SOULMAKING & DA VINCIAN PRINCIPLES

As Dr. Norman Narciso, one of the leading Filipino thought leaders in the art
world, deeply explains soul- making, Soulmaking is an alternate place to know
oneself and to look at the depths and meaning of what we do in our daily lives.”
Soulmaking is a step towards a deeper comprehension of how the world is perceived
and how his or her own personality is seen.
Soul making plays a major role in art-production; it is a form of crafting stories,
transforming brief moments into images, symbols that connect with people,
understanding culture and embodying tolerance, peace, and imagination.
Knowing oneself
In soul making, who are you; is the topic that throughout the process serves as a
guidepost. Knowing oneself begins with consciousness. In order to start the process,
it is necessary to realize and embrace one's truth, history and understanding of
existence. With this new found insight, art, which is actually the very core of soul-
making, can now come into play. Therefore, it is not so much the production that is
mostly taken into account, but the method of perceiving anything.
Depths and Essence
Soulmaking is more than the soul's religious perspective. Soul refers to a person's
individuality that resonates with his or her behavior. Since art is a human expression
that is highly valued and symbolic, a person typically uses different art forms to fulfill
the need to communicate and express him or herself. The human desire to actualize
his or her very being is strongly assisted by Soulmaking.
What we are doing
Art gives a person a sense of purpose about what he or she is doing. As any
artwork is an expression of one's perceptions, feelings, emotions, and realities, the
key to personal cultural growth is the process of creating such expression.
Soulmaking utilizes every human experience to build the influence that can make
the artist himself and others improve.
Everyday life
Life includes a lot of adventure, understanding the challenges that come with
each adventure, and understanding how each person has a unique way of perceiving
things as life happens to them. Soulmaking is a method that can be gone through by
anyone. As all are creative in their own right, it is not limited to the obviously artistic.
It's just a matter of losing yourself in the art of viewing the world from a different
perspective and detaching yourself from yourself.
5 Phases of Soul Making
Seeking – The first step is seeking or finding. At this point, we recognize that each
of us who are interested in our own growth and the ways of our world is a 'seeker.'
We are looking for a discipline or method that can help us live in and make sense of
the world and heal the wounds of 'self.'
The best thing about searching is that it is a vital stage in our growth as soul builders.
It gives us the tools to live our lives, and if we systematically look, we find that in
some integral sense, these tools and practices can be fitted together, allowing us to
settle down, moving us on to a practice or cluster of practices that satisfy our
creativity and passion, and that we can then spend time perfecting.
Settling – Soul making is about communicating as profoundly as possible with the
soul, with other human and non-human beings (and this means the future of
humans and non-humans) and with the world. If we are perpetually wondering, we
cannot do this. We must find ourselves settled at some point in our lives.
Surrender – If it is permitted to surrender, with all its pain and vulnerability,
something magical will happen. We tend to note in the midst of the crashing that
our activities begin to be in the service of the soul. The capacity to surrender, of
course, is restricted by the amount of pain and uncertainty that we can bear! True
surrender takes us up and throws us down; calls for the wounds we bear to be
accepted; forces us to spend time living in the darkness.
Soulmaking – At some point in the variations between the Settling and Surrender
dual polarities, we begin to perceive our practice and life in the universe as Soul
Making. We are beginning to become an expert, an injured healer. We're starting to
grow up enough to feed our girls, our children, etc. We accept that there's no way
to ever get it right.
Soul Making is the fourth stage, in which the individual transitions from a stage of
improving reflective practice to becoming a practitioner of soul making. However,
this is still not to be completely settled in, since it holds all the strengths and
disadvantages of the previous levels. Both of us have to keep looking. Throughout
life, we all settle and re-settle. We would all be met with the psyche 's appeal for
submission, over and over again. And it will constantly call upon our capacity to care
and nurture (others and the world).
Soaring – When we begin the journey, what we most wish is to soar. To conquer our
worldly experience's material realities-to travel. It will not happen, however, if we
only want to fly, nor can the psychological version of a spaceship or airplane be
created by ourselves. What may be true is that we could find ourselves soaring,
together, engulfed in the air and sky, by enabling ourselves to pass through the
stages of Soul Making.
How come?
What If: Ask your brain to project into the future. It encourages you to see options
where you might have overlooked them, it allows you to make connections and it is
a sneaky way to get your brain more goal- oriented. What if I started this person's
conversation? What if I attempted a new activity like this? What if I began the new
schedule of workouts? Usually, what happens after 'what if...' is mystical.
How Come: How come brings you to'Why'. Instead of watching the environment
passively or going through reflex replies, 'how come' makes you challenge both your
actions and the intentions of others. Da Vinci didn't waste his life for a second. He
was making and guessing and tinkering all the time. 'How come' allows you to use a
mission every second of your life.
