in the Jewish life cycle, moment-to-moment, Shabbat-to-Shabbat, Month-to-Month, throughout the Holy-day cycle and the life cycle.

Here is today’s reading of this card as I am poised to cross the Sea of Reeds:

Who are you?
I am the one who is wizened and old,
gnarled by a year of toil.
I am the one shedding old skin-
Rising, flowing out of the birthing waters into a freedom I have longed for
these cold winter months.
I am the one who is open and free…filled with wonder at the miracle of being born yet again…floating, rising to a world that calls my name.

What do you have to give me?
I offer you a buoyant salty sea…may the tears of this years harshness carry you/me to new awareness.

What do you want from me?
I want you to allow the salt water to cleanse and soften our skin as we rise; so that my deep learning will have meaning through your life this coming year.

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Love this embodiment of freedom. It might at first seem fleeting…but it will always return again.

Tied to the Tide of our Lives

You may notice that there are a few months missing here. My family life has been turned a bit upside down by illness and other complications and it has been difficult to keep up with my multiple blogs. This is the way, the wave we all ride as women, as humans, tied to the tide of our lives. If curiosity get the best of you you can go to my personal blog Creativity as a Spiritual Practice to get the scoop.

B'Shalom,
Laura

Adar

It seems appropriate that this collage came to be just as we approach Purim a time for revealing the courage, strength and faith that stands behind our masks.

I am One...I am Two...
Who stands behind this mask of fire.
I am one who is both mother and child dressed up and shielded by long stands of truth
...mother as masquerade for the inadequacy I feel-yet thrust into this warrior status.
I stand firmly on ground that is shifting.

I offer you comfort in knowing this duality...it is real and makes perect sense as you walk upon new and frightening territory. I give you courage to continue standing behind these flames of uncertainty.

I want you to see the regal qualities you possess. You are the warrior/mother/child. Look within to see the stength you have summoned...your Own strength.

Is the mask really a Mask? If so, what is it hiding?

Your strength-truly this is not a mask, but a shield to protect the ones you love.

Cheshvan

Cheshvan is often referred to as Mar-Cheshvan (Bitter Cheshvan) because in this month there are no holy-days to celebrate....No preparation, special prayers or rituals to fill our time…nothing extra that we have to do. To me this is not a time of bitterness as much as it is a time to breathe…to wait…to embrace the space of emptiness. Yes embrace the space of emptiness. As a SoulCollager, yoga teacher, meditator and creativity coach I find this emptiness to be a blessing. One common denominator to all of these practices is that they each can be a springboard for diving into the emptiness. Cheshvan is a reminder to take time out from the busy-ness of holy-days (of everyday really) and notice the holiness of being in the moment. Any moment. Including the “empty” ones. My yoga and Jewish spirituality teachers, Rabbi Myriam Klotz and Diane Bloomfield recently shared this commentary on B’reishit from Reb Levi Yizchak of Berdichev: “When a person wants to arouse new outpouring of this energy (shefa hadasha) throughout all the worlds of existence, she needs to immerse herself in (l’dabeyk atzmo) the Ayn, the No-thing-ness.” This powerful sentence teaches a core principle everyone engaged in creative endeavors must pay attention to. In order to replenish our creative wells and truly nourish and nurture our innermost essence so that we can “do” when “doing” is what is called for, we must stop for a while to consciously tap into the “shefa” the Divine Flow of Creation. Jill Badonsky, developer of Kaizen-Muse creativity coaching refers to this as the realm of Muse Lull. Indeed. As the leaves continue to fall and the trees become “empty” we become witnesses to this process in the physical world around us. We too can mirror the wisdom nature displays and focus our attention deep down in our roots. We need this time, this month of Cheshvan to cherish the quiet and allow the shefa to rise up and fill us with the strength, the ideas, the courage to Lech Lecha…go to ourselves. This month of stillness is an opportunity to listen for the Divine voice as she speaks directly to us. B’reishit tells us that God “speaks the world into being”. When we sit in the no-thing-ness…the emptiness…the stillness…silence…we open to receiving the inner-messages that will sustain us. When we embrace the space of emptiness we become the vessels through which Creation and creativity flow. Although it could be argued that there is some “doing” involved in creating a SoulCollage card…for the most part, the images that “desire” to be connected tell you so…again, it is a matter of sacred listening and discernment. SoulCollage is a fabulous way to stop, look and listen, to truly sit and embrace the emptiness of Cheshvan; allowing shefa to replenish your creative well.

elul

The Hebrew month, Elul is a powerful month of preparation as we dig down deep cultivating the ground we will be settling into for the winter months. Hard work, deep intention, prayerful awareness arises as we contemplate our lives up until the present time...and yet, we know that every year as the memories wash over us and our desire to improve our connections with the Divine, with our loved ones grows, this is part of a continuum. We strive to turn inward toward the Creator, our roots searching and penetrating our inner soil. We contemplate our purpose in the grand scheme of life unfolding. This is t'shuvah. As the reality that we have many failings becomes clear...remember too dear ones that we have evolved over the past year as well. With each failure there is a mirrored image of success. This time of inward reflection can also lead us to celebrate with gratitude all of the goodness we have been granted as well as the goodness we have created.

May we all be blessed with the awareness that we are good, that we create good...despite the suffering that is part of the whole of what it means to be human.

*T'shuvah is often translated as repentance...but a more accurate understanding might be "the process of turning inward".
**This post fist appeared @ Creativity as a Spiritual Practice

Elul: Opening to Worlds of Learning

Who are you?
I am the one who…
Learns from many sources.
Nature…books…my own home-grown experiences. I am the one who is like a child with wide eyes…discovering through, sight, touch, sound and scent. I am the one who hungers for more than knowledge alone…I am the one in search of wisdom.

What do you have to give me?
I give you trust and encouragement. I give you the desire to make good choices. I give you open doors and a world of possibilities to step out into and bring home to your inner world.

What do you want from me?
I want you to see what is really in front of you. Hear the sounds. Take in the aroma and taste of ancient knowledge and wisdom that has been offered to you. I wan you to apply what you learn to bring peace into all the worlds. I want you to sit with the open face of a child, awed by all there is to learn and witness…the small things, the grand things all of it.

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
BE connected with that pure child who rests within you. She has a great deal to teach as well. Not everything you need to know and understand comes from outside of your skin. Respect what her small voice says. She is one of great wisdom too.

Title: Opening to Worlds of Learning

May this be a year of receiving deep Torah.