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his is what I chose to write about. It was the expertise my client was looking for, but it has since led to over $100K worth of work with this single client, both in my niche and on projects completely unrelated.</p><p id="17ad">Finding a niche is a good idea, but it doesn’t need to define what you do forever. You can use it as a foot in and a way of building your profile.</p><h1 id="ca76">2. I solved my client's problem</h1><p id="3bda">My client was originally looking for writers who had worked in the careers space to write content about changing careers. They had a specific brief they wanted to fill.</p><p id="fc29">Although they contacted me, I didn’t take that they wanted me as a given, and I still wrote a proposal detailing how I could help them achieve their goal. I focused on what I could do <i>FOR </i>them, solving their problem, and outlining clearly how I would approach the task. I told them my credentials, but I made my proposal about them and what they needed.</p><p id="ec1a">It is a common freelancer mistake to launch into what they have achieved, who they’ve worked for, and what qualifications they have without linking this to how it will help the client. Above anything else, they want to know how <i>YOU</i> are going to help <i>THEM</i>.</p><h1 id="fcc5">3. I provided proof</h1><p id="33db">We already know that Upwork has got itself known for having some poor-quality clients and freelancers. To stand above the 18 million, it’s important to show that you are not a wannabe with no experience. You are an expert at what you do.</p><p id="c5fb">To do this, you need proof. I have a writing portfolio I link to when pitching for work, I have testimonials on my Upwork profile, and I have recommendations on LinkedIn that I can also share.</p><p id="2eb3">It’s important that you can back up your talk with hard evidence showing what you can do. Especially for clients paying the biggest sums. They want to be sure they are getting the quality they are willing to pay for.</p><h2 id="799c">What have I learnt?</h2><p id="d224">The fact that people think you can’t get good clients on Upwork can be an advantage. If you have the right mindset and approach, it’s easier than you think to stand above the 18 million freelancers, many of whom aren’t expecting to strike it big. Many are aiming low, pricing low, and putting in the effort that the low expectation equates to.</p><p id="d52e">If you really have expertise to offer, and you put in the effort to pitch yourself in the right way, there are top clients to be had on Upwork.</p><h2 id="08d1">There’s more…</h2><p id="98a5">If you like my work, I have a series of articles about how to make money on Upwork in the pipeline.</p><p id="9fed">Here is my latest:</p><div id="af67" cla

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ss="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-i-made-100k-on-upwork-and-became-top-rated-with-a-100-success-score-a305ef7d8e01"> <div> <div> <h2>How I Made £100K on Upwork and Became Top Rated With a 100% Success Score</h2> <div><h3>If I can do it, so can you</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*talqtG9SwMex4wuI)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="d650">You can follow me or subscribe to my list here on Medium, or you can join my Substack community, <a href="https://redefiningsuccess.substack.com/">Redefining Success</a>, for even more. I’m looking forward to connecting.</p><p id="e0a8">Check out some of my latest posts:</p><div id="ed1c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-you-define-success-could-be-the-key-to-your-happiness-7e87f5a5b9f2"> <div> <div> <h2>How You Define Success Could Be the Key to Your Happiness</h2> <div><h3>And also your unhappiness…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*y6XeGW7HiHo0F9_o)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="071c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-a-train-hopper-made-me-see-how-messed-up-our-working-system-is-8f5dc3b6dd3c"> <div> <div> <h2>How a Train Hopper Made Me See How Messed Up Our Working System Is</h2> <div><h3>We’ve got it so backwards</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*S1pUr2HzkJKbUSZB)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="1424" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/when-i-called-myself-a-writer-the-money-came-in-fc77468e0627"> <div> <div> <h2>When I Called Myself a Writer, the Money Came In</h2> <div><h3>What you tell yourself matters</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*AYK0DtsukpP2-1cF)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

How I Use SoulCollage® to Deeply and Lovingly Connect With Source and My Soul Self

Especially for times when words won’t work and I just need to be

Photo by Ryan Herron, image collaged by author in Canva.com

Back in March, I wrote about using SoulCollage® to access messages of hope for Ukraine and Russia.

Just to recap, SoulCollage® is a way of listening to the songs our souls sing to us when we stop and listen. Since our souls speak in the language of images, we let our Soul Selves browse for compelling images that grab us for whatever reason.

We let our Soul Self play, combining and arranging them, discovering what wants to go with which and where. Then and only then do we glue them to a matt board or other surface. Once made, we read our soul cards, singly or in combination, to discern the messages they have for us.

When read, my soul card, Mother Mary Wears the Ruby Slippers, said, Let the world bring their sorrow to me. I have suffered like only mothers can and my breast has been strengthened. I can hold it all. I do hold it all.

Then she said, It’s darkest before the dawn. But the morning comes. Let it come. Let a million sunflowers bloom on the morning coming soon, bringing with it new ways of doing, being, sharing, living cooperatively, honestly, and humbly.

