Holiday Sights

Some scenes from this holiday season at our house:

Trees in the entryway of our "mud" room

Our dining room, with the china cabinets filled with snowmen, a Santa and an angel and a picture that hung in my Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's home for over 30 years. (It's perfect for winter, and I'm so thankful to now have it as part of our home.)

My Grandma & Grandpa Jackson's vintage silver tree and vintage Shiny Bright ornaments, which is making an appearance for the first time as our tree this year. (We are going out of town after the holiday and decided to forgo a green tree this year.)

The fireplace mantel with stockings for the Advent Fairies to come and bring holiday experiences to enjoy. (Obviously this photo was taken two weeks ago.)

The Advent Fairies bring experiences like these, having your dad play Silent Night on guitar. (Good thing the Advent Fairies know the talents in our household! Last week, I got to tell a story about Elgin the Elf and another one about two rabbits, Poppet and Daisy). (I shared this tradition with inspiring life artist & blogger Ali Edwards last year, and she shared it on her blog along with a download for our Holiday Spirit prompts.)

By the way, my daughter Grace took that picture. She is actually a very good photographer with a great sense of framing and detail. 

The little holiday village on our front window sill. (Inspired by the prettier version here and here by Alicia Paulson, the lovely blogger/writer of Pozy Gets Cozy.)

But it is pretty to look at it and Grace has loved playing with it and telling stories with her little play animals.

Another photo by Grace looking into the living room at the back of a little ornament tree I have. 

Hope you are enjoying your day and finding little vignettes of beauty and joy to inspire you this season!

Tell me, what in your house is inspiring you this holiday season?

Inner Wisdom

 

 two of my SoulCollage® cards

Last Saturday, I attended a SoulCollage® playshop with Chris LeGrand and Kathy Morgan at the Joyful Living Center. It was a wonderful gathering of women, so much creative flow and energy and such fun.

Of course, I loved choosing images, and then cutting them out and gluing them down. That's true play for me, and I was completely immersed in that joy of creating.

But what was unexpected was the new opening it created for me around accessing my inner wisdom.

According to the official website, SoulCollage® is "a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards — each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the collage cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between your personality parts, you and your family/community/world, and you and your dreams, symbols, and Spirit."

Part of my journey of late is learning to trust and listen to my inner wisdom. And after many years of ignoring, stuffing or receiving guidance and then doing the opposite, I am learning to honor my inner truth. 

I really wasn't sure what these SoulCollage® cards were. I hadn't realized that these cards can be compiled into a deck, complete with suits, and then used to do readings, much like tarot cards. Cards are typically read by beginning with the prompt "I am the One who…" and then reading into the card images through that statement.

For the card on the left above, I haven't completely settled on the title yet, but one possibility I'm playing with is, "I am the one who finds the key by going inward (through my keyhole)  to reach the world beyond."

With the six cards I did create on Saturday, I can see some themes that are emerging: trusting in the support of the universe, opening up myself and shining light into what's hidden, the duality of life and myself, and being connected to both nature and my true nature.

If you are in the Milwaukee area, I highly recommend taking a workshop with Chris and Kathy, both art therapists. You can also check out to see if there is a SoulCollage® facilitator in your region or buy the book and try it on your own.

It's also fun to visit the SoulCollage® homepage, where it randomly generates a personal reading for you from its database of cards. You can click on each card to see what the card represented to its creator. Cool stuff.

Tell me, what do you do to access your inner wisdom?

Unleashing My Inner Artist

Last night, Tracy and I got together to create inspiration journal samples for the Unleash Your Inner Artist playgroup we are facilitating at the Joyful Living Center on October 8.

It was so fun to get together and play. For one, I so enjoy Tracy and her radiant, joyful and grounded energy.

And it was a reminder of how important it is for me — for everyone — be in a space of play when creating.

When I'm this kind of space for creating, I lose track of time and, in some ways, I lose track of my mind. There is an "unthinking" quality to when I'm fully present — playfully present — in the joy of the creation. Often when I emerge out of this zone, I'm often surprised by what I've created.

That's my favorite way to create. Without focus on the outcome, or whether it's good enough. Just loving the feeling of cutting and pasting and choosing images. Or spilling words onto the page.

In this kind of space, magic happens. We reconnect with our inner child, who has never forgotten to how to play. We allow our inner artist — who is always with us, noticing, capturing and delighting in life — full expression.

We re-discover that creating is inherently joyful, easy, flowing, connected. It is our birthright and what we already are — creators.

Admittedly, I'm not yet always able to access this kind of space. Sometimes my self-doubt or my inner critic can get in the way of the flow.

But increasingly I find that when I approach whatever it is I'm doing with a spirit of play, openness and childlike presence and wonder, what I experience touches me as blissfully joyous — and amazingly easy.

Tell me, when  — or in what areas — do you feel like you are playing in your life?