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Some things I've learned...
I've learned a lot about life, living snuggled into the Cleveland National Forest for some 30 years.
I now realize the wonder of getting older and the privilege of witnessing so many views along the trail.
Now I can see some experiences that formed me. Some that opened pathways and some that made it impossible to continue according to whatever plans I had. The experiences were there, but some of the SEEING takes time. It takes experience and time to weave ourselves awake!
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Drawn to the Natural World...
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You, my sweet beauty were Innocent and eager to belong.
You were a mix of spunky and shy.
Long curly locks and wide open eyes,
your being was housed in the natural world
and free to roam wild strawberry fields.
Yet no child can know what awaits her or his innocence.
Assault on innocence is both slow and shockingly abrupt.
You were shaped by your parents dreams and their love.
You absorbed unfinished hurt and shame.
You carried their fears as your own.
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What other paint was splashed over your innocence?
Did school teach to you to measure yourself in terms
of success and failure?
Did the Church teach you to love God
and in some ways reject yourself?
Did the over culture provide a diet of images
that named beauty in limited and empty ways?
You didn’t know you were rejecting your beauty
and at the same time your own body
to avoid feeling rejected in the world.
Over time a cage of beliefs
separated you from yourself
and your true innate beauty.
Come here, my little beauty.
Let me look into your eyes and say,
“You are beautiful.
You always have been and always will be.
You are enough and you are not too much!
You can breathe fully now and take in all that life can offer.”
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Drawn to The Mystery...
Who ARE you?
Walking home from the bus stop,
I stop at the bottom of the long, dirt driveway.
A voice within asks
"Who are you?"
A moment in time
Startled, puzzled, obedient.
"I am Gail Ruth Gasparovich,"
I answer
I experience a palpable stillness.
I do not move.
I am struck by something
I do not understand.
Now I might call it the unknown.
I might see it as the mystery..
Continued silence.
The voice speaks again,
"But, Who ARE YOU?​"
Drawn to Self Expression...
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Crossing a threshold into adulthood, I became a young mother and newly licensed Marriage, Family Therapist. I wanted to incorporate fresh approaches to therapy and expand channels of self-expression. I spent two decades learning Psychodrama, Bioenergetics, Sand Tray and SoulCollage®.
Sand Tray and SoulCollage® work with images and both invite ways of voicing what an image might have to say. SoulCollage® uses a prompt:
I am one who...
as a way to name what an image brings to one's awareness. Below is a SoulCollage I created when I was training to become a facilitator. This demonstrates the process!
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This is a SoulCollage® representing child, maiden, and elder.
After creating the card, I voice the I am one who... speaking from the perspective of each image.
First, the child:
I am one who reaches for life.
I am one who is playful.
I am one who is nurtured by nature.
Then, the maiden:
I am one who is exploring my essence.
I am one who is surrendering.
I am one who is learning deeper trust.
Finally, for the elder:
I am one who holds the pillow of comfort.
I am one whose pathway is imprinted in my being.
I am one who is in awe.
Three aspects of who I became...
Find the sweetness in your own heart, then you may find the sweetness in every heart. ~Rumi
An Interview with Gail here
How can we follow our own thread and
step outside the noise of life?