personal growth

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

What is to Come

Posted by Barbara Techel
What is to Come
My best friend’s back stoop, always decorated so beautifully no matter the season

There is a bit of autumnal feel to the air here the last two days. It makes me yearn for fall as it is my most favorite time of year.

And as always happens when I feel a hint of fall I get this feeling that runs through me, one of excitement, melancholy, and snuggling in all mixed together. I then have to text my best friend, my Sistah V, as I know she is feeling this autumnal-ness (is that a word?!) too.

She also happens to be my birthday buddy in that our birthday’s fall on the same day.  Here we were being silly with cool whip on our noses before we dived into the creamy, ooey jello desert she made for us as we celebrated our special day last week.  And yes, we had birthday hats cause a girl is never too old to wear one!

I just can’t imagine my life without her. We’ve been through so much together already. I try not to worry what is to come if she should leave this earth before me. But with this sense of our lives that stretch out shorter than longer now, each birthday becomes that more special.

Someone was getting awfully sleepy from the festivities

What is to come is something that floats through my mind with different things at different times. But this is life. We can’t always know what is to come, but to trust that it will all be as it should.

I think of this as I’ve been feeling stuck this week and not being able to work on my new book. So I gave myself a break from it the past two days. It’s a time I lean into the unknown and trust that soon enough I’ll be called back to the page (or in my case the keyboard).

What is to come may be unknown, but it’s in this in-between space, that I listen inwardly, and value and appreciate this sacred time, and trust that grace will guide me just as it always has.

And what is to come this evening that is tugging at me is to envelop myself in my new sweatshirt, two sizes bigger than I’d normally wear, that my dear Johnnie brought home for me from a lumber yard he does business with, a fire in the chiminea, snuggle with Gidget, page through Cottage Journal magazine, and relish in the crispness in the air, and the love of home and my life as it is in this moment.

XO,

Barbara

Guidance from the Oracle and Otter on Feeling Understood

Posted by Barbara Techel
Guidance from the Oracle and Otter on Feeling Understood
Daylily’s in my garden

Whether or not someone understands me no longer takes up the energy or inner space it once did is something I’m reflecting on as I get ready to celebrate my 55th birthday this Wednesday, July 18th.

It’s certainly been a journey of consciously living a self-examined life that I stand today more grounded in who I am.

I’m thinking about the extraordinary coaches who have guided me over the years,  the many inspiring books I’ve read, surrounding myself with supportive and like-minded friends and colleagues, and taking part in many a workshop, plus the dogs and animals who have been pivotal to my ever evolving personal growth.

It takes a village to help us step fully into who we are meant to be. And it’s something I truly wish for everyone – to be comfortable in their own skin – and to embrace the gifts that the ebb and flow of life brings us.

I’m currently in the middle of  reading another profoundly moving book that is “speaking my language” called, The Seeker’s Guide – Making Your Life A Spiritual Adventure by Elizabeth Lesser. Every time I pick it up my heart feels home.

In August I will complete my six month intensive studying with Intuitive Counselor and Oracle Expert, Colette Baron-Reid.  Being in Oracle School among many incredible peers  I’ve come to understand even more how letting go of my old story and not getting stuck there, is how we set ourselves free.

It’s something I continue to be thrilled to be of service and witnessing women discover that they too can choose to live the life they choose.

I believe to feel understood, we must first and foremost go within and love ourselves. Often times this takes support and many paths we must walk – the journey sometimes tenacious – but oh, so worth it.

And why I want to encourage you, my dear readers, when you feel alone or unsure, to go within and listen with gentle kindness, because your soul will always love and guide you. 

I asked for some insight also from the Wisdom of the Oracle and the Power Animal Oracle:

What do we most need to know right now to support our highest good and let go of times we don’t feel understood?

Wisdom of the Oracle:  Round and Round was in protection (reverse) when I pulled it, but I’m showing it upright so you can see it. When in protection it means to pay extra close attention. 

When we feel other’s don’t understand us we tend to think that if we could just convince someone of this or that, then they’d understand. And we can tend to go round and round with asking the “why’s” instead of keeping the focus on ourselves. But the truth is we can’t control what other’s think. We can only trust what our heart knows. If we feel strongly about a belief, then we must own it and live from that space in order to be truly happy.

Power Animal Oracle: I love that Otter presented himself in this reading in conjunction with Round and Round. It couldn’t be more perfect. While it’s good to survey the landscape around you before heading out into the world, just as Otter does, it’s remembering once again that the only control you have is in your own reactions and trusting in who you are.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

XO,

Barbara