HOW TO "PUT YOURSELF BACK TOGETHER"!
We've all been there. Something totally off the wall happens, and we are devastated. Or, we have to spend endless months on a difficult journey that ends badly or sadly.
Generally, the happening will have to do with a relationship. Let's say you have been married for 11 years, and suddenly you lose your spouse through death, dissertion, or divorce. Or your best friend moves away or dies. Or your mother or father develop Alzheimer's disease. Or your dog or cat or parrot or ferret dies. Or you have just survived a terrible illness or injury. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! LIFE HURTS SOMETIMES!
Life has a way of getting in the way of our fun says a good friend of mine.
What can you do? How can you put yourself back together after a major life disappointment?
Here's a POWERFUL project to help you put yourself back together. You are going to create your own LIFE PUZZLE, take it apart, and put it back together again! When you are finished, you will have a whole new you, and not just symbolically, either.
Children are awfully good at this type of project, and they need to be put back together, too, after devastating events. Consider making this a family project, but I recommend that each member create their own LIFE PUZZLE first. A group LIFE PUZZLE can be created later, with each member contributing a special piece of the family puzzle.
The LIFE PUZZLE is a very sacred and healing project that deserves whatever length of time it takes to create it just the way you want it to be. Give it consideration and contemplation. If all 12 steps seem like too much to even think about right now, it means you are not ready to do your LIFE PUZZLE. When you feel ready, you can just consider doing one step at a time. You can just gather the materials and out them in a box, glance at step two, and put everything aside until you are ready! There's no deadline or time constraint. Do it as you feel called to do it! Take the pressure off, and continue only when you FEEL like being expressive!
NOTE: For more information on EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUE, a variation of which is appled in step 6 below, please visit my affiliate website:
http://www.tryitoneverything.com/cmd.php?af=784406
(Copy/paste into your browser if the above link does not click through for you. It clicked through when I checked it, but one never knows.......)
Here are the basic steps to take:
To create your LIFE PUZZLE, gather together the following: A piece of poster board in a vibrant color (11" x 17" or larger), a sharp scissors, some paper glue, some spray fixative, several colored magic markers, and a photograph of yourself and/or several colorful magazines.
Step 1: Trace the biggest circle you can possibly make right in your paper using the biggest round object in your home or office, OR work with the entire sheet. Either which way, the outer shape of your puzzle represents your boundaries.
Step 2: On one side of the poster board, create firm, fluid lines that intersect randomly, like a puzzle, in any shapes you want.
Step 3: Turn your poster board over, and on the other side, draw or paint an artistic scene that seems to represent you, or have your own photo enlarged and then carefully glue it to the blank side of the poster board. Another idea would be to do a collage of pictures from magazines that have meaning to you and represent you. You may create some other way of representing yourself. There are no rules.
Step 4: Now, carefully cut out each piece of your puzzle and place each piece in a special box you already have.
Step 5: When all the pieces are cut, you are going to label the blank side of each piece with a word that represents that part of you that needs to be "put back together". Do this with all pieces.
Step 6: Take one random piece, and look at the word that is on it. Remember, this is a part of you that needs and wants to be put back together. Mentally invite it to come back to you, and then tap the side of your hand and say, "Even though I have been through hell lately, I lovingly invite you to come back into my being and be part of my wholeness again." Notice how this feels to you.
Step 7: Repeat Step 6 with all the pieces of your puzzle.
Step 8: Now that your puzzle, which represents you, has been put together, CONSIDER gluing the pieces together and let dry. (You may prefer not to glue the parts together. It's up to you!)
Step 9: Carefully turn your glued puzzle over and admire how put together it (you) have become! (Alternatively, if you decided not to glue them, take your puzzle apart, turn your puzzle pieces over and re-do the puzzle so you can see yourself put together from the other, artistic, side.)
Step 10: Spray your LIFE PUZZLE with fixative to preserve your writings and your artistry.
Step 11: Frame your puzzle and put it where you can see it. Every time you look at it, you will remember how you were able to put yourself back together - and you will be able to do it again if you have to!
Step 12: I invite you to email a picture of your finished puzzle to me with your permission to place it on a special page on my website (www.sheilaknows.com)
Life does not have to take the joy from your eyes FOREVER. You can reclaim your joy and put yourself back together. You will emerge stronger than ever for your effort!
