artists studio

From the Inside Out: Views from Joyful Pause Cottage and Reflecting on Twelve Years.

Posted by Barbara Techel

This year marks twelve years since my husband, John, built me my special little sanctuary. A 10 x 12 space that sits off the southwest corner of our deck. Twelve steps from our bedroom patio door.

As I reflect on how this space came to be and what it means to me I will share a few photos of views looking out the different windows. This time of year is especially abundant and had me feeling so much joy that I wanted to share.

I started out calling it my writing cottage because this is where I began my writing endeavors. Twenty-four newspaper columns, two children’s books, three memoirs, and 2,701 (plus one including this one!) blog posts later it has morphed into so much more now. I guess you could say so have I.

Because I’ve evolved over the years and this space has welcomed me every day as I walked through the Victorian screen door and it’s supported me each step of the way, I now call it Joyful Pause Cottage. 

The word pause is a play on words with how my writing endeavors began and my love of animals and naming my website Joyful Paws. The dogs I’ve shared my life with were the inspiration behind my beginning to write about them which morphed into sharing a love of all animals. Then seeing animals as oracles – mentors/teachers – just like nature also is. Always reflecting for us some aspect that provides teachings that guide us on our earthly journey. Animals and nature have taught me that pausing often and reflecting on what really matters is what continues to bring me peace.

It was important for me, though I didn’t realize the full scope of it at the time, that I have many windows with natural light for my cottage. I wanted to feel like I was outside even though I’d be indoors. I wanted to feel connected even though I was also yearning for more solitary time.

Little did I know a trend would occur a few years later with what was dubbed “She Sheds” — more women seeking a space of their own to retreat to, to create, and/or to just be. My little corner of the world seemed to have led the way and made it onto the websites of some of the national news outlets. I’d also be invited to do an interview via satellite with a morning show out of Australia and I was interviewed by a local news station. 

Some thought it selfish that women would want a space of their own. “What’s a house for?” one person wrote and comments even more snarky than that. Though there were many positive comments, too. But I think back then how I’d be offended by the negative statements, but now, pfff, I don’t care. I know what having this space has done for me, and quite honestly, it has enriched my relationship with my animal friends, my husband, and most importantly myself. You see, we have to bust out of that conditioned pattern of thinking we don’t ‘deserve’ what our hearts yearn for.

All the attention has faded now, which is perfectly fine with me. This quiet corner of my world is what makes me thrive. Makes me happy to get up in the morning. What sometimes brings me to tears for how grateful I feel. Tears I have also shed and how Joyful Pause Cottage has held me when I mourned the loss of many dogs and a few friends. The joy I’ve experienced in this space also for how far I’ve come in so many ways.

This is also the space I’ve welcomed in via zoom interviews about my books and what animals have taught me, but it’s also where I do oracle card readings for others seeking guidance and for those struggling with challenges with their animal friends. I like to think of this space as a little respite and sort of like a safe cocoon for others who seek me out for some mentoring and support — even though most are done virtually I hope others can feel the love and empathy that not only comes from me but from this space that supports me in continuing my mission to be of service. 

It’s also morphed into a space that encourages me to explore a different creative medium of mixed media. Eventually, I’ll share more of what this is all about and what I’ve been working on. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Lastly, I leave you with a final view, though this isn’t from the inside out. I rarely take a photo of what I guess would be considered the front of my cottage. But it’s a reminder that sometimes we have to take the time to look at life from a different perspective. I just love how I caught the sun dancing on it this morning. I felt like a fairy standing along the grown-in gulley which was behind me as I snapped this picture. Sometimes life is just so dang magical I feel like I could fly!

Wishing you each a magical week!

XO

Barb

                  

A Fall Tour of My Writing Cottage. Plus Announcement of Its Change in Name.

Posted by Barbara Techel

I’m always so inspired by the fall season! So I shot a video of my writing cottage all decked out for fall on the outside. But on the inside, I take you around my 10 x 12 space and share an update of how it continues to evolve and support my creative endeavors, along with something I’ve been contemplating for some time. And that is, a change in the name from calling it my Writing Cottage to….well, you’ll just have to give a listen to find out. Enjoy the tour!

xo,

Barbara

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Writing Cottage Anew. It’s a Jungle in Here.

