Great Reminder Today From Goose. Plus Trusting in the Positive Even When We don’t Always See or Hear About It.

Posted by Barbara Techel
Not my photo. From Canva.com I wish I knew who to credit!

I watched as the goose gracefully stepped into the pond. The west wind was brisk and stung my face, and it was unusually cold for this time of year at 27 degrees. I marveled at the ease of how the goose went into the water with the frigid air all around.

I’d not walked the past two mornings as the winds were raw and whipping around 30 mph. I wasn’t too keen about stepping out today either even though it wasn’t quite as windy, yet I was also yearning to get some fresh air.

As I watched that graceful goose not concerned at all about the colder-than-usual elements, I realized my shoulders were hunched up around my ears. What good was that doing me? As if it were protecting me from the chilly winds. It wasn’t!

So I took my cue from Goose and dropped my shoulders back to where they belonged and immediately felt a shift in the ease of my walk as it also became more enjoyable – instead of fighting against what was.

Ain’t life funny like that sometimes? How often do we fight against that which we can’t change? And then we suffer. That Goose, thank you, just helped shift my perspective and I was grateful.

About halfway on my two-mile route, I met up with Larry a retired man I often see in the morning and who walks five miles most days.

He began to tell me about the fact that he and a friend had just checked the gauge that is kept along the Onion river about a mile or so out of town. It’s a gauge that automatically tracks the ground temperature at three different points during the day – 365 days a year. Each year, Larry then puts this information in a spreadsheet and shares it with an organization that tracks this.

Recently updating the spreadsheet and comparing it to past years, Larry shared that the ground temperature had gone up 2 degrees. According to him, this is quite unusual and he shared that this spoke to global warming.

He also shared with me that he has helped to restore the Onion river. When a new stream comes in he does what he can to protect that new life by putting logs beside and around it. How one person is doing what may seem to some like a seemingly little thing, but it is actually helping to make a positive impact on preserving nature. I was so touched by this.

These little acts of kindness often get unnoticed and are swallowed by so much negative news in the world. But yet, it is there. So I just wanted to share it with you too if you are feeling overwhelmed with all that continues to unfold in the world. There are good and exciting things happening too even though we may not always see or hear them!

It also reminded me of a summit I recently watched – called the Collective Trauma Summit hosted by Thomas Huebl- with some of the most excellent speakers! It was one of the best summits featuring people doing some extraordinary work in the world with much out-of-the-box thinking we don’t always hear about either. It also stretched my perspective on trauma and global warming.

In short, though it does require a deep dive and keeping one’s mind open, many of the speakers talked about how our world is so polarized and divided more than ever. And so much of this is due to the fact we are carrying trauma and burdens from our ancestral lineage.

There is anger, unresolved issues, and trauma that we are each carrying in our own way and we are each being called to heal individually in order to help shift the collective, which includes our ancestral lineage. I do believe in this. And it begins with each of us doing our inner work to resolve and heal those things we’ve been hurt and/or traumatized by.

So what does this have to do with global warming? Mother Earth feels that angst we are carrying. It also makes sense to me that when we are angry, depressed, feeling anxious, etc. that not only do we not treat ourselves well, but we also are often doing this, and often subconsciously, to the earth. When we feel better, we want to do and be better not only for ourselves but for the planet too.

Just food for thought I felt called to pass on today.

XO

Barb

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Seeing in the Dark

Posted by Barbara Techel

I’m not nearly afraid of the dark as I used to be.

As the mornings are darker now this time of year, I find such solace and peace in the wee early morning hours before the sun rises.

Walking the twelve steps from my bedroom patio door and across the deck to my Joyful Pause Cottage studio I often take a few moments to pause and glance up at the sky. Something I didn’t always do because of my fear of what might be lurking in the dark.

The best times are when the sky is lit up with oodles of stars and the moon is in one of her many different supporting phases. It’s an exhilarating moment to feel the expansiveness of energy that is so much bigger than me. 

Before I take a seat in my meditation chair, I turn on the lamp that is at the back of my cottage, overlooking a gulley of trees. It’s my way of inviting in the healing spirit of the Universe as I get ready to do my breathing ritual.

I was reminded again this morning as I stepped into my studio and before I turned on the lamp, that in the dark when I allow myself to be with those things that come to the surface to be seen that cause me pain or fear…that this is how I bring them into the light to be healed.

And so it is.

XO

Barb

    

A Gift from the Wind and Rain

Posted by Barbara Techel

As if peaking in my window to say, Hello there you! this sweet leaf greeted me as I walked through the door of Joyful Pause Cottage studio early this morning.

It really felt like the leaf was smiling at me. This simple thing filled my heart with joy. I thought, the gift of the wind and rain. This is how this leaf found its way to now be sitting on my window pane.

How often we bemoan the wind and rain. I’m guilty of this at times for sure. But today this adorable little leaf reminded me of the gifts the wind and rain bring.

So as I set out on my walk this morning as if to reinforce this message from the tawny yellow leaf, I noticed the sky to the west was dark with impending rain. I thought for a moment to turn around and head back home. But instead, it was as if that little leaf was encouraging me to keep going.

And so I did. And the rain began to fall lightly. But my neck wrapped warm with a scarf, mittens upon my hands, my hood up over my hat and head, I snuggled into the coziness of it all.

The trees were ablaze in color and the rain tickled my face. It was invigorating and I felt such gratitude for nature and all her endless gifts.

Autumn Leaves

I paused to watch
a single yellow leaf drop,
spiraling,
to the ground.
 
Another fell, and yet another.
A slow rain bringing nutrients
to earth to feed the leaves
that would in spring burst forth
to cover branches in a cloak
of green.
Still they dropped, one here,
one there. Twisting and turning,
laying down a golden blanket
to warm the roots
for winter.
XO
Barb