memoir

Update On My New Memoir Plus Exciting Change to My Website

Update On My New Memoir Plus Exciting Change to My Website
The Wise Gidget Photo credit: Lisa A. Lehmann

Thought you might like to hear an update about the new memoir I continue to work on called, I’m Fine Just the Way I Am. And I also want to let you know of an exciting new change to my website.

I find it intriguing and interesting that the title of my new book is in alignment with the change to my website.

First the update on my book. Writing a memoir isn’t always easy, especially moving through the painful experiences which got me to a new level of understanding that I’m now at. It means as I write this book, I’m delving back into moments that were difficult – and in all honesty, brought me to my knees.

But as life coach, Jocelyn Mercado, who recently did a four-week online course called, Learning to Fly, it’s the being brought to our knees, that we are invited to open to the gift of just that, and learning to fly. Because the truth is that throughout our lives we are continually invited to take flight in new and expanded ways.

Working on this memoir, I’ve had my ups and downs, wanting to throw in the towel, but also moments of elation and joy…this is all part of the process. I’m reminded of this each time I write a new book and how far I’ve come. 

My last memoir, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift I wrote as part one and part two. In many ways I see this book in much the same way, and for that I can say, as I continue to work on the first draft, I’m about a third way into part two.

This is a celebration point for me and why I wanted to share with you too. This point in the book is now about sharing what it is I’ve come to learn, understand and grow from the difficulties, in hopes it will help others.

Over the summer I also had a photo shoot done for a potential book cover. If all goes as planned, the photo I chose which is a shot of Gidget and me, will be the one for the cover. But that will have to wait to be revealed at a later date. 😉 

And now for the change to my website

As I’ve now expanded my work, and my new service and oracle guidance sessions as an Oracle Guide— to serve as a guide to empower and encourage women who want to step into their best and true selves, I felt it was time for a change.

Because of my own personal growth journey and one I continue to walk, I’ll be sharing the URL to my website going forward as barbaratechel.com. You’ll still be able to access my website via joyfulpaws.com and the site itself remains the same in content. 

I remember years and years ago my first life coach, Diane, asking me why I didn’t like to be called Barbara and instead preferred Barb. It was really about my own insecurity, lack of self-confidence, not feeling worthy or good enough, and the list went on and on.

And while I still often go by Barb, and it’s many that refer to me in this way, it’s the Barbara in me that I’ve come to appreciate and love…and changing my website name is my way of honoring this.

And so it was in realizing during a difficult time of a chronic health issue with Gidget, and a fatal mistake I almost made, but came to trust she was fine just the way she was, that I also came to accept myself as fine the way I was, and am. More about this to come in my new memoir…stay tuned!

XO,

Barb

Oracle Cards as Self-care for My Soul

Oracle Cards as Self Care for My Soul
Cards from Wisdom of the Oracle

If you’d like to listen to this post as an audio, I’m beginning an experiment and recording some of my posts. You can listen here.

Life isn’t fair. It’s all I could think about after adopting a special needs dog, Joie, and her passing away ten months later.

I was numb. I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t understand. A writer, author, and blogger for over six years, I suddenly had nothing left to say. I was scared and didn’t know what my future would look like.

The truth was I’d been ignoring that voice within that had been urging me to slow down, take a break, and re-evaluate what it was I wanted next for my life. But I ignored it.

Until now. Here I was in this space with the one thing I needed to do, but pushed away for the past two years because I was afraid to look because of fear—fear of the unknown and fear of judgement.

The best thing I could do, and I now know looking back, was to honor that nudge that had been trying desperately to get my attention. And so I dropped everything in my professional life, and took a two month sabbatical. Even though it felt extremely uncomfortable the first two weeks to do what felt like nothing

But with an empty calendar and hours looming before me each day, I made the commitment to journal my thoughts, feelings, challenges, and disappointments in hopes the excavation would reveal my next best step.

It was on the second day of this sacred time that I was guided to pick up a card deck I’d had for quite some time called Grace Cards. While I’d not classify them specifically as an oracle deck, they would introduce me to how there is always a benevolent force of energy guiding us.

