INTRODUCTION

s 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.
Categories of Soul Making
Crafting Images –Crafting images
includes the production, by various
forms and methods, of visual
representations of images. Any art
form such as drawing, sketching, and
sculpting can be used to perform
this process. Dancing, poetry (or
black-out poetry), musical instrument
playing, and even filmmaking may
also do this
INTRODUCTION
s 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.
Categories of Soul Making
Crafting Images –Crafting images
includes the production, by various
forms and methods, of visual
representations of images. Any art
form such as drawing, sketching, and
sculpting can be used to perform
this process. Dancing, poetry (or
black-out poetry), musical instrument
playing, and even filmmaking may
also do this
INTRODUCTION
 s Dr. Norman Narciso, one of the leading Filipino thought leaders in the art world,
deeply explains soul-making, "Soul-making is an alternate place to know oneself and to look at
the depths and meaning of what we do in our daily lives.” Soul making 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

Soul-making 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
soul-making.

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. Soul-making 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. Soul-making 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.

Categories of Soul Making

Crafting Images –Crafting images includes the production, by various forms and methods, of
visual representations of images. Any art form such as drawing, sketching, and sculpting can be
used to perform this process. Dancing, poetry (or black-out poetry), musical instrument playing,
and even filmmaking may also do this
Crafting Stories – He or she is already
creating stories when an individual
writes down his or her own
personal feedback, life values, deep
feelings, ideas, ideals, and even high
and low emotions. Similar to
crafting images, he or she may be
portrayed by different means when
one craft story is presented. Stories
can be relayed via vivid photos,
calming music, and impactful
sentences.
Crafting Instruments – Crafting
instruments are treated as "a
bridge to the unknown because
the
instrument creates sounds that exceed
our thoughts, emotions, and
sensations. The soul is accompanied
by a vessel so that the soul will not
disappear." Instruments help people
explore the magic behind music
and its unique impact on a
person. Such musical instruments
can establish the soul's
harmonious
sustenance and the mind's balance.
Crafting Movements – Life is
movement, according to Dr. Narciso
(2016). [One's] life is full of different
rhythms. "Our life is full of
movements, it is full of different
rhythms, life is full of flowing
images
accompanied by narratives, and this
melodic flow symbolizes how the
universe gives every human being
the ability in their respective lives to
experience the highs and lows." For
artists who are more inclined to
crafting movement, the pattern that
life serves a person provides a source
of inspiration.
Crafting Techniques – Crafting
techniques in soulmaking are the
artist's reflection of his life and
experiences in any piece of art.
The approach, preferably, should
be methodological. A soulmaker,
though, when he executes his creative
expression, is unbounded.
5 Phases of Soul Making
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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, our
children. 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).
5. 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
Crafting Stories – He or she is already creating stories when an individual writes down his or
her own personal feedback, life values, deep feelings, ideas, ideals, and even high and low
emotions. Similar to crafting images, he or she may be portrayed by different means when one
craft story is presented. Stories can be relayed via vivid photos, calming music, and impactful
sentences.

Crafting Instruments – Crafting instruments are treated as "a bridge to the unknown
because the instrument creates sounds that exceed our thoughts, emotions, and sensations. The
soul is accompanied by a vessel so that the soul will not disappear." Instruments help people
explore the magic behind music and its unique impact on a person. Such musical
instruments can establish the soul's harmonious sustenance and the mind's balance.

Crafting Movements – Life is movement, according to Dr. Narciso (2016). [One's] life is full of
different rhythms. "Our life is full of movements, it is full of different rhythms,
life is full of flowing images accompanied by narratives, and this melodic flow symbolizes how
the universe gives every human being the ability in their respective lives to experience the highs
and lows." For artists who are more inclined to crafting movement, the pattern that life serves a
person provides a source of inspiration.

Crafting Techniques –Crafting techniques in soul-making are the artist's reflection

of his life and experiences in any piece of art. The approach, preferably, should
be methodological. A soul-maker, though, when he executes his creative expression, is
unbounded.

5 Phases of Soul Making

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.
4. Soul-making – 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, our children. 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).

5. 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

Soulmaking: Making and Deriving

Meaning from Art
Semantics and grammatical rules are
essential elements to remember in
order for human beings to make
sense of language and derive
meanings from words. Apart from
this, it is often known that
meaning and
symbolisms view and evaluate either
verbal or written works. In terms of
art, it would involve understanding the
visual elements on which art was
focused, particularly the concepts of
design, in order for people to make
sense
of the work. It is important to
remember that the viewer must have a
certain degree of understanding of the
work
's style, shape, and material. It
would be impossible to
appreciate the visual arts in their
fullness and
completeness without such
understanding
Soul-making: Making and Deriving Meaning from Art

Semantics and grammatical rules are essential elements to remember in order for human beings to
make sense of language and derive meanings from words. Apart from this, it is often
known that meaning and symbolisms view and evaluate either verbal or written works. In terms of
art, it would involve understanding the visual elements on which art was focused, particularly the
concepts of design, in order for people to make sense of the work. It is important to remember that the
viewer must have a certain degree of understanding of the work's style, shape, and material. It
would be impossible to appreciate the visual arts in their fullness and completeness without
such understanding