… It wasn’t an illness in my body that I was fighting with and so sought a soul sketch … it was that feeling that came from nowhere and nothing. A kind of darkness that descended over my otherwise good and well functioning life. Depression the doctor said. Lethargy, boredom, fatigue … over the years I had many names for it.
It was interesting to just sit with Barb and talk about this feeling while she did whatever a soul sketcher does. Even as I was talking and I was aware that in a way I was just talking to myself, I found myself going deeper into the feeling to make sure I was doing the best job I could to describe this feeling … after all she was just providing the talent; the image she said was mine.
She told me to just share my feeling and the effects my condition had on my life , that there was no right way to do it and in the end after having spoken my thoughts and feelings into the image … the image would speak back to me.
It was immediate for me. The darkness that seemed to reach its long fingers down into my life was coming right out of the blue … but then I saw it. The little yellow bird, a canary I thought right in the darkness itself.
Barb had suggested the image would speak to me. The little yellow bird had a message for me. It was the first time I had ever looked at the feeling I had and thought “it might be trying to speak to me.” I googled an image of a yellow canary and went to work letting it speak.
It was interesting to just sit with Barb and talk about this feeling while she did whatever a soul sketcher does. Even as I was talking and I was aware that in a way I was just talking to myself, I found myself going deeper into the feeling to make sure I was doing the best job I could to describe this feeling … after all she was just providing the talent; the image she said was mine.
She told me to just share my feeling and the effects my condition had on my life , that there was no right way to do it and in the end after having spoken my thoughts and feelings into the image … the image would speak back to me.
It was immediate for me. The darkness that seemed to reach its long fingers down into my life was coming right out of the blue … but then I saw it. The little yellow bird, a canary I thought right in the darkness itself.
Barb had suggested the image would speak to me. The little yellow bird had a message for me. It was the first time I had ever looked at the feeling I had and thought “it might be trying to speak to me.” I googled an image of a yellow canary and went to work letting it speak.
In the weeks that followed I would look at the image and write what I ‘heard’ ... what feelings it brought to the surface … right now I am working with how the blackness that seemed to reach down into my life might actually be a shadow. A shadow of an old feeling. Looks like my therapist might be right and the impact of my fathers death may still be lingering.
Thanks Barb for being the means of which my feelings became visible.
Mikael L.
Thanks Barb for being the means of which my feelings became visible.
Mikael L.
… I was given a gift of a soul sketch after losing my job and lacking any vision for my life to move in a new direction.
After just sitting and sharing with Barb my experience around losing my job and all the thoughts I had about it, I realized how much of my identity was caught up in it. I was so surprised when the hour was up. I had thought it was going to be difficult to talk for that long.
My first impression was that it was ‘interesting’ I liked that it was not all dark. When I shared the image with my friend who had given me the gift, perhaps it was a few glasses of wine that helped but soon we were seeing all sorts of things.
We settled on a butterfly losing its wings and with a drop of brillant yellow light … that looked like a seed going into the dark earth to be transformed.
I put the image with a few lines from the David Whyte poem "sweet darkness" and it sits today on my mantel reminding me that transformation occurs in the dark.
"Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you. "
It was a gift that will truly keep on giving. Thanks Barb!
Anne B.
After just sitting and sharing with Barb my experience around losing my job and all the thoughts I had about it, I realized how much of my identity was caught up in it. I was so surprised when the hour was up. I had thought it was going to be difficult to talk for that long.
My first impression was that it was ‘interesting’ I liked that it was not all dark. When I shared the image with my friend who had given me the gift, perhaps it was a few glasses of wine that helped but soon we were seeing all sorts of things.
We settled on a butterfly losing its wings and with a drop of brillant yellow light … that looked like a seed going into the dark earth to be transformed.
I put the image with a few lines from the David Whyte poem "sweet darkness" and it sits today on my mantel reminding me that transformation occurs in the dark.
"Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you. "
It was a gift that will truly keep on giving. Thanks Barb!
Anne B.
… It was interesting to hear what my kids saw in it when I showed them, images I would not have picked out right away.