A reasonable facsimile of my Mother Mary soul card made by the author on canva.com

Receiving that message shifted something in me.

Tension I’d been holding relaxed. Breath came easier and deeper, and the Trust that had been hovering just out of reach came close enough I could run my fingers through her fiery red hair. Yes, I just gave Trust a persona. That’s what we get to do in SoulCollage®.

I realized I have access to deeper wisdom when I get out of Monkey Mind and open myself to it.

SoulCollage® is one of the ways I open myself to it.

The practice of making cards calms and settles me with its meditative energy. By the time I read the card, my heart and soul are open for messages from my Soul Self to come through.

Once that dawned on me, I started making cards on Canva.com so I could use them in posts without having to worry about copyright infringement.

And I went back and read SoulCollage® creator, Seena B. Frost’s book, SoulCollage® Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery and Community,

Specifically to focus on what she wrote about Soul and Source. Being a visionary Jungian art therapist with a Master’s in Divinity from Yale, I knew she had a lot to say.

I’m moved to share some of that with you.

Starting with how Soul is Used in SoulCollage®

Seena puts it this way:

“The word Soul in SoulCollage® work is inclusive. It includes all the Netters (aspects or facets) of the personal self: the personality parts, including the ego, and the energies of the physical body, and the archetypes that come from the cosmic realms to influence us, and even other sentient beings….This Soul might also be called the Whole Self. and it is actually holy simply because it is a form manifested originally from Source.

“No matter how shadowed the Soul becomes through a lifetime, at its core, there is a spark of the holy. I call that spark of Source which lies at the center of every Soul’s SoulEssence.”

We each have a SoulEssence.

We each have a Witness. This is the aspect of consciousness in everyone. It’s the mirror that allows us to step back and see ourselves without judgment, as a many-faceted form.

And of course, we all come from Source.

You know — the formless and infinite Oneness from which everything springs, and back into which everything eventually returns. We live, breathe and have our beingness in Oneness. And the One or Source lives, breathes, and has beingness through each and every one of us. It needs us to express Itself just as much as we need it, if not more.

Source, SoulEssence, and Witness are central to SoulCollage®.

So central, Seena invites us to make a card for each of them. Even though we’re talking about the Holy Mysterious which is beyond form. Images representing them might seem inadequate. Mere pointers.

But the act of making and being with these cards is a deeply personal way to connect to Holy Mystery. Let me build a house of holy soul cards and move in!

Seena calls this trinity the Transpersonal Cards. And devotes an entire chapter in her book to them. You’ll see three I made on canva.com below:

**Source.** Photo by Duncan 1890, image soul collaged by author in Canva.com

More about Source

The Holy Mystery goes by many names, so we can pick our own. Spirit comes readily. Or Ground of Being, as theologian Paul Tillich named It.

How do you make a card to represent the Infinite Formless? We may not know, but our Soul Self does. Browsing for images among the vastness may reveal something compelling.

Stars and galaxies through a Hubble evoke the Cosmic for me. I also found images of energy wave patterns to represent the unseen Everywhereness of Creative Intelligence. There is no wrong way to do this card. Light in dark, natural splendor, or even nothing can represent the Mysterious No-thing here.

**SoulEssence.** Graphic by agsandrew, Image soul collaged by author in canva.com

Next Comes SoulEssence

How Source manifests in each one of us, that Divine Spark is our SoulEssence. It’s how we express the aspects of the Holy specifically encoded into us, according to Seena. It speaks to and sparks our Divine Purpose and/or full potential.

This soul card reveals who I came here to be. Which evolves as I and my understanding of that do. My Soul Self whispered in my ear that I’m making some shifts here. So I made a new SoulEssence card. The images therein help me distill and discern where I’m headed next.

**Witness.** Graphic by agsandrew, Image soul collaged by author in canva.com

And Finally, the Witness

Like a mirror, the witness allows us to step back and see ourselves and our world without judgment. The crazier and more chaotic life is, the more we need this ability. Eloquently described in Eckhard Tolle’s A New Earth, the Witness functions like consciousness. Pure awareness. Enabling us to stand back, make choices, and begin again.

Eyes are a common symbol on Witness cards. Including third eyes. Ways of knowing. Ways of perceiving. Ways of being.

A Final Note

Transpersonal cards aren’t ‘read’ like other cards.

But they speak powerfully in non-verbal ways to us when we just be with them. They remind us, like Mother Mary in Paul McCartney’s song, to Let it Be. But they also remind us to be. And to be all we were created to be.

Not do, mind you. Be. So, friends. Come just be with me. lluminaste!

How I Use SoulCollage® to Access Messages of Hope about Ukraine

A powerful tool to connect with my soul and hear her sing

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Marilyn Flower’s the author of Creative Blogging: Ninja Writers Guide to Character Development and Bucket Listers, Get Your Brave On. Clowning and improvisation strengthen her resolve during these crazy times. Follow her Sacred Foolishness and Stay in touch!