The shrilling of the red-bellied woodpecker rings outside my window as I write this blog post. Sitting at my writing desk, I slowly turn my head to the left to see him pecking away at the suet feeder.

On my art desk is something new I’m working on for my Etsy shop. Using the same 2.5 x 3.5 wooden templates that I created the animal cards for my Animal Reflections Oracle Deck, I had some leftover blank templates.

I’m incorporating more into these mixed media pieces by making them more dimensional. I’ve added sparkling jewels, and to create more dimension I’m propping the animal images a bit off the card by adhering a drop of silicone glue on the back of the images I want to stand out.

In December I used two of the templates with my new ideas and made them into gifts – one for my mom and one for my dad and his wife.

I enjoyed the process so much that I wanted to make more. And I just love surrounding myself with animals and their wisdom and it seems as if Woodpecker was echoing that sense just as I jumped on here to write about it.

Earlier in the week last week, I made a card inspired by the Bufflehead Ducks I’m missing seeing on a nearby pond. But I’m not ready to show it yet until I’ve made a few more and then they will all be available in my Etsy shop.

So yesterday I wanted to work on a new card which is the hummingbird and what you see in the photo above. The flower and the hummingbird images will be the pieces I use to prop off the card to add dimension.

What I love is when synchronicity happens! When I’d finished making the Bufflehead duck card I wasn’t sure what animal I wanted to work on next. So I just sat in silence until an animal showed itself to me – and it was Hummingbird.

Later in the evening, as I do when a new week is about to begin, I draw an oracle card from a deck I keep on a small table in our bathroom. Perhaps you are thinking it’s a strange place to keep oracle cards? ha! But I like having the card I have drawn for the week in a spot I know I’ll for sure see it several times a day. It’s a great reminder and a wonderful way of pausing and checking in with myself.

Turning the card over I was granted a smile and a shot of synchronicity with the image of Hummingbird on the card.

And a lovely message that soothed my heart. Reflecting on the message I appreciate that in times of turbulence how important it is to take time to quiet the mind. I know creating art for the past fourteen months which began with my oracle cards and also 5 x 7 animal oracle collages I’ve created for my Etsy shop, and now this new idea has been such a gift to me. 

When I’m in creative mode my mind does not get trapped in the outside chaos and I find many moments of calm when at my art desk.

When I awoke this morning, for the first time since the pandemic began, I didn’t grab my phone to look at my newsfeed first. While I still feel it’s important to stay informed and continue to do my research during challenging times, I felt a shift to honoring quiet time first. The news and all its unfolding will still be there when I check in later in the day.

Hummingbird teaching was still with me and reminded me to first greet the day with gratefulness and joy.

Having done that, I indeed experienced a very welcome sense of calmness to begin, and take into my day and week. 

XO

Barb

I recently came across a poem that I’ve shared below. It really touched me and so I wanted to share it with you.

We’ve all been through so much in the past two years. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that we were created to experience joy? 

This morning was the first day I was able to get outside for a walk since hurting my back in December. While I could have gone sooner it was the frigid temps and snow-covered roads that kept me inside longer.

But today was the day! With a set of hand warmers I recently bought tucked inside my mittens (I have poor circulation in my fingers), I was thrilled to step out into the light that was just beginning to rise out of the east.

As I walked down the roads and sidewalks I’ve traveled many times, I felt like a million bucks! Toward the end of my walk, I saw my neighbor from down the road, Beverly. At the end of her hand, she held onto a leash that was attached to… a new-to-her dog!

I recalled how in mid-summer I saw her out for a walk without her then dog, Lucy Lou. While I’d seen her walking from time to time without Lucy Lou, this time, I felt my heart sink. As she approached me, I just instinctively knew what she was going to say. Lucy Lou had moved on to a journey beyond this earthly plane.

I was surprised in a way that I cried when Beverly told me the news. But I had grown attached to seeing Lucy Lou on my walks most mornings. She was a cattle dog, twelve years old, and truly knew and embraced the art of sauntering. She always brought a smile to my face.

I recall one day seeing Beverly and Lucy Lou on a walk when we stopped to chat. Lucy Lou had on a bandana. That was the first time I’d seen her wearing one. Beverly shared with me that Lucy Lou had surgery a few weeks before for a torn ACL in her knee. Her fur where they’d shaved her still hadn’t grown back. So Lucy Lou had been to the groomer to have the rest of her fur shaved to disguise the missing patch. The pretty bandana was a gift from the groomer.

I remember saying something to the effect that Lucy Lou was still beautiful in my eyes even if some of her fur was missing. It then hit me that this encounter was mirroring some angst and sadness I was feeling about my own hair. As I’ve gotten older, my thin hair to begin with, has thinned out even more post-menopausal.

I could remain sad and frustrated or I could find joy in the here and now. I’ll never forget that lesson at that moment all because of Lucy Lou.

But back to now and experiencing joy on my morning walk that had been a while since I’d been able to enjoy a walk. Added to that joy was meeting Ellie, a three-year-old huskie and cattle dog mix. Who knows what lesson she may bring at some point? But today it was a reminder that joy is available in every moment. We just have to be open to it.

And alas, here is the poem that inspired all this reflection!

I sometimes forget

that I was created for Joy.

My mind is too busy.

My Heart is too heavy

for me to remember

that I have been

called to dance

the Sacred dance of life.

I was created to smile

To Love

To be lifted up

And to lift others up.

O’ Sacred One

Untangle my feet

from all that ensnares.

Free my soul.

That we might

Dance

and that our dancing

might be contagious.

~Hafiz

XO

Barb