the art of soulscaping

i am not sure who first coined this term ’soulscaping’ – i naively thought it might have been myself many years ago, only to find a record label in scandinavia already owned a dot com on it and a web design agency in australia also laid claim to using it in their business name, as well as having their own dot com.

for me, i guess i’ve been a ’soulscapist’ for almost a decade now .. it’s probably easiest to use the analogy for landscaping (by dictionary definition – improving the contours and aesthetics of the ground). likewise, i have been ’scaping’ my own soul – tending to the aesthetics, nature and quality of my own essence; a kind of meticulous soul-making or soul crafting if you will.

the sentiment and practice itself (whether people realise it or not) has been around for quite some time now – i simply wish to honour, indulge and ignite the process more consciously, deeply and passionately for myself.

it requires a term of engagement with one’s own inner psyche, similar to a courtship with our ’selves’ – coming face to face with the ever changing nature of our essence and individual make-up, and perhaps recognising the blueprint for our soul’s destiny (if you believe you have one).

when myspace first came out, i chose an alias that had something to do with having a clandestine affair with my own deep (and sometimes dark) soul. having recently completed a masters in jungian (analytical) psychology, i went through the initial stages of embracing jung’s concept of owning one’s own shadow self – not necessarily dark, dangerous and seedy but something more akin to recognising the duality between yin and yang, light and dark, anima and animus, night and day .. in a natural state of symbiosis, one can not exist without the other ..

conscious ’soulscaping’ allows me to further explore the juxtapositions and fragile balance between the two opposing natures within myself – recognising the natural states of existence of our conscience and the interplay between the ego and the unconscious higher mind or self.

i’ll probably elaborate more on the concept of embracing the shadow in another blog post. for now, here’s a beautiful image of the power of soulscaping – by an australian intuitive artist named toni carmine salerno. i have many of his drawings – you can check his art out at: www.tonicarminesalerno.com

artist - toni carmine salerno

~ by Brazen Sync on August 21, 2008.