Posted by Barbara Techel
Writing Cottage Anew. It's a Jungle in Here.
My writing desk and over-sized chair where I meditate and also like to read.

For about three weeks I kept pushing aside the yearning I had to re-arrange my writing and creative cottage. This 10 x 12 space that sits off the corner of my deck and feels like a giant hug each time I walk through the Victorian screen door.

Earlier this spring I purged what I no longer needed in this space as I believe when we discard what no longer serves us, it allows for new creativity to come into our lives.

But it had been awhile since I re-arranged the furniture. There are only so many ways in which I can position all the pieces, but this feeling of moving things around kept beckoning.

Sunday and in the wee early hours, lying awake in bed there was this voice again, Time to move things around in the cottage. And what followed next I struggled a few hours with (though in reality I’d been giving thought to this for a long time). I heard that it was time for me to also let go of some of my Frankie photos and memorabilia. I felt some resistance, but I promised myself I’d take it into consideration.

Later in the morning after procrastinating for a time, I answered that intuitive call and out to my cottage I went to begin the task of making it anew.

I have a tall free-standing bookshelf, my writing desk, what I call my analog desk (where I do my daily oracle readings for myself and where I create in my art journal), an over-sized wicker chair with matching ottoman, 3-drawer side table, and a chest on wheels. My petite gas stove stays permanently fixed in the northwest corner. It’s quite a few pieces to have contained in this small space, but somehow I manage to make it all work, even though it has its limits on what I can do.

My analog table where I work on art journaling plus each morning after meditation pull an oracle card (or two or three!) and journal.

I moved some pieces onto the deck so I could more easily move other’s around. Then I took down all the photos of Frankie and the memorabilia I had on two of the walls. From there I decided what would stay and what could go, but not before taking a photograph of what I was letting go. Two went into storage downstairs and one I put on the wall in the living room, while five other remain in my writing cottage. This feels right.

Over the years I’ve been making shifts away from my identity solely being about my life and my work I’d done with Frankie and disabled dogs. It hasn’t always been easy, but I remind myself it’s because of Frankie and then Joie, and now Gidget, that I am who I am today.

I have no doubt Frankie and Joie are happy, and blessing me from the other side, that I continue to spread my wings and learn to fly in new ways. As for Gidget, well, she was another pivotal marker in guiding me to this new space of acceptance. That story is yet to come and what I am in the throws of with writing a new book.

Part of my letting go of some of the Frankie items was that over three years ago I set the intention to open to the wisdom of all animals, which I owe to the dogs in my life for all they taught to me. And so one-by-one (unlike two-by-two with Noah’s Ark!) I’ve been bringing other animal totems, photos and images into this place I hold so sacred. Animals that have come into my life via guided meditations, in the wild, through animal readings, and those I just feel drawn to for some reason or another.

Looking around my room as I write this now I realize all the different critters that surround me! There is, dragonfly, wolf, mouse, owl, ladybug, birds, horse, musk ox, butterfly, donkey, dolphin, pig, whale, turtle, salamander, deer, lion, tiger, leopard, flamingo, frog, giraffe, squirrel, snake, cat and dragon. They are now, along with my dog friends present and past, with me as I write and create. 

A cozy spot for a guest to sit or a place to collect magazines and books to read.

The past, and those items attached with it, I know, not always easy to let go of physically and emotionally. But when we lovingly and gently let go, while blessing all of it for helping shape us into who we are, not only is that a gift that stays with us always, but it then opens a new channel of opportunity for more gifts to find us.

After everything was neatly in their new places, I burned some sage as a special ritual to clean out of the old energy so new energy can take hold. And I must say, I do feel a refreshing new energy today as I write this post. Ahhhh, yes!

My symbolic corner of courage and strength.

And so this lovely jungle it is in my writing and creative cottage anew, I find myself quite content, and ready to continue to walk this journey that I alone can only walk.

XO,

Barbara