Here are some ways you can capture more of Curiosita:
✓ A Hundred Questions: Write down 100 questions that are important to you.
These could be questions you wish to answer yourself such as, “What is my
purpose?” or “What is the meaning of life?” or questions you want to know
 about everyone you meet like, “What is your passion? or “What makes you
happy?” This is the ultimate ‘what if’ and ‘how come’ exercise.
✓ Ten Power Questions: After you have brainstormed a list of 100 questions,
select the 10 that have the most powerful impact when you read them.
Which ones spark a feeling of motivation or achievement? These are your
catalyst questions. For example: When am I most naturally myself? What is
my greatest talent? What is my heart’s deepest desire?
✓ Daily Themes: Da Vinci was an avid writer and note taker. He had a journal
everywhere he went. I have a journal at my desk AND at my bed to take
notes when all kinds of ideas pop into my head. Carry a journal with you
everywhere and write down your ideas and observations. Each day, choose a
theme or word. You can do this at the beginning of the day to set the
intention or at the end of the day as a cool down or wrap-up.
2. Dimostrazione – is a commitment to test knowledge through experience,
persistence and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Dimostrazione is the
embodiment of your own hands controlling your life. This principle tells us:
a. Test every idea.
b. Don’t take anything for granted.
c. Experience life first hand.
For instance, If I take this personal growth lesson, then I expect to be healthier. Or
as simple as if I were reorganizing my wardrobe, then in the morning it would be
easier to get dressed. The 'If ..., then ...' exercise places you in the mood of chance-
hunting, so you still look for and try alternatives.
Here are some ways you can capture more Dimostrazione:
✓ Find Your Greats: You have probably heard of all the most popular artists
and authors, but who are your favorites? Set out to find your greats. Don’t
take anyone else’s word for it. Start your own search for the artists, classical
musicians or writers that inspire you. Go to a museum and look at the
paintings without glancing at the names.
 ✓ Be Devil’s Advocate: Try playing devil’s advocate against yourself. Try making
the strongest possible argument against one of your own beliefs just for the
mental exercise. Write at least 3 points against yourself.
Sensazione – is the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the
means to enliven experience.
Fill in the blank:
___is so beautiful.
I love the way _____ smells.
What a lovely _____.
I adore the feeling of ____ on my skin.
The sound of ____ is music to my ears.
We forget to savor and sensualize our experiences. We all heard, 'Stop and smell
the roses,' but when did you actually stop and smell the roses for the last time? Yes,
literal roses, but metaphorical roses as well. When did you stop for the last time to
savor an experience? Da Vinci was unbelievably inspired by the world around him
and the more he honed his senses, the greater his genius became.
Here are some ways you can capture more Sensazione:
✓ A Sense a Day: Plan out 5 experiences in the next few months where you
practice honoring each of your senses.
For smell, go to the local botanical gardens, make your own perfume or
cologne and learn to recognize herbs by their scent at the local grocery
store.
For taste, (this one is easy!) eat a bunch of your favorite foods and try
one new cuisine. Figure out your favorite spice.
For sight, go to your local museum, then hike to a vista or view point
and learn some new photography techniques.
For touch, go to your local animal shelter and volunteer petting pups
and kitties. Go through your closet and organize it by fabric. Go
shopping and try to buy one new fabric you have never owned before.
 For hearing, go to a concert, stop by your local music store and try to
play an instrument you have never heard before. If you are really
ambitious, try to learn bird mating calls or spend some time trying to
draw sound. For example, if you had to draw the sound of a trumpet,
how would you do it?
Sfumato – is a willingness to embrace confusion, paradox, and confusion. Da Vinci
had a very special capacity to comprehend the extreme opposites of views and
phenomena. He was also able to explore and revel in the uncertainty of unknowns.
Most of us are uncomfortable with questions not being known or unanswerable, so
we avoid anything beyond our control. We stick to what we know and do a Google
search right away the moment we don't know something.
Here are some ways you can capture more Sfumato:
✓ Stop Googling: For the next week, anytime you need to look up a word or trivia
fact, try to guess the answer instead. You can phone a friend for help as well,
as long as they brainstorm with you too!
✓ Embrace Your Ambiguity: List some situations from your life where you are
confused or feel ambiguous about an outcome and explore the feelings that
come up.
✓ Cultivate Confusion Endurance: Tap into your own paradoxes by asking
questions like, “How are my strengths and weaknesses related?” or “What is
the relationship between my saddest moments and the most joyful ones?”
Arte/Scienza – is the development of the balance between science and art, logic
and imagination. Although Da Vinci was not around for the right and left brain
learning experiments, this notion speaks directly to the whole brain thinking idea.
Label the declarations that sound like you:
___ I like details
___ I am almost always on time
___ I rely on logic
___I am skilled at math
___ I am organized and disciplined
___ I like lists