Presently I have it leaning on our fireplace mantle so I can look at it and journal. It's so fascinating! It's like an image from a fairy tale or children's story - at least the orientation that I am viewing it from presently. On the right there is a shape of a head/body - possibly a young blonde girl with her little red cartoon-like dog and opposite a large red monster (reminds me of Sully from Monsters Inc) and they are standing on a road/path looking at the bright light in a tunnel/cave - so captivating and mysterious!
Given today's the first day I've looked at it and journaled it's hard to know what other days will reveal. I'm also looking at it from more distance which shows different images than up close. I truly love the image (s) and still see the pirate when that orientation is presented. I want to google what pirates mean with that 'right hook' :) My monster seems to have a potential right hook also :)
I have to wonder how the story that is read reveals itself and would the same image be revealed if I had chosen something else to share - also, does your soul image vary from day to day?
Again, thank you so much for working with me last week - I truly feel blessed and privileged and excited (?) to see what the image says!! … Lillian S.
Presently I have it leaning on our fireplace mantle so I can look at it and journal. It's so fascinating! It's like an image from a fairy tale or children's story - at least the orientation that I am viewing it from presently. On the right there is a shape of a head/body - possibly a young blonde girl with her little red cartoon-like dog and opposite a large red monster (reminds me of Sully from Monsters Inc) and they are standing on a road/path looking at the bright light in a tunnel/cave - so captivating and mysterious!
Given today's the first day I've looked at it and journaled it's hard to know what other days will reveal. I'm also looking at it from more distance which shows different images than up close. I truly love the image (s) and still see the pirate when that orientation is presented. I want to google what pirates mean with that 'right hook' :) My monster seems to have a potential right hook also :)
I have to wonder how the story that is read reveals itself and would the same image be revealed if I had chosen something else to share - also, does your soul image vary from day to day?
Again, thank you so much for working with me last week - I truly feel blessed and privileged and excited (?) to see what the image says!! … Lillian S.
Hi Barb, Before you did my Soul Sketch, I was certainly looking forward to it but didn’t anticipate the richness of the experience I was about to receive. Throughout the morning, my body, heart, and soul felt nourished with being heard, hugged, and held by your compassionate heart. I value the insight you drew from my words; it encouraged me to go deeper into my feelings. You helped me see how my recent dream could relate to my situation; “having a conversation with those closest” reinforced a comment made by someone a few days prior. I was amazed at other insights which emerged during our time together.
The most secure place to hide a treasure of gold
is in some desolate, unnoticed place.
Why would anyone hide treasure in plain sight?
And so it is said "Joy is hidden beneath sorrow." … Rumi
I was glad that you started the session with the poem. It provided something to connect with at various points and in various ways. Attaching a poem to the healing image felt like a natural development from the experience, to help remind me of the dialogue. Sending the images home matted, with envelopes to insert them in, was a nice touch. At the end of my wonderfully enriching session, I felt so tranquil, like I’d been pampered at a spa retreat.
As the days go by, I’ll be looking to see more in the images, letting them speak to me and letting the mystery unfold. I’ll let you know any additional thoughts, feelings, or insights that emerge from the Soul Sketch. Thank you for this experience; I am very grateful.
Marsha M.
The most secure place to hide a treasure of gold
is in some desolate, unnoticed place.
Why would anyone hide treasure in plain sight?
And so it is said "Joy is hidden beneath sorrow." … Rumi
I was glad that you started the session with the poem. It provided something to connect with at various points and in various ways. Attaching a poem to the healing image felt like a natural development from the experience, to help remind me of the dialogue. Sending the images home matted, with envelopes to insert them in, was a nice touch. At the end of my wonderfully enriching session, I felt so tranquil, like I’d been pampered at a spa retreat.
As the days go by, I’ll be looking to see more in the images, letting them speak to me and letting the mystery unfold. I’ll let you know any additional thoughts, feelings, or insights that emerge from the Soul Sketch. Thank you for this experience; I am very grateful.
Marsha M.
"The soul sketch that Barb visualized -- from my expression of thoughts and feelings at a time of crisis – provides an opportunity for me to look inside … from outside. It’s a resource I can reflect on any time that both takes me to where I was, and allows me to move forward as I feel/see the image and colour interplay. I continue to experience questions, mysteries, ah-ha moments and intriguing scenarios as I contemplate the image. I feel the juxtaposition of darkness and light, fear and optimism, anger and peace. Thank you, Barb for this gift for going deeper."