Just like many of the dogs in my life have been a reflection for me, guiding me to be my best self, the cards were uncanny in matching my words on the page and what was going on in my inner world as I moved through this time of learning to just be.

It was during this time of transition I’d come to see a deeper meaning to true self-care. While bubble baths, spending time in nature, yoga, and meditation is part of my self-care routine, it was pulling a daily oracle card and journaling with it I was able to move deeper into finding the courage to express what mattered to me.

While I’d write and publish, Wisdom Found in the PauseJoie’s Gift about this inward journey I took in 2013,  I didn’t put any effort into marketing it like I’d done with my previous books. I’d eventually come to realize it was because of fear of judgement that people would think I was wonky for working with oracle cards as a tool for personal growth, as if it wasn’t valid. I’m grateful I now know better!

And it would be over the next few years, and continuing the journey of going inward, working with an animal communicator, a therapist, a pet counselor, and going through Oracle School, I would come to understand how old stories and past wounds I’d carried with me for far too long caused me to repeat patterns with my inner critic leading the way. The one who wanted me to believe I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, that others would judge me, and that what I said and believed didn’t matter.

Self-care came to be about owning all my feelings and emotions and then working to integrate them into pearls of wisdom. And that the wisdom I’d gained from those past hurts and old stories were part of what was integral in helping shape me into who I am. Without those experiences I wouldn’t be the person I am. So I could either continue to curse them, or I could learn from them, understand how they influenced my life, and then release them.

This is what true self-care means to me now. It’s about the willingness to continue to be with my feelings and emotions, even those times when it’s uncomfortable and I’d rather resist and push them away. While I’m not perfect at this, I continue to be in awareness of the gift of this new perspective and trust that these are signposts are guiding me to more compassion, love, and understanding of self.

The three cards I purposely chose to go along with my thoughts on true self care are from The Wisdom of the Oracle deck. They speak to how different our lives can be if we open to the truth in our hearts, remember that a higher power has our back, and how we are then granted more blessed moments when we live in this way.

XO,

Barb

Oracle Card as Self Care for My Soul

Through the Eyes of Gidget: It’s An Inside Job

Through the Eyes of Gidget: It's An Inside Job
Gidget

I continue to make progress on my new memoir. Yay! So far, about 15,000 words written. I’ll share the title with you soon! I’m still contemplating a sub-title.

So often lately, it’s been such a joy to really see Gidget as the wise soul she is. Though it really is a feeling and something I feel on a deeper level than I did before. I continue to grapple with words for this as there does not seem to be adequate words to express the transformation within me that has occurred.

It happened again this morning as I walked onto the deck, to see Gidget lying here, and captured this photo. While yes, she is adorable (in my humble opinion), it is so much more than that. There is this deep respect for her as this sentient being with a purpose just as valuable as the purpose of you and me. The fact that she has walked beside me through the depths of my soul working through some pretty tough pain, speaks to the extent of love animals have for us. There are times when it feels so very palpable, like it did in this moment and getting this picture.

Gidget’s vital teaching for me, to really understand that I too, am a wise soul, and that it’s perfectly fine to own this. It took deep, personal work on my part, letting go of a past story, and a time of incubating in integration, to get to this new space of understanding. But truly, it’s an inside job to finding more peace and happiness for one’s life is what I believe.

Through the eyes of Gidget (and no, this isn’t the title of my book, as someone else gets that solely as her own 🙂 ), and understanding she was serving as a loving mirror for me, that I was able to peel back another crucial layer of truth. Shedding that layer has me not only seeing Gidget in a deeper scope of love for who she is, but also the reflection I now see of myself when I look in the mirror. And one that I am worthy and I’m…. well… oops…almost revealed the title. Stay tuned!  🙂

Speaking of this being an inside job to happiness…Dr. Joe Dispenza explains it beautifully in this short talk. Very worth the listen.

Happy Sunday!

XO,

Barbara