The unconscious seems to delight in breaking through- and breaking up- exactly what we cling to most rigidly in our conscious thinking. (Rollo May in The Courage to Create, p. 59)

The long winter is finally ending. I can hear the ice cracking on the lake. I hear the “woosh” of frozen chunks letting go, surrendering to the sun, breaking off and floating downstream, as I sit by the creek. I see the geese and ducks arriving, finding ever enlarging expanses of water still surrounded by icy shelves. They swim around, dive under for food, and then use the ice as a convenient resting place to stretch their legs and their wings.
Many of us who have spent the long winter complaining about being stuck inside, incubating in the dark are now feeling a strange reluctance to face the light. We began to believe that we were more comfortable in our snug cocoons… the kind of feeling one has when waking up on a cold morning, unable to leave a soft, warm bed. But the call to move, to get up, to stretch our wings in the sunlight is undeniable….whatever has been germinating in the dark womb of winter is now feeling the urge to reach out to the sun. I am not even sure whether I want to see, and feel, what has been growing in my internal darkness, but I can tell that there is no stopping it. Like the geese, I must learn to dive under the surface of the melted ice, swim with what is growing there, and find a place to stop, rest, and commune with others finding their way through creativity.
Are you willing to dance with whatever your unconscious is delighting in breaking through the ice of winter? Sit down with some magazines, scissors and a glue stick and allow the images that grab your attention to arrange themselves into a 5 inch x 8 inch collage (SoulCollage® size). Use tag board or mat board as a backing. Allow one “energy” or dominant image of a person or animal per card sized collage. Whoever emerges may be the ones lying beneath the surface, waiting for you to notice them. When you are done, you will have made a SoulCollage® card to begin or add to your collection!