It seemed easy to talk to Barb about my feelings of all the recent shock and surprise after having a mastectomy.
The sketch caught my eye this morning and it appeared like a celebration! I was finding some shapes in it to be puzzling in a curious way. Let me pass along more images/interpretations I have been determining:
- a ding dong medieval Scottish battle with lots of armour, axes, claymores and swords - I may be one of the ones wielding weapons - but the enemy does not appear to be other people but more like intangible shapes, bodiless things actually
- a cellular level bombardment with the dark cells being overwhelmed by the brighter cells
- a figure - apparently me - either swimming thru a Sargasso Sea of junk struggling to not be pulled down by the crap
- alternately I'm running thru a dark foggy forest trying to avoid being dragged to a halt by amorphous things trying to stick to me
- several different kinds of mysterious implements/devices extracting something (not yet seen) from one area - I guess I'll have to work on that one...
- a bed of flowers - not to look at but to lie in and be surrounded by the scents and healing properties - which is probably why I find our garden to be such a good place to be right now - flowers are continuously opening and making the bed more dense in time-lapse style
- I (the green being with the golden head) am diving down and reaching out to get something out of the dark and murky depths to bring it back up to the light
- a green tree snake in the branches has caused a sprinkling of rain to fall off the canopy onto the flower bed - and is using its heat-seeking powers to find something
- some orange which seems to be healthy body tissue - appears to be a very optimistic sign of healing
Now I will look at your comments and see what resonates:
- yes I recognize the knotted knitting - could be my surprise and shock plus trying to work it out - a sudden halt in all projects - getting some of the knots and thoughts untangled and I have also realized that some of it will remain knotted as inexplicable, for now and some it forever - some of life's many mysteries
- yes feeling my feelings is something i'm working on and the colours certainly elicit more directions to follow but i'm not done with that yet
- I do see stripe(s) but haven't totally figured some of them out yet
- I haven't seen the breasts yet
The sketch has become a great source of information that I refer to frequently - kinda like but kinda not like looking at a forecast, past present and future! Still working its magic.
Elly S.
Words cannot express my gratitude that I feel for you Barb, for offering me your sacred gift of a Soul Sketching. Little did I know, how sharing my feelings with you, would end up in creating a life long tool that helps me fill my " Soul Bowl".
Prior to my sketch,I had been feeling a huge amount of anticipatory grief over my dog. My precious dog Buddy has been experiencing health issues over the last ten months. I have been dealing with traditional western vet medicine spending lots of money and still did not having a definitive diagnosis or treatment plan that was showing signs of improvement. I shared with Barb, as she sketched away, how much I loved this animal for he showed me constant unconditional love and loyalty and spoke that it maybe time to seek out a new vet.
After meditating and praying on my Soul Sketch for a few days I was given the greatest gift of all, I believe Divine intervention, Rick and Cindy came into life to offer support and guidance for my sick dog. Their service is free of charge and is done from their hearts for their love of animals. Buddy health is getting better each day.
My Soul Sketch reminds me of the importance of being STILL and giving myself time to seek counsel from My DIVINE. It offers me peace and calm to be able to deal with whatever life puts in my path, knowing that I am never alone! It assures me LOVE is the driving force of life and all is well regardless of the outcome.
I was shown a deep dark well and on top was a bucket with a rope attached to it I saw the bucket being lowered into the well and when it was drawn up and out of the darkness, it was filled to the brim with pure, clear water. I heard the words;
Deep within every soul is purity of Spirit.
Take time to seek for it until you find it,
and then draw it forth.
Eileen Caddy Opening Doors Within
Blessings of Light and Love Barb for helping me on my journey to constantly keeping my Soul Bowl FULL.
Love Forever, Ariel B.
Prior to my sketch,I had been feeling a huge amount of anticipatory grief over my dog. My precious dog Buddy has been experiencing health issues over the last ten months. I have been dealing with traditional western vet medicine spending lots of money and still did not having a definitive diagnosis or treatment plan that was showing signs of improvement. I shared with Barb, as she sketched away, how much I loved this animal for he showed me constant unconditional love and loyalty and spoke that it maybe time to seek out a new vet.
