On a Spirit-cation!

We all love to take our vacations. Heading off to new locations, sightseeing, relaxing and rejuvenating refuel our body, mind, and spirit. Lately there has been an increase in the stay-cation. People are taking their vacations locally. Perhaps they take a day trip or plan some fun activities around the house. Done right a stay-cation can be equally rejuvenating.

I have been introduced to another type of vacation. I call it the spirit-cation. It's the opposite of planning, doing, and going. Instead it involves, listening, connecting, and honoring. I'm not going anywhere or doing anything that I don't really want to do.

I haven't felt like working, creating, reading, learning, so I choose not to do them. Instead I've spent much of my time meditating, journaling, reflecting, and just plain old relaxing. If I feel like watching a movie, I do it. If the couch is calling my name I listen to the call. I've even taken a couple of naps in the last couple of weeks...it's been ages since I've done that.

I am only doing the things I feel like doing. Strangely enough I've had the urge to clean my house, cook freezer dinners and bake cookies. So guess what? I do them.

At first I was overwhelmed with guilt. Why was I so lethargic? Why didn't I want to write my blog posts or work on my projects? Why didn't I even feel like talking on the phone? It was all a bit overwhelming.

Then I remembered the messages I've been getting lately...trust. So I did. I trusted that this is what I need to heal myself. I trusted that by honoring my moods I was honoring my spirit and the Universe and that if I just let go and trusted, everything would be OK.

I didn't plan this inner trip, it just sort of happened but I can see clearly that this spirit-cation is powerful and creating space for this on a regular basis will go a long way in supporting my life journey. The options are endless. This spirit-cation has been about 2 weeks long (so far ;o). I imagine a week would be amazing to uplift and rejuvenate the spirit and I can also see spending a day or as little as an hour in a spirit-cation being powerful enough to create some clarity and honor your spirit.

What do you think? How does the idea of a spirit-cation strike you?

Recognizing Fear

Fear is a funny thing. It's not real... it's not concrete. You can't look at it and say, "Yea, that's some gnarly fear there."

Instead it lurks around, shows up with some funny feelings in your body, and oftentimes gets your mind racing. Once that mind is let loose, you can go round and round until you don't know which way is up.

Now I'm not talking about intuitive fear that lets you know when something is wrong or the fear that keeps you from doing something that could put you in jeopardy. I'm talking about the fear that holds you back and keeps you small. I'm talking about the fear that is so sneaky you're not even sure it's fear.

If you don't take the time to stop and think about it, it can seem like some pretty good reasons for not doing something. The mind is pretty sneaky that way. It knows just what to say to keep you in your little box. You know it really just wants to keep you safe. Unfortunately safe can mean stagnant.

I've dealt with a lot of fear in my life. As a kid I can remember being home alone and scared out of my mind. I can remember the sound of my dad's car pulling up in the driveway and the jolts of fear that ran through my body wondering what kind of mood he was in. I have a childhood of memories that revolve around fear.

In my family being strong was the holy grail. Fear was a weakness and I was taught early on to toughen up and be brave. I guess a part of me felt that being afraid meant I was weak and I wasn't about to be weak so I learned to ignore it.

The thing is, years of ignoring something makes you pretty numb to it. It makes it difficult to recognize it and if you can't recognize it you can't deal with. So what's a girl to do?

Soul Art® of course ;o)

The above piece was created with my favorite travel watercolor set some black markers. If you look closely you can see some symbols that are placed right on top of the flowing colors. Those symbols represented my mind and my fears. They were the one thing I didn't like about the piece.

It became very clear to me that what's underneath those symbols of over thinking and fear is the perfection of the Universe, the flowing state of trust in what is happening for the betterment of my soul. Those symbols were the distraction that were keeping me from being in the flow and blocking the perfection of the Universe.

I always say that recognizing our behavior is the first step to changing and I absolutely believe that. You can't change something you don't even recognize. I have to say that by regularly doing Soul Art® around issues in my life I am speeding up the process of healing. It's so awesome!

Soul Art® Rocks!

I had a really great Soul Art® session last week and I wanted to share her response with you!

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This was my first Soul Art experience with Michelle. After choosing all the images and text from magazines, Michelle threw me a curve ball. It wasn't at all what I expected. "Are you kidding?" I said.
She replied with a simple word..."Trust," she said.

