~ Linda Hogan, Chickasaw Writer

I am sometimes curious about my response when someone asks me, “Where are you from?” Of course, my usual answer is “Beverly, Massachusetts,” or “eastern Massachusetts, a bit north of Boston,” if the person asking isn’t familiar with the area. Sometimes I’ll reference the fact that Beverly is “right next door to Salem” because even if folks aren’t familiar with the area, most of them have heard of Salem, Massachusetts!

But I’m curious about my response because, if I stop and think about it, I am from a much wider, deeper, broader context than simply the town I am living in. This pondering was made clear to me recently when I read something in issue #35 of Bella Grace Magazine. The author, Wanita Toews, wrote a beautiful essay where every paragraph began with the words “I am from . . .” You can read the whole essay if you’re on Facebook here.

If you’re not on Facebook, I’ll give you an idea of how some of her paragraphs began:

I’ve been enjoying creating my own deeper response to “Where are you from?” and hope that you will also find this journaling suggestion meaningful as well as fun.

Sit quietly with yourself or take a walk in solitude as you ponder the question Where am I from? Go beyond the city, state, or country. Where are you really from?

You might want to transform that simple question to Where is the heart of where I’m from? Include the landscapes, the people, the animals, the culture, and the traditions that have shaped the person you are becoming.

Browse through your SoulCollage® cards and images for clues before answering the above questions! You might even be led to make a new card, depending on what comes up from your journaling.

Please share responses to this essay on our private Kindred Spirits Facebook page.

THIS Tuesday October 3. 2023

Nanoya Barrett (Australia) and Anne Marie (Massachusetts) will be leading the discussion on this extraordinary book by the beloved author of Secret Life of Bees, and Dance of the Dissident Daughter.

 Meeting ID: 883 7734 9568 Passcode: 011096

This is part of your membership.

Trees are natural providers of shade, shelter, and sustenance. Trees also provide inspiration and insight when we listen to their stories and receive their wisdom. By honoring and revering them on our SoulCollage® cards, we can connect to trees as teachers, guides, and allies. Join Lisa as she shares ideas on deepening our awareness, understanding and appreciation of trees and their qualities through our SoulCollage practice.

Please bring: journal, pen, ad any SoulCollage® cards or images containing trees.

Meeting ID: 868 5172 1225      Passcode: 612625

35 mats- Save $10.40 

(Usually 33.40, now 23.00)

75 mats- Save $17.10 

(Usually 63.10, now 46.00)

35 mats + 35 clear bags- Save $10.40

(Usually 38.40, now 28.00)

75 mats + 75 clear bags- Save $17.10

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Art is a soul language. SoulCollage®, Mixed Media, and JourneyCircles™ are the favorite creative ways to participate, and you can expand your journeying with Word Art, Poetry, Paint, Assemblage, Altered Books, and Art Journaling. Connect with amazing women as you travel your path. Dip in or dive deep with the seasonal energies, lore, sacred symbols, and mythic themes offered around the eight seasons on the sacred wheel of the year. Honor your own pace and creative ways, work with sacred stories, mythic memory, phases of life, personal rhythms, and archetypal energies as you connect with an amazing tribe of Quest sisters, traveling together all year.

Do you have an online SoulCollage-focused event that you'd like to advertise here? Excellent idea! Soul Songs goes out to over 2000 avid SoulCollagers every month and Soul Treasures reaches 950+ paid subscribers who love SoulCollage®. Please send a reply to this email or use the Contact form on KaleidoSoul.com and we'll send you more info.

All That Fills Us, by Autumn Lytle. I read this intriguing, warm, relatable, wise novel with fascination and a growing sense of connection to the main character, Mel. I've never struggled with anorexia but I have struggled over the years with body image and my relationship with food. I especially felt comforted by the way that Mel kept her "trail angels" with her as she continued traveling, like an imaginary group of wise council women. I was reminded again and again, that there is no "right way" or "wrong way" towards healing, only the way that we choose for ourselves.

Solo Passage, by Glenda Goodrich. 13 Quests, 13 Questions. In this series of interwoven stories, Glenda (who is also a SoulCollage® Facilitator!) chronicles her path toward healing through wilderness quests in the Pacific Northwest and Central California. Through her connection to nature, she rediscovers the importance of self-esteem, forgiveness, acceptance, and standing in her own truth.

Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection, by James Crews and Ted Kooser. This anthology features poems by Marie Howe, Naomi Shihab Nye and many others. These poets—from all walks of life and from all over America—prove to us the possibility of creating in our lives what Dr. Martin Luther King called the "beloved community," a place where we see each other as the neighbors we already are. Healing the Divide urges us to move past the negativity that often fills the airwaves, and to embrace the ordinary moments of kindness and connection that fill our days.

Live Twice, Love Once, with Oscar Martinez. When Emilio is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he and his family embark on a quest to reunite him with his childhood crush. I found this film beautifully acted with many tender, life-affirming moments. On Netflix now in Spanish with excellent English voice-over.

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