After meditating and praying on my Soul Sketch for a few days I was given the greatest gift of all, I believe Divine intervention, Rick and Cindy came into life to offer support and guidance for my sick dog. Their service is free of charge and is done from their hearts for their love of animals. Buddy health is getting better each day.
My Soul Sketch reminds me of the importance of being STILL and giving myself time to seek counsel from My DIVINE. It offers me peace and calm to be able to deal with whatever life puts in my path, knowing that I am never alone! It assures me LOVE is the driving force of life and all is well regardless of the outcome.
I was shown a deep dark well and on top was a bucket with a rope attached to it I saw the bucket being lowered into the well and when it was drawn up and out of the darkness, it was filled to the brim with pure, clear water. I heard the words;
Deep within every soul is purity of Spirit.
Take time to seek for it until you find it,
and then draw it forth.
Eileen Caddy Opening Doors Within
Blessings of Light and Love Barb for helping me on my journey to constantly keeping my Soul Bowl FULL.
Love Forever, Ariel B.
It was recommended that I have a Soul Sketch ...
I knew Barb was an amazing artist but I just didn't know what to expect from this whole experience at her studio.
Well we just started chatting and then Barb said "I'm going to start now" and so she started putting colours on paper as we talked.
It was relaxing and just felt like having tea with a friend. Also I have 4 grandchildren the oldest of which are twins, as Barb and I chatted twin fawns came right up to the window!!
When we were finished she put my picture into a frame and we looked at it. I wasn't sure what it was telling me at that time.
But Barb said you have to sit with it and turn it different ways to "see what feels right".
I did sit with it and after a few days found what felt right. It is so amazing that what was going on in my life was reflected in the Soul Sketch. I have to say that I was amazed at the acurracy of it. Mine was quite sad and in a few months I will do it again to see what my Soul has to say to me.
Thank you Barb for the profound experience!
Lori
I knew Barb was an amazing artist but I just didn't know what to expect from this whole experience at her studio.
Well we just started chatting and then Barb said "I'm going to start now" and so she started putting colours on paper as we talked.
It was relaxing and just felt like having tea with a friend. Also I have 4 grandchildren the oldest of which are twins, as Barb and I chatted twin fawns came right up to the window!!
When we were finished she put my picture into a frame and we looked at it. I wasn't sure what it was telling me at that time.
But Barb said you have to sit with it and turn it different ways to "see what feels right".
I did sit with it and after a few days found what felt right. It is so amazing that what was going on in my life was reflected in the Soul Sketch. I have to say that I was amazed at the acurracy of it. Mine was quite sad and in a few months I will do it again to see what my Soul has to say to me.
Thank you Barb for the profound experience!
Lori
I admit that I am not sure how to express my symptoms or story through feeling, or how to dialog metaphorically with it. I guess this soul sketching session will help me to be more aware of my feelings...
After the soul sketch session:
I wanted to tell you about the discoveries I've already made about my wall. I wanted to wait until I saw you but I'm too excited to wait and I feel like I will leave out something important if I don't write it all down. I was journaling this morning and I thought about how you asked me about how the wall felt and right away I decided that it was very sticky and I felt like I am stuck on it and cannot move quickly around it (my wall is where I get stuck when I try to think about or "digest" my feelings [I have digestive issues]).
I also decided that my wall is warm, the colour of the wall is warm in the painting too and I don't feel uncomfortable with it. In fact I feel safe leaning against my warm wall. And felt excited about these discoveries and I thought about how the colour of the wall was warm and the other side is cool and I don't like being cold (in the painting this represents my cool, calm demeanour which we already discovered). I realized then, that the painting is in this way very imbalanced. And that it is split right in half!
I told you that I have always had to have a strong mind to make up for the fatigue I felt with my body my whole life. So maybe the painting is telling me that I somehow need to break down this wall so that I can become more balanced and this might take me out of my "warm", "comfortable", "safe" place where I lean on my wall.
I felt so good about these discoveries. And I decided that this might be the start of a long journey for me. I don't think I'm going to be able to get through that wall anytime soon. But I am so happy because at least, through you, I have discovered my wall and now I can "get the ball rolling". When I wrote "ball rolling" in my journal this morning I looked up and saw that there is also a ball in my wall and that it is moving across the space!
I had been told that I should try thinking metaphorically about my imbalance and my symptoms but I had absolutely no clue how I would do that, the idea was so new to me. And this bothered me because I am a creative person, how could I not be able to think in this way?
