Please Don’t Look Away. Invitation to a Different Perspective.

Please Don't Look Away. Invitation to a Different Perspective.

I thought about whether or not I should share this SoulCollage® card I finally made this past weekend. I know so many have a fear of snakes – and I worried I may upset others or that they may judge me for sharing this – and the thing is, I’ve had a fear of snakes for a long time, too. 

And then I recall last year having shared the wisdom of Wolf from the Animal Wisdom Tarot card deck and how a reader of my newsletter was so upset with me. She couldn’t understand how I’d advocate for wolves when they have attacked and killed livestock on her farm.

And this is the thing, I guess ….there are many different perspectives – and I meant no harm in the Wolf card I shared, just as I mean no harm or discomfort in sharing this card – my only intention to help us see past our fears and look a bit deeper….for I do believe that all animals have wisdom to share with us.

And I truly can’t say I would have said this about Snake five years ago. But I’m learning to open to animals that are often not deemed as cuddly and cute. Not that it is always easy. But as I often say, I am a work in progress.

Honestly, I’m thrilled with this card I made of Snake. It’s been in the making for over two years…simmering in my mind…waiting to be born onto this card as a reminder of the healing that snake brought to me over two years ago.

It was seeing a mama snake, in beautiful shades of iridescent greens and blues, lying dead a few feet off the end of my driveway behind my car, and her unborn, dead babies beside her, and two a few feet from her, that I couldn’t look away…even though I couldn’t understand at the same time why I felt compelled to look.

In sharing this occurrence with my friend, Dawn, an animal communicator, she helped me to look deeper into what the message might be that Snake had for me.

It wasn’t an easy one to look at – though Dawn guided me by gently suggesting that I imagine as if I was in a dream and what it may represent that I came upon this dead snake and her babies.

While it is a personal healing that took place from working with snake in this way and not something I wish to share… I will say that it was a vital shift that needed to take place – one that had been begging to be addressed for a very long time.

It helped in many ways to set me free of something I’d carried as a deep wound that wanted desperately to be released. And honestly, if someone would have told me that by seeing a dead snake and her dead babies, then working with it as a dream while opening myself to a message of healing, well, I’d have thought they were crazy.

But I no longer think that. I feel truly grateful for the experience. Working with the images as seen on the card above came together so easily for me. And when I look at it, I feel a kinship with Snake and think of Snake as my friend.

And one last bit of honesty here:  I don’t know if I could actually pick up or hold a snake… though I think I could maybe do so with my friend Dawn’s sweet snake, Chloe. She has really grown on me.  🙂  And Chloe is great at recommending good books such as this one in the photo with her, of which I had to order.

So there it is…if you made it this far… and accepted the invitation to read about a different perspective regarding snake….BRAVO!!

Photo credit: Dawn Brunke

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Moments of Serenity through Creativity

Moments of Creativity through Serenity

I had such a meaningful discussion with my friend Rachel, this past week. She and I are co-creating some workshops we will be offering this year. The wisdom that comes from this young woman in her early 30s just fills my heart with hope for our world.

Whenever we get together we have deep conversations, which feed both our souls in such a positive and nourshing way.  We were talking about how there are many ways to find moments of serenity. But so many get stuck thinking inner peace has to be this or that way or that there is a right or wrong way, or it is strictly only when one tries to meditate…and then people quit if they thinking they are really meditating because thoughts run through their mind.

But I’ve come to realize even more the many ways in which inner peace or moments of serenity happen for me. One of which is writing. When I write, I’m in a different place. Even if it is something difficult to write about, I lose all sense of time and the space I’m within.

I’m realizing it also happens when I’m doing other creative things, such as creating SoulCollage® cards or just this week, working on chalk painting a piece of furniture I was gifted. The photo above is after shot of the finished piece.  I also chalk painted the mirror which was white before. Below is the before.

I’ll bet if you think about something creative you do, or time you spend out in nature, if you really think about it those are times when you easily lose sense of time.

Just something to give thought to next time you do something nurturing for you soul, pay attention to how you feel afterwards.  

It’s not always about sitting cross-legged in complete silence and meditating for a half hour – though there is something quite powerful about that if you can achieve it. I’ve not yet achieved thirty minutes as ten to fifteen minutes is tops for me. But there are days when the alarm on my phone rings and my mediation is done when I think, wow, that was absolutely delightful. Where was I? And of course, then I want more, more, more.

And more serenity I truly believe can be found in creativity, nature, and spending time with animals, just to name a few.

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A Moment of Wisdom from Dog

A Moment of Wisdom From Dog

In a previous post I wrote about finding a soft place to land during this time that feels so unsettling. And it’s my belief that we have to each do our inner work to open to those soft places, those that stop us in our busy, wild and crazy thoughts, and tracks. When you pay attention, you will begin to notice more easily when they happen.

Just as it did for me this morning as I was off with a start preparing for an upcoming workshop, listening to a podcast with women being interviewed who are feeling the call to live a soul directed life, and the feeling I can sometimes get that things aren’t happening fast enough or that I’ll run out of time for all that I wish to yet accomplish while here on this planet.

A million thoughts were flying through my mind when this site of Kylie and Gidget caught my eye. And in that moment my heart filled with pure love. There they were, Kylie’s leg slung over Gidget, lying in complete peace.

And it became my soft place to land in that very moment. I soaked it into my entire being and I felt at complete peace. I absolutely took it as a divine sign that all is well and all will be well.

A reminder that the more we can build these small moments into our lives, recognizing them as signs of wisdom of what is real, the more we can become settled within our souls. 

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