Doing the Next Thing
Moving with the intuitive, trusting, flowing self.
By Anne Marie Bennett from Through the Eyes of SoulCollage® | Posted 10/29/20
In my thirties, I liked to take personal retreats at a lovely retreat center out in the countryside of northern Massachusetts. Each retreater had her own little "hermitage" and there was a quarter of a mile walk up to the main house where meals were served and Morning/Evening Prayer services were held by the Brothers who ran the center.
I will never forget the first time I went there. It was mid-autumn; the air was crisp and cold, scented with falling leaves. The walk from Evening Prayer back to my cottage that night was very dark. Luckily, the Brothers had given each of us a flashlight to light our way back to our cottages. I had lingered a while in the library after the Evening Prayer service, so I was walking alone. I knew the general direction of my hermitage, but I couldn't actually see it. I could only see as far ahead as the glow from my flashlight, so that is how I made the whole journey from the retreat center's main building to my hermitage, one little glow at a time.
At first I was afraid because I really couldn't see where I was going, but after several steps I realized that I didn't need to see the whole pathway. I just needed to follow the beam of the flashlight, and that was just enough to take me all the way home.
Looking back, I see now that this is a brilliant metaphor for life. I may not be able to see my final destination on any given journey (career, health, relationships), but as long as I follow the light I am given in this moment, I can trust that I will stay on the path, arriving at the right time and place.
The same is true of our SoulCollage® journeys. When I first started making cards, I was quite guilty of needing to "know" where I was headed, where the card was headed, and what it all meant. After about 20 cards, I got the hang of just doing the next thing, taking the next step, even though I didn't know why, even though I didn't know where the card was taking me.
This is true of how we actually make the cards — choosing images, letting images choose us, laying out a card, and gluing down the individual pieces. It's also true of the journaling and readings that we do with our cards.
Just trust yourself. Simply do the next thing, and you will always be shown the next step.
Time for Reflection
The next time you make a SoulCollage® card, stop yourself before you begin.
Shake out your hands, your mind and your body. Let go of any preconceived notions of what this card might be about. Let go of control. And just do the next thing. Choose the next image and glue it down without even worrying about what you'll do next. Stay in the moment and trust the process. Leave the past and the future out of it completely and just be with what is as you create the card.
To do this, you need to stay out of your rational left brain, and move more fully into your right-brained, intuitive, trusting, flowing self.
Learn more: SoulCollage® Instructions
©2015 Anne Marie Bennett. All rights reserved.
Through the Eyes of SoulCollage®
Anne Marie Bennett is a published author, self-taught artist, and SoulCollage® Facilitator. more
This series is excerpted with permission from Through the Eyes of SoulCollage®: Reflections on Life Via the SoulCollage Lens by Anne Marie Bennett.