The Phoenix Soul. We are truth-speakers, heart-on-our-sleevers, love-believers. You are. I am. We are The Phoenix Soul (indie digital magazine & community).
““... we’ve been taught to do anything but address our own hurts on the soul level. In sharing our stories, we heal and we encourage others to heal, too.””
Yes, we mourn. Yes, we ache. Yes, we lament. But we do not stay in that dark forever, though our phoenix souls are often born here, in the wilderness of mystery and intentional un-learning. Then, oh then, we soar up and out into blazing light: triumphant, free, found. Uncaged. Unleashed. Released. Revived. More joyful than ever. This issue is a riot of color, a thundering pulse of passion and purpose and power.
“And there, at the intersection of ache and honesty, I found my power. I found my joy. I found my story, the one I was born to tell.”
1. Amanda Fall, Christa Gallopoulos. 2. Anna "Meade" Tapp, Laurie Blackwell, A.k. Padovich, Kristal Norton. 3. Prerna Bakshi, Maureen Helms Blake, De Jackson, suzanne l. vinson. 4. Julia Fehrenbacher, Beth Morey, Teresa Robinson, Carissa Paige.
“I noticed this yearning, this ache to break free, to somehow renounce all the perfect little boxes I placed around my life, my art. [...] I had to break free from the cage I held myself hostage in.”
excerpts from The Phoenix Soul: Catharsis
“Across a border fence, more flags flutter. In celebration. In consecration. As my hands work, tears wet my cheeks, signaling the power, the depth, of this ceremony.”
“Sometimes the questions shake us. Sometimes we are to admit truths about ourselves. Old wounds still hurt. We feel broken. We feel uncertain even when rooted. Fear haunts us. Lessons learned need to be learned again and again. We feel lost and alone. We feel the weight and asking the questions lessens our load. And so we ask, petition, cry for help. Help us. Help us to know we are not alone.”