Inner Voices of Creativity

Permission to Rest

By Anne Marie Bennett

I made this SoulCollage® card intuitively because I loved each of the images of women, as well as the light pouring through the curtains. Even though I made it intuitively in pure response to the images, I was pretty sure that it had something to do with my lazy streak. So I was pleasantly surprised when I did some writing with the card and discovered it wasn’t about that at all! Listen to what this card says to me about myself, and see if you can relate:

I am the one who enjoys lying around, doing nothing. I am the one who enjoys resting. I am the one who can sit for hours and do nothing. I am the one who rests with abandon. I am the one who enjoys the pleasures of rest.

I give you the knowledge that rest is okay. I give you time and wisdom to know when to rest. I give you pleasure when you rest. I give you permission to rest.

I want you to rest when you are tired, and to enjoy resting. I want you to not feel guilty when you choose to rest. I want you to take pleasure in just lying around and doing nothing once in a while. I want you to know it’s a blessing to rest, a necessity, a blessed necessity. I want you to stop thinking that you always have to be doing something and focus instead on being.

This SoulCollage® card has brought a new understanding to my creative pursuits. I now understand more fully that rest, in and of itself, is a huge part of the creative process. It might look like I’m doing nothing during the times when I’m resting, but those are the times when creative thoughts and passions come to brilliant fruition in my soul. The collage, the altered book, the essay… might be “just sitting there” on my work table, seemingly abandoned, but as I take time away from each creative project, I give it space to breathe and to make room for more of what it’s meant to be.

Inner Reflection:

Think of a creative project that is in the works for you right now. Imagine taking a short break (even an hour, or an afternoon) from it. There probably will be a part of you that resists this small break, but see if you can access your own Permission to Rest voice and allow yourself some luscious time and space away from the project. If you don’t have any creative projects on the burner right now, try simply giving yourself permission to rest in some other way in your life. Make your own SoulCollage® card to express something similar in your own life. •

© 2007 Anne Marie Bennett. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Anne Marie Bennett
Anne Marie is a freelance writer and collage artist whose main passion is to spread the power of the SoulCollage process as far as possible. Anne Marie lives, laughs, sings, works, (and makes her own SoulCollage cards!) in Beverly, MA. To learn how to make your own SoulCollage® cards, please visit www.kaleidosoul.com.

02/26/07