inner journey

Let Us Give Thanks for Times of Uncertainty

Posted by Barbara Techel

This week is beginning hot and steamy and expected to last at least through the weekend. I think about how I used to thoroughly enjoy this type of weather when I was younger, but now on the other side now of 55 years old and soon to be 57 in about three weeks, well, let’s just say I am very grateful for air conditioning.

This week’s cards are Chaos and Conflict and Turkey Spirit.

Even though I’ve been using oracle cards as a personal empowerment tool and also doing readings for others for quite some time now I can still feel a small tug of angst when I pull the Chaos and Conflict card. How often we just want life to be all peaches and cream, right?

As I went for a walk early this morning I made plans in my mind to go at a much slower pace this week. With the July 4th holiday on Saturday and warm summer days now upon us, I’m feeling the need to slow down and savor.

So when the Chaos and Conflict card presented itself I felt a bit let down and went right into wondering what it is that might “interfere” with my plans. But it was only a matter of seconds that I snapped out of it and remembered that it can be a good thing. Next, when I pulled an animal card to help guide us with Chaos and Conflict, I smiled, because yes, of course, we must give thanks for it all.

I also just saw in my mind the Go the Distance card as I feel that with what our world is experiencing right now that we must be in this for the long haul. The Chaos and Conflict are something that is going to take time to work through. But if we can remember to give thanks for what we can control in our lives and what we do have, perhaps not focusing on what we think we may be losing, or what it is that we can’t control, we can move through this time with more ease.

We can let fear gobble up our energy or we can allow fear to be our motivator to take a stance for what it is we wish for ourselves individually and as a world. Whether you choose to strut your stuff by carrying that belief in your heart or making a loud call out into the world about your stance, either will help make a difference.

Notice the Zebra on the card isn’t black and white, but rather brown. Nothing right now is black and white and it is my belief that it is this and that. I believe the conditioning of seeing things as black and white is what we are being called to move away from. There is a middle ground and that begins with each of us tapping into the center of our hearts and living from that truth.

So this week, let us be in gratitude for times we are shaken as a gift that will lead us to a deeper understanding and that this planet is made more peaceful by each of playing our part by living within harmony within ourselves so we can encourage that in others too.

xo,

Barbara

Wisdom in the Paws Reading – For Your Pet and You

Wisdom in the Pause Reading – Just For You

Oracle Guidance from Antelope and Connecting with Community

Posted by Barbara Techel

The air is heavy with humidity this morning and rain is inching its way into our neck of the woods as I pulled two cards for us for this week.

The Tribe and Antelope Spirit are our cards to ponder. The Tribe card was recently given a different name in this deck and is now called Community.

Tribe or community is about staying connected to those that encourage you, uplift you, and that you feel connected with at a level of understanding that brings you joy and comfort. And if that isn’t something you have in your life right now or maybe you’ve outgrown a community you are currently part of, this card is your message that this is an opportunity to seek like-minded souls that will be of support and in align with who you are.

When I think of The Tribe card right now I see it as how we’ve all had to make different choices as our world continues to move through the coronavirus times we are experiencing. Some have learned how to adapt and shift to ways in which to connect on-line, such as using Zoom, while some are still finding it difficult to accept this as an option to connect. Some have really loved knowing they can connect in this way, while some just feel better when they can connect face-to-face.

Being that I’m basically an introvert and began working from home over 20 years ago, not much has changed for me in that way. I don’t mind connecting via Zoom and actually prefer it in many aspects. My energy can easily be drained when out in crowds and around those that tend to zap my energy. I find it easier to create boundaries using Zoom.

Those I thought that maybe I’d connect with more through all of this, I didn’t, which in some aspects surprised me. But then I found that the guilt I’d carried around that actually began to dissipate. My small circle of those I reach out to talk and connect with has pretty much remained the same. And as I’ve written in past posts here, I’m realizing on a deeper level how much I love my quiet life and my home. Though two years ago going through a challenging time, I was feeling like perhaps I was missing out on things I thought I was supposed to be doing. It was a time of getting stuck in my analytical mind and not listening to my heart.

But staying connected to a community that has similar feelings and values as I do just brings my heart more joy and that is the feeling I want to continue to have in my life.

Antelope Spirit is about adapting and also about speed as they can run up to 60 miles per hour! How interesting it is that as we go through this time of great change with many uncertain aspects yet to be revealed we have each had to learn to adapt.

And I don’t know about you, but I’ve really felt like the days are flying by. I’ve also had many thoughts float through my mind of late of how precious life is – and how I want to make the best of every moment. While I have my moments of getting sucked into the drama or anger seeps in, I remind myself it’s an opportunity to pause and reflect on how I really wish to be. It’s always a chance to work with why I may be feeling triggered by something and work with it on a deeper level and work to clear it, so I can move forward from a much more peaceful place.

I know it sounds cliche, but life really is short. I see both these cards as reminding us of this and to make the choices we wish that are in alignment with our hearts and staying connected with or finding those to connect with, that will nurture and inspire us.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

xo,

Barbara

Cards: Wisdom of the Oracle and Spirit Animal Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid

Stacking Wood, Collage, and a Mind that Wanders Back to Center

Posted by Barbara Techel

While the wren image – a photograph I took – dried on the collage piece I worked on earlier this week, I decided to stack some wood – wood we use for our chiminea.

Stacking wood, just like creating the collage is like an art form, I think. When we first got our chiminea I would get upset if John hadn’t stacked wood and we’d have to take time out to gather it before we could build a fire. But then one day I decided I’d stack it myself, and keep it stacked, even though I wasn’t too crazy about the idea at first.

But now I’ve really come to enjoy it. It makes me think about how sometimes we grumble about household chores, which I can still be guilty of at times. But when I remind myself to do them with mindfulness or view it as an art form, it feels centering and also makes me feel a sense of accomplishment.

Fitting the pieces of wood together to get as much as I can on the stand, is somewhat like doing a collage too – keeping an eye out for how everything fits together.

As I worked some more on the collage after I was done stacking wood I had the movie Bridges of Madison County playing in the background. 

That scene where Francesca and her husband are in their truck and behind the truck of Robert Kincaid, at the stop sign, the rain pouring down, and Francesca puts her hand on the handle of the door, torn between whether to stay with her husband or run off with Robert, is palpable.

Each time it makes me think how sometimes the grass can seem greener on the other side. But how often it does not turn out that way. It brings me back to thinking about how when things were getting difficult with health challenges with Gidget two years before she passed and how I felt like I was missing out on so much in life. There were times, I too wanted to run.

But in the end, as I wrote about in my new memoir, it was a wake-up call to do the inner work I’d been called to do to come back to what really mattered to me – that was the path I was meant to take. Even though it wasn’t easy, and at times I felt torn, the more I stayed with what I was feeling, the more that yearning subsided.

Over a year later since she’s been gone, this is what continues to deepen in my gratitude for her – that the last year of her life was so beautiful as our relationship grew exponentially. I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on that as it remains with me as some of my most fond and meaningful memories.

Going through the pandemic of the virus this year has also been a reminder to me of how much I love my home, my gardens, my time with John, seeing wildlife outside my windows, fires in the chiminea, etc. How often it is that all we need is right here in front of us and within us.

These are the moments of a mind wandering that bring me back to the center of my heart that I’m grateful for.

xo,

Barbara