After assembling my art I noticed the text was telling me things that I had put on the back burner, things that had been simmering so long that the pot was about to go dry. The text along with the pictures conveyed the same messages, or reinforced the messages. My Soul Art told me I am ready to make a change, go for it, step it up. It told me to venture out more, find inspiration, and don't let the mundane day-to-day living get in my way. Make each day count. . . really count, it said. It wanted me to be aware of all the magic in the universe, the poetry, the beauty, the love and the possibilities. It wanted me to believe in myself and trust.

Wow!. It was pretty amazing. I went from feeling unmotivated and uncertain to "Wow, I can do this!"

How could a simple, fun exercise actually change your way of thinking about something that had you baffled for so long? Could it have changed my brain waves somehow? Strange, but true.

I felt a new sense of empowerment, and bought myself a royal blue evening dress (to go with my red hair) and silver sandals for my upcoming trip to DC. I decided that I'm worth it! I feel different, and I can't wait to see what's down this road. Thanks, Michelle. Soul Art rocks!

Pam Pulice

Reel Stories Productions

www.reelstories.tv

Rebirth

Over the years since I began my healing journey I have noticed that healing isn't constant. It ebbs and flows. I like to think of it like riding a roller coaster of healing. There are ups and downs, spins and turns and you don't always know what is up ahead. There are times that make you feel sick, others that are exhilarating.

It seems like I am heading up a big steep hill of my healing roller coaster right now, slowly edging forward, about to take yet another dive. I have several big healing events coming up in the next couple of months that I am really excited about. I just know big things are coming.

Apparently I know this at my soul's level too because last night while working with someone to complete their soul art, I also worked on my own and the message that came up for me reinforced that idea.

You can see there is this strange face in the lower left that looks heavy and lifeless, almost as if it is a mask. Out of her lips comes this light, bubbly and positive energy. What a contrast.

As I was reflecting on the piece and getting my insight I got this flash that the woman was dead. She was lying there with her eyes closed and letting out her last breath. At first it freaked me out a little. Why the heck am I creating images of dying women? I decided to let my mind rest and just go with it.

As I continued to ask and answer questions about the piece it became quite clear that this image represented a death and a rebirth. It was the death of my old limitations. RIP to the old Michelle. Embracing the new excitement, joy, life, beauty, creativity, and bubbly energy that is awaiting me.

In asking what I need to do I got this response:

"You don't have to do a thing except be open, ready, and willing to trust. The wheels are in motion and your dreams are being manifested. Stay connected, open, and trusting that it is all going according to plan. Be excited. Feel the energy. TRUST, TRUST, TRUST!"

Um, OK, I can do that! ;o)

As a way to keep myself in the spirit of trust and to remind myself where I want to be with it I decided to add a statement of trust to the end of the gratitude list I write every morning. So easy! I love it. I feel great about it and excited to see what the next couple of months bring.

Embracing Silly and Goofy!

Back in January I did a Soul Retrieval process with a wonderful woman named Lisa Dieken. It was quite a powerful process. I wrote about it briefly in a prior post. I didn't give too many details about the actual process but instead linked it to the fact that I had chosen Abundance for my word of the year.

Recently I've been having all these messages come up for me about having fun, playing, loosening up, and embracing my inner child. It seems no matter what I set my intention for in the beginning of a Soul Art process, I end up coming back to--have fun!

My silly little artwork above is yet another example of this. It's goofy and fun and written right on it is the message to Dance and have fun. You would never know my intention for this piece was to allow my creativity to flow for a serious project I am working on.

I'm feeling a bit goofy and silly lately too. I'm singing even more in the car, dancing around the house, embarrassing my kids with my crazy sounds and ridiculous singing and saying goofy things.

So what does all of this have to do with my Soul Retrieval? It really does tie in...let me explain. During my journey Lisa told me she saw a younger me playing on the playground. I could see the event taking place in my mind, the young little Michelle stooping down and drawing with chalk on the pavement.

She called to her and asked her to come home. The little girl started to come closer but then decided that she wasn't quite done playing and she took off back into the playground. Lisa said she hadn't ever seen that happen before. I saw that little girl jumping, skipping, swinging and playing while we waited for her to finish. As I watched her play I was brought to tears because I realized it was something that I had forgotten how to do. Playing and having fun seemed so foreign to me and I felt the ache deep down inside.

It got me to thinking that by bringing that little girl home (yes, she eventually finished her fun and made her way over to us) who knows how to play and have fun I've really woken something up inside of me and I'm slowly learning to integrate that part of who I am. It's becoming more and more of who I am and I like it.

So to honor my silly little creature's advice, I would like to leave you with one of my current favorite "dance and have fun" songs. I encourage you to crank it up, let loose and have a good time! Woo hoo!