On the other side of the portal

This past Sunday, I hosted The Collage Portal: Golden Edition, an oracle card-making workshop done through the process of collage. As I am every time, I was reminded that hosting this workshop sends everybody on their own little adventure, and the actual experience becomes so much more than a craft.

Now, one week later, I’m sitting with some of the gifts I witnessed in this space. I wanted to share them and where they can be found in everyday life, too.

1) This workshop is a chance to be alone together. There are times when there is relating, but there is also plenty of time to be in the flow of making with your hands in an unguarded and creative state alongside others without needing to worry about conversation or how you’re being perceived. This type of social interaction can be regulating, cup-filling, even healing. 

It reminds me that there are many ways to be present in states of resting, tinkering, or moving alongside others’ energy while still honoring your own experience fully. I think about cafes, workout classes, or the library.

What ways do you seek this out in your own life? 

2) The oracle cards become a mirror of the person who made them. Each person’s cards are so unique—so them—because they poured their heart into it. Looking at the words and symbols that have found their way into the art can become an opportunity to see yourself reflected back at you in another form and deepen your understanding of what may be available to you in your life. 

People are astonishingly good at this process despite how ‘far out’ it can seem. You can try it right now by looking around the room and finding a piece of art or an object that’s drawing you in. Think about the characteristics of that object and what it represents to you.

And then ask, what message does it have for you about your life? Be open to whatever arises.

https://youtube.com/shorts/tN40-A7RzKY?si=3LyFJP-Aj93maDrC

Video created by me using footage generously shared by Ordo Creative.

3) I’m in awe of the way this workshop can become a space to celebrate, explore, and witness one another’s uniqueness and the different journeys we’re all on. At the end, we spent time reading each other's cards and sharing the symbols, words, and meaning that stood out to each of us as an offering for the person who created the cards. In that exchange, we had a chance to relate to one another on a deeper level and to acknowledge each other’s experience without feeling the need to fix or solve anything. To each be exactly where we are and to be held in that knowing.

So, needless to say, today my heart is full.

P.S. I host The Collage Portal seasonally out of the Yoga Circle - join me next time! This studio has many other meaningful offerings I attend regularly and an open house happening this week. Check it out here.