dragonfly messenger

Dragonfly Shares an Important Message About Transitional Times

Posted by Barbara Techel

There is a still spot in the center of transformation, a space in which we are betwixt and between — not really what we were, but not yet what we will become. Neither here nor there, this nor that, we touch the infinite expansiveness of creative potential. ~Dawn Brunke

In my last blog post I shared about how I’m feeling in the autumn of my life and how a friend lovingly said (about my almost fifty-nine years of age), “You’re only in August.” I’m still chuckling every time I think about her saying that.

After writing that post I read the above quote in a newsletter written by my friend Dawn. It struck me and confirmed for me yet again how yes, I may not quite be in the autumn of my life, though I feel myself gravitating toward it as it feels like a welcome space in which I want to inhabit.

This morning I was thinking of my same friend who said I’m only in August, and who is now two weeks from retiring. It’s been a trying last few years for her with her work. At times it has been painful to witness what she has gone through. But there is no doubt it is time for her to move into a new phase of her journey.

So thinking about her today as the countdown to her final days at her job is here, I decided to pull an oracle card for her as a way to show her some support as she begins to wind down and open herself to a new way of being.

The card I pulled is Time for a Nap from The Wisdom of the Oracle.

It couldn’t be more fitting. 

I took the card outside and posed it in a pot of pansies (one of my friend’s favorite flowers) and took a photo of it. I then texted it to my friend with a supportive message.

After I’d taken the picture, I noticed a dragonfly sitting on a post of our deck and positioned between two of the rail spindles.

It seemed so very still. I walked around the deck so the sun would be against my back so I could try and get a photo of it, yet, it still hadn’t moved.

I took the picture but felt concerned that perhaps it had died right where it was. However, I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to disturb it.

Curious about the stillness of the dragonfly I did a search on the internet. I discovered that dragonflies will rest after digesting a meal or it also said that they will gather energy from the warmth of the sun in order to fly off again.

It was then I realized that Dragonfly was confirming the card I’d just pulled for my friend who will soon retire. Soon she will have time to rest, reflect, regenerate and welcome a new way of being. This will no doubt will create a shift in her energy as she has felt depleted in many ways from her job.

She is excited about potential creative outlets she wishes to give thought to and pursue and will soon be able to dedicate more energy to that. But after working all her life, supporting herself as a single woman, it will take time to digest this new way of being before moving forward.

Rest will be important and thus my friend is now in this space Dawn so beautifully captured in these words:

There is a still spot in the center of transformation, a space in which we are betwixt and between — not really what we were, but not yet what we will become. Neither here nor there, this nor that, we touch the infinite expansiveness of creative potential.

This space of ‘betwixt and between’ can at times feel uncomfortable when we’ve been so used to going, going, going, or living our lives in a certain way we’ve grown comfortable with (though often when truthfully examined we realize it was a numb comfortable). The Time for a Nap card is the needed reminder that in order to truly know what is next for our journey, rest is vital to allow the next step to naturally and organically flow into our life.

While this plays out for my friend, and I feel it in many ways for myself too, I believe there are so many of us in this same liminal space. So I believe Dragonfly wanted me to share this with you so that we can all appreciate this in-between time that eventually reveals new growth and a deepening of understanding of all the phases of life.

Thank you, dear Dragonfly, for sharing your wisdom with us.

XO

Barb

                  

A Magical Morning of Hearts and Dragonflies

Posted by Barbara Techel

Near the end of my morning walk today I was mulling over in my mind the interview I’ll be doing this afternoon with Dr. Cara Gubbins for the Animal Wisdom World Summit, which she has hosted for several years now. 

This year’s summit is all about connecting and healing with our animal friends. My talk is titled, “Healing with Our Pets.” I’ll also be doing a bonus interview on how oracle cards can guide healing and talking about my signature Wisdom in the Paws readings for people and their pets.

So onto the magic of my morning! As I gave thought to what I wish to share in the interview today, I was revisiting the many teachings I’ve received from dogs and other animals in the wild. As I glanced down, I saw this stone in the shape of a heart. This is something that happens on occasion for me and I now have a small collection of them.

And it never gets old. It always sends goosebumps up my spine. I know it’s a wink from the universe that I’m on the right path and a lovely reminder that following one’s heart is truly the way to live authentically. Besides the fact, I was thinking about animals which always fills my heart with pure love!

I almost left the stone behind. But then I said silently, “What are you doing Barb?! You need to take the stone home.” I saw in my mind’s eye how lovely it will be to have it sitting on my desk next to my computer as I do the interview today. And so I carried it home.

Stepping onto the front stoop and just as I reached out to grab the handle to the front door a dragonfly landed on my hand. It sat there for a few moments as I experienced goosebumps go up my spine again. It then fluttered away, but only to return when I tried to grab the handle of the door again. It was as if it was asking me to just stop a moment and appreciate what had unfolded with my discovering the heart-shaped stone that had happened just a short five minutes before.

After it flew away a few moments later, I was called to revisit a postcard I have on my bulletin board in my writing cottage. It’s about Dragonfly and I received it from my friend, Dawn a few Christmas seasons ago.

I was drawn to this line: “Dragonflies connect us to other dimensions, open communication with nature spirits and help us recall our dreams…Dragonfly teaches us to see beyond the ordinary…”

The stone in a shape of a heart on the ground being there at that moment I was revisiting all the teachings from my animal friends, was no doubt a nod from each of them that they heard me and are supporting me from the other side.

Dragonfly showed up to reinforce this teaching for me and its persistence to be still so I could take that into my being what had unfolded during the last part of my walk. How often we are in that moment of magic, but quickly dismiss it as we make plans for the day. But dragonfly was encouraging me to linger in the connection of nature and the animals that now reside in another dimension.

And to remember this is our true nature – these encounters out in the world that you can’t possibly make happen – but that flow in abundance when we stay open to all the possibilities.

xo,

Barbara