pet grief

Honoring a Pet Through Collage and Journaling

Posted by Barbara Techel
Honoring a Pet Through Collage and Journaling
My JOIE SoulCollage® card

I’m so honored to have been asked to provide an article for the monthly newsletter for SoulCollage®. As many of you know, I became a facilitator two years ago. It’s a process that by working with images and creating collages on five by eight cards that lead to self-discovery.

I was contacted by SoulCollage® to write an article on pet grief and how SoulCollage® can be of help. I believe the article will appear in the November issue. I’ll be sure to share a link once it is available.

But I wanted to share with you today the card I made to honor JOIE and encourage you to do the same for a pet you love and now may be gone. But it’s also a great way to pay tribute to an animal friend who is still here with you.

I have over fifty cards I’ve made so far and it’s always touching when shuffling the cards and choosing a card at random when one of my animal friends shows up for the day – reminding me of their presence in my life and what they taught me.

As is also encouraged in SoulCollage® after making a card, to journal with it from a prompt often used in SoulCollage® which is “I am one who.” To “step into the card,” so to speak, and listen for the wisdom the image has for you and capture that in writing.

I’m reminded today as I sent photos of my cards of Frankie and Joie, and my “I am one who” journal entries that our animal friends are always with us and that we can connect with them anytime we want – it’s just making the conscious choice to be in that sacred space of stillness and connection with them.

My JOIE journal entry:

I am one who could only stay a short time. My greatest gift to you was for me to leave my physical body so that you would come to see there are gifts in transition – whether they be in death or life changes.  Doors close and new ones open – each a portal to understanding yourself on an even deeper level. The water paw print I sent you from the other side was my way of letting you know you are on the right path – the one of living in more conscious awareness – one of pausing often to listen to your inner voice and bring that wisdom forth to share with others.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

How I Stopped Comparing My Dog Joie, to My Deceased Dog, Frankie

Posted by Barbara Techel
How I Stopped Comparing My Dog Joie, to My Deceased Dog, Frankie
JOIE

Last week in celebration of the release of my new book, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift I did my first ever live event on Facebook. I was quite nervous, but afterwards I received such wonderful feedback from many – it made it all very well worth it and I’m so glad I  took the plunge. If you didn’t have a chance to watch live, you can view the recording here.

But one question I got, which I think is important to expand on is this one from viewer, Sharon: “How did you resolve your issue of comparing Joie to Frankie?”

I do write about this in Wisdom Found in the Pause, but what I came to understand is that I had so closely tied my identity to Frankie and all my work with her, that when she died, I felt like I had lost my sense of purpose.  And we all know how so many of us search a for what seems a good long time to find our purpose – and many that feel they never find one.

Even though I’d been feeling this nudge to expand, I didn’t quite know what that looked like. So it felt more comfortable to think I’d continue to do what I’d always done, instead of marinating in the feelings I was experiencing that I was being called to end the chapter I defined as “Frankie.” While I truly wanted another special needs dachshund to love and care for, what wasn’t clear was how I was going to move forward now that Frankie was gone.

Many of you know I adopted Joie four months after Frankie’s passing and I was so happy to have a little one to care for again. As the days started to unfold I was having a hard time feeling a bond with her, or feeling deeply connected, like I had with Frankie.

What I did was reach out to my friend, Dawn, who is an animal communicator. She had helped me before with Frankie and I felt confident she could do the same with Joie.

While I don’t want to give it all away (and you can read more in my new book), it was during the reading with Dawn that I had the courage to admit I knew I was comparing Joie to Frankie.  It wasn’t that I was really doing it consciously, but rather subconsciously. And the issue was really all about me. I was having a hard time letting go of Frankie and what was. I needed to let things evolve organically with Joie and let her be her own dog. I truly wanted what was best for her and wanted more than anything for her to feel loved, safe and nurtured.

In many ways I owed this to Joie – but I also owed it to myself to see the truth of what was transpiring. And the beauty of one of the many gifts that Joie brought to my life. She helped me to see that I could let go and move forward – that I could expand on who I was and it would all be okay.

Every dog arrives in our lives to teach us something – arriving at just the right time – and I knew it was up to me to open myself fully to the lessons Joie was here to teach me, not only so she herself could live a happy and quality life while here – but that Frankie could rest in peace – and I could live more from the truth of who I am.

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Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a link to auhtor, Jackie Bouchard’s blog, PoochSmooches. We did a recent Q & A about my book, Wisdom Found in the Pause, and one of the questions I enjoyed answering is this one:

  1. I really related to the quote from Sue Bender (p108) to “practice feeling good where you are.” I have to continually remind myself of the lesson from our angel Abby – to live in the moment. I think this is such a great lesson for everyone, no matter where you are in life. Can you expand on how you practice feeling good about where you are?

I hope you will stay tuned for my answer!

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Dog Barks from the Other Side

Posted by Barbara Techel
Dog Barks from the Other Side
Photo: @Brookburlingphotography

Today marks the 4 year anniversary of my dear dachshund Frankie’s passing. While I never thought my heart would heal from the loss of her, time has, for me, replaced sadness with so many beautiful memories that often bring a smile to my face and a flood of joy to my heart.

And I just have to tell you how amazed I am at how Frankie’s spirit continues to dance around me. It especially seems so this time of year.

It’s as if she is barking from the other side reminding me that we are still connected. And she’s been sending messengers in the form of people reaching out to me talking about her, recalling stories of her, or a time when they met her.
frankie 2

One such case that really moved me deeply was an email I received from Danielle last week. She emailed me once before sharing with me how much my children’s book Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog helped her children to deal with, and understand, their own dachshund Dixie’s paralysis.

Dixie has seen passed away and this time Danielle wrote:

I wanted to contact you, this time to share with you how much my kids (my 5-year-old twins) have been enjoying your “Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog Coloring and Activity” book.  They love the paper-dog Frankie!  For them, it was especially important that Frankie was in her cart, so we had to get the cart cut out right away.  🙂   Since they each had a book, they each pretended to be a “Frankie” and talk to the other “Frankie”.  🙂  

My daughter loved putting as much on Frankie as she could possibly fit!  My son loved having Frankie more plain so he could still recognize her. They could not get enough of cutting, trying on, and role playing!  

The whole activity also helped them reconnect with Dixie’s spirit and life and remember her in a fun way since her passing.

twins
Danielle’s five year old twins dressing Frankie paper dog cut out

I can’t even begin to find the right words to tell you how much this means to me! But there I was, sitting at my computer, tears of joy rolling down my face. And a few tears wishing I could hold Frankie… just. one. more. time.

But it was just another reminder that as my mom said to me last weekend that “love never dies.” And she is right. It just takes a different form, but it is always there. Always.

 Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.