A Little Helpful Wisdom From Dog

Posted by Barbara Techel

If only one of them would just let go. Looking at these two dogs, each pulling on a side of the flying disk so one can win the prize I see this as in invitation to look at what part of us is trying to win out that we may be ignoring?

We have to give ourselves credit in that most often we do recognize which part of us is trying to get our attention because it continues to come back again and again and again until we acknowledge it.

Sometimes when I see or hear the word resistance my body will tense up. But just now as I looked at the word resistance on the card I saw the word “stance” within it. I’d never realized this before.

Yes! Resistance is an opportunity to take a stance and change that which we may be resisting or fearing.

And instead of seeing resistance as negative, which I’m going to challenge myself to do also, let’s see it as a beacon of light shining the way to take time to just be with whatever it is we may be resisting or are afraid to acknowledge.

As far as winning the flying disk I believe also that both dogs don’t have the word or concept of “win” as part of who they are. They are just enjoying being in the moment of the tug and the pull knowing the outcome, whether they are the one left holding the flying disk or not, will be fine either way. There was something positively gained in both the tug and the pull.

Isn’t it always our projections about what we think an outcome will be when we are in fear that is actually worse than the very thing we were resisting?

A bit to ponder this week…enjoy…Woof!

xo,

Barbara

Cards: Divine Dog Wisdom Cards by Barb Horn and Randy Crutcher

It’s the Little Things that are Getting Bigger and Causing Heart Bursts

Posted by Barbara Techel

I’ve been waiting patiently. Well, okay, sometimes not so patiently (!) to see if a wren has taken up residence in one or two of the houses John built for them earlier this spring. The houses are attached to the east side of my writing cottage.

I first spotted this wren in the top photo in the hydrangea tree earlier in the week, but yet, I still hadn’t seen one saw go in or out of either house. But today it happened!

Once I realized they were utilizing the house it was fun watching as they gathered twigs and whatever else they could find to build the nest. And they do it together though they each have their special tasks is what I learned. The male constructs the nest and then the female furnishes it with feathers, moss, or leaves – whatever she can find for her sweet bum to have a soft place to rest and get ready to lay her eggs which she does one egg a day until she has laid five or six. 

It was such a little thing I thought that was bringing me so much joy this morning. And then I thought about how times like these going through this pandemic and how the little things just continue to get bigger and how those seemingly little things continue to bring more and more bursts of love to my heart.

I also feel like John and I are that male and female wren. He the carpenter and I the one who thoroughly enjoys feathering our nest.

Wrens are also known to be quite resourceful and adaptable and I reflected on how we incurred a big unexpected expense for John’s business this week that was hard to swallow. But we two wrens have been through worse as we gathered together on the deck last night talking it over and how we will move forward. We will be okay because as we’ve learned over the years from hard knocks, that we too can be resourceful and adaptable when we need to.

And it’s these little moments watching the wrens that keep us grounded and I say a big thank you to them for their teaching and for bringing us these bursts of joy….because it is truly what matters.

xo,

Barbara

Clever Bird Gets My Attention

Posted by Barbara Techel

This red-breasted grosbeak hung around outside my writing cottage window for quite a long time this afternoon. I took great delight in snapping quite a few pictures of him and share three of them here with you. I didn’t realize it until I did some research but the grosbeak is related to the cardinal family.

This past Sunday in our county we had over seven inches of rain! My gardens and flower pots won’t need watering for a while.

Curious about the symbolism of the red-breasted grosbeak I found this through a Google search: “their sweet whistles remind us of warm summer days bleeding into carefree delights.”

It seems like the perfect message after all the rain and many days of clouds that this red-breasted grosbeak is bringing us a most welcome message that sunny days are soon to be here again.  And I kid you not, just as I’m writing this post the song that comes on the radio?  “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles.

Okay, okay, red-breasted grosbeak I hear you loud and clear and can’t wait to welcome the sun and warmer temperatures tomorrow. You are so clever in getting my attention!

xo,

Barbara