A Self Valentine

February 27, 2019 ~ titinavh ~ Leave a comment

This is the very perfection of a man (woman), to find out his (her) own imperfections.

~Saint Augustine (amended by Titina – it was not perfect…)

As this traditionally celebrated Month of Love comes to a close, here are a few of my own reflections that I hope will serve to spark a little deeper awareness.

I have been exploring the month of February from the predominant standpoint of Loving Oneself, a Self-Valentine of sorts. More bubble baths, dates with oneself, giving to oneself as a lover would, sensual exploration of self, etc.

But I have discovered something else. This “loving oneself” business is one big Band-Aid to cover up a bigger truth I have been avoiding: there is no other person, no activity, no identity, no outer achievement that can plug up the holes of a leaky sense of Self.

When I worked in the jewelry trade in London, I used to clean up batches of metal castings. Occasionally, I would come across pieces that had a large hole caused by a bubble in the molten metal during the casting process. Those repairs were painstaking and cumbersome. The hole had to be drilled out further, a silver wire plugged in and soldered in place, then the repaired spot had to filed, buffed and polished to look like nothing was there. Like this jewelry patch-up, repairing the holes may look purposeful, but the hidden flaw remains since the original casting of the piece. In time, when the piece tarnishes, the filled-out hole may start to become visible on the surface of the piece. At this point, there are two choices: re-melt the piece and start all over again, hoping for a more perfect casting, or learn to accept, even love, the “wabi-sabi-ness” of the piece, thus elevating it to a different, perhaps even more sacred, kind of beauty.

I have reached a stage in my life when these flaws and plugged up holes are coming up to the surface and becoming visible (at least to me). I cannot find it within me to re-polish the surface. The fight has gone out of me and instead I am left with a bittersweet surrender that seems to flow with the conflict, aikido-like, to neutralize its dark power. The loss of this polished identity feels very scary and yet strangely comforting at the same time. I can see, that with time, I will be able to present to the world humbly and yet proudly, a treasure which was crafted, shaped, worn down, tarnished and buffed by time and bumpy experience, the flaws in its manufacture a unique feature that contributed to its pricelessness – a Soul Piece.

SOUL SEED COLLECTIVE is a (hopefully) monthly blog on thoughts and ideas

by Titina van Hoorn from

Titina van Hoorn is an artist, jeweler, life coach, energy healing practitioner, lover of words, dancer, mother and soul-seeker, who feels passionate about exploring the journey of the soul with all of its twists, turns and mysteries and supporting others who have chosen this rich path.

For more information on Soul Piece Jewelry go to www.soulpiecejewelry.com

or visit the Soul Piece Jewelry page on

Do you want to experience planting magic in your life and seeing it grow?

Uncover your soul’s purpose and create a talisman to carry with you at all times in your personal journey with Soul Piece Jewelry’s

Seeds of Potential

Perfect as an affordable gift for yourself or loved ones, these “seed” pendants are created in fine silver (on a sterling silver chain) with custom symbols and words to plant in your world as reminders of what you are wishing to grow.

It includes a one-hour coaching session to explore what it is that you want to manifest in your life.

For more information CLICK HERE. Or contact Titina van Hoorn

Thank you for this very personal piece of jewelry that I wear almost every day. I love it! ~ Hillary Sunada, Seeds of Potential customer.

Who knows? – Some random thoughts on uncertainty.

March 31, 2017March 31, 2017 ~ titinavh ~ Leave a comment

“I took a test in Existentialism. I left all the answers blank and got 100.”
― Woody Allen

“Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds — justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they can’t go on. To really ask is to open the door to the whirlwind. The answer may annihilate the question and the questioner.”
― Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat

Who knows? Who really knows what will happen next? My mind has convinced itself it knows, has created a mini-series of scenarios, all of which I need to prepare for and protect myself from (and which have never really happened as scripted).

Who knows? I wake up in the morning, full of nameless anxiety, with a sense of impending doom and yet have never bothered to question the source of it.

Who knows? No, I was never given the Manual to Life. Nor has anyone else, no matter how convincing their outward stance on it may be.

Who knows? This pain and grieving may tell me that hiding in my safe, dark cave at home is the only option, but who knows how I will feel, who I will meet, what heart connection I may have if I show up in the world. I don’t even know which part of me will show up from moment to moment. Continue reading →

A New Take on New Beginnings

January 31, 2017 ~ titinavh ~ Leave a comment

ts-painting

At the beginning of every year I make it an important part of my New Year’s ritual to set aside time to allow my visions and goals to come through for the coming year. This year has been different – in fact, the whole of last year turned my personal life paradigm upside down. It began in January of last year when I revved myself up in typical Titina fashion to inspire and fuel myself with THE NEXT GRAND VISION. And it crashed and burned before it even got off the ground. Not that it wasn’t a feasible or worthy cause. Just that my inner motivation changed. Maybe it’s because I’m approaching 50 this year and the hot fires of my younger years are not as sustainable as they were (well, the recovery time seems to take a lot longer – like recovering from a hangover).

It was a very tough year. I let go of what I thought motivated me – pursuing the creative dream, the next shiny object, the next dopamine-inducing endeavor, I either lost interest quickly, failed to have the enormous energy I’d used in the past to get it off the ground (a lot of “pushing” energy), or it was “taken away” from me. The biggest of all of these was the slow and apparent deterioration of one of the most significant and passionate intimate relationships that I have had in my life with someone I considered to be my soul mate and who I felt would be my last love relationship in this lifetime (the love never deteriorated, just the fantasies and form of expectations I had built around it). Continue reading →

The Darker Side of the Soul

August 6, 2015August 6, 2015 ~ titinavh ~ 2 Comments

Dear Soul Seeders,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! It has been an “interesting” one for me (the adjective is a throwback to the British art of understatement, influenced by my teenage years and early twenties in England):

Last month we explored the idea of Seeds and I had visions of my seeds growing and blooming and already enjoying the fruits of my labor. Somehow, things have turned out differently and here is where the concept of “Soul” becomes both challenging and interesting for me. Those who know me are familiar with the fact that I love the idea of the mystery of how our lives unfold. However, this is where it can also get tricky. To explain what I mean, I thought of exploring the idea of Soul a little bit:

Continue reading →

Soul Seed Collective

A rich and evolving collection of links, blogs, images and sharing of soul connections to use as inspiration in your own life.

mystery