I am truly a blessed person to have these discoveries. You pointed out my wall metaphor, I wouldn't have noticed I even said it, and I can feel good that it's mine and that it wasn't your creation. Now I have three, my wall and my rolling ball lol, of course they would rhyme, and that each side of my wall is like night and day.
Thank you so much!
Tracy
After the soul sketch session:
I wanted to tell you about the discoveries I've already made about my wall. I wanted to wait until I saw you but I'm too excited to wait and I feel like I will leave out something important if I don't write it all down. I was journaling this morning and I thought about how you asked me about how the wall felt and right away I decided that it was very sticky and I felt like I am stuck on it and cannot move quickly around it (my wall is where I get stuck when I try to think about or "digest" my feelings [I have digestive issues]).
I also decided that my wall is warm, the colour of the wall is warm in the painting too and I don't feel uncomfortable with it. In fact I feel safe leaning against my warm wall. And felt excited about these discoveries and I thought about how the colour of the wall was warm and the other side is cool and I don't like being cold (in the painting this represents my cool, calm demeanour which we already discovered). I realized then, that the painting is in this way very imbalanced. And that it is split right in half!
I told you that I have always had to have a strong mind to make up for the fatigue I felt with my body my whole life. So maybe the painting is telling me that I somehow need to break down this wall so that I can become more balanced and this might take me out of my "warm", "comfortable", "safe" place where I lean on my wall.
I felt so good about these discoveries. And I decided that this might be the start of a long journey for me. I don't think I'm going to be able to get through that wall anytime soon. But I am so happy because at least, through you, I have discovered my wall and now I can "get the ball rolling". When I wrote "ball rolling" in my journal this morning I looked up and saw that there is also a ball in my wall and that it is moving across the space!
I had been told that I should try thinking metaphorically about my imbalance and my symptoms but I had absolutely no clue how I would do that, the idea was so new to me. And this bothered me because I am a creative person, how could I not be able to think in this way?
I am truly a blessed person to have these discoveries. You pointed out my wall metaphor, I wouldn't have noticed I even said it, and I can feel good that it's mine and that it wasn't your creation. Now I have three, my wall and my rolling ball lol, of course they would rhyme, and that each side of my wall is like night and day.
Thank you so much!
Tracy
I was given a Soul Sketch as a gift and it truly is the gift that keeps giving, cliche as that may sound. I look at it daily and am trying to listen for what it is saying to me.
Enroute to Barb's studio the morning of our appointment I noticed an eagle perched atop a hay bail and knew it to be a significant sign. '…universe is presenting me with an opportunity to soar ... attacking the personal fears of the unknown and the wings of my soul are supported by the breezes or the breath of the Great Spirit', as it states in an Animal Symbolism book that Barb shared after our session. I had mentioned to Barb in an e-mail before our meeting that fear is what I wanted to work with.
Before my session I had moments where I wasn't sure I could share my fears, being a topic I preferred not to discuss and yet I wanted to get the most I could out of our time together so I wrote and wrote and came with my story in hand. It was easier than I thought to share my early family struggles with Barb and how those led me to shut down my feeling function at an early age, all the while she is creating my sketch and interjecting pertinent questions for me to ponder. Had I gone into survival mode as a young child by stuffing my fears away and could it be the very thing as an adult I need to recognize and explore how it's preventing me from creating the life I want?
I see many small images in the sketch and the big one that was so obvious, when it got pointed out, is that of a witch. There has been an unfolding for me over the past year and out of that has come the witch - beautiful in her own way on the outside and yet her eye tells you something else is going on within. All those years of stuffing feelings and fears deep within have now given me much to work on now that I am willing to let the inside of me emerge.
I am grateful for this rich visual aid that has helped me approach my inner struggles. It provides me with daily awareness that I have the potential to create change. Barb is a wonderful facilitator and a very caring, warm individual who has the capacity to listen and take what she hears to create a personal keepsake that provides much feedback. The medium she is working in is alive with colour, detail and provides symbolism for anyone who chooses to sit with their piece time and again and allow themselves to be drawn into it's meaning. This gift has much value for me; thank you Barb !
Lise
Soul Sketcher: Healing Images
