SoulCollage® with Megan Menkveld introductory 2-hour card-making workshops are just the beginning of SoulCollage®. If you want to dig deeper, you can! I recommend buying the book, available through me for a discount, or on the SoulCollage® website. SoulCollage® can include Transpersonal Cards, one of which is the Source card (along with Witness and SoulEssence). The transpersonal cards are not used in card readings, and do not get “I am one who…” statements. They are simply there to represent our existence in the universe.

This is my Source card. When I showed it to my mom, she asked me, “What do you mean by ‘Source?’” She's a Christian, so I said it’s like God, or Creator, or the “force,” for Star Wars followers. It’s nature and science and magic. It’s where we and everything came from.

My Source card is about 4 years old and I’ve never felt the need to make a new one, same with my Witness and SoulEssence cards, both will be featured in future blog posts. It still has strong energy for me, and it represents everything I imagine Source to be. What does/will your Source card look like?

Like millions of other Americans, I’ve suffered from burn-out. I’d worked in the corporate world for about 15 years, moved across the country, then got divorced, and I just couldn’t handle the stress, politics and drama of office life anymore. My priorities changed quickly as I started purging negativity from my life as fast as possible, including the toxic workplace. My break from paycheck work was longer than I thought. I wanted to re-gain my physical and mental health before going back, which takes time, but before going bankrupt.

My issue with paycheck work is not the work, it’s usually the job. I like accounting and managing, what I'm educated and trained to do, and I care a lot about healthcare finance, my specialty. For a long time I wanted to help inform healthcare policy in America, but my personality is not compatible with that, but I am still working in the field trying to make the process as efficient as possible, one clinic at a time!

I’ve had numerous work executives complain about their financial position and accounting results. One even asked if I thought it would be misleading to report the losses I was calculating. No! It would be misleading not to! I care about reporting accurate data, for decision making, for information, and most importantly for myself. I'm also a Taurus, so I may be pre-disposed to stubborness on this and other issues.

One day, instead of complaining about this all the time, I decided to SoulCollage® about it, and have been ever since. I like to remember what’s important and enjoyable to me about my paycheck job(s). In addition, the cards help me set healthy boundaries. Everything that I want to be part of my work goes on cards, so anything that’s not on them is not welcome in my workspace. I’m better able to identify toxicity before it becomes overwhelmingly stressful to me, and thus be able to take corrective action. SoulCollage® has truly helped me a lot with handling paycheck work and office jobs. It could help you, too!

I SoulCollage® whenever I need to, and since I have everything I need at home, I often do it by myself. An added bonus to being a facilitator, besides my general love of sharing SoulCollage®, is that I get to SoulCollage® with others! It’s a different experience when there’s quiet, supportive energy in the room that’s not my own. I hope participants – you!- don’t mind me collaging with you. SoulCollaging® with others means everyone gets new ideas, shares out loud, and feels connected. I can identify with almost every card that other people make, and with their story, when they share. We are so connected, and it’s important to know that we are not alone, so not alone.

Doing it with family, kids and partners can enhance existing relationships. I love to see both young and adult kids with their parents doing art together and then sharing so personally. My mom, who lives in Michigan, came to one of my workshops when she was visiting. I never get to see her craft or hear her share personal feelings in that way, she’s usually in mom mode, not in self-care mode. That was a special day.

So invite others to SoulCollage® with you, even at home. Put on some tea and music, cut up some magazines, and be semi-social. It’s quality, quiet time.