pet loss

Connecting with Gidget through SoulCollage® and Oracle Cards

I recently completed a SoulCollage® card in honor and memory of Gidget. It’s an intuitive process I’ve been trained in as a facilitator and have held workshops with different themes. Something I’m giving thought to for the future and facilitating some online classes.

Every one of my dogs has a card in honor of them and what it was they brought to my life. Central to the process after collaging on a 5 x 8 card is to journal with the prompt I Am One Who. 

It’s a sacred and beautiful way to connect with our dear animal friends who are no longer with us. I find it so soothing and healing.

Sometimes it takes me a while to put the images together and then journal. But allowing the process to unfold in a natural flow, I think, is all part of the beautiful teachings my dogs taught me – and to be in the present moment.

So I thought I’d share with you my recent connection with Gidget through the I Am One Who prompt and then working with oracle cards to gain some additional insight from her.

I Am One Who…

…sat quietly with you sharing my energy of truth as a way to guide you to yours.

…was content as who I am as a reflection for you to do the same.

…came into your life to hold your wounded heart as you found the courage to witness and accept your worthiness.

…resides within you always as the princess of your heart.

…sees deep into the soul of truth.

…took on your childhood pain, shook it loose for you to see and so you could set yourself free.

…watched your heart expand in compassion for yourself.

…provided unconditional love and support in your deepest, most excruciating moments of grief.

…loved you without judgment through it all.

…loved to entice the little girl within you to come out and play.

…rejoices and dances with you whenever you wish. Just think of me and I’m there.

…will always envelop you with the purest and deepest love as my everlasting gift to you.

…knows you will now carry the light of compassion within you and allow it to guide you through your remaining earthly journey.

I pulled an oracle card from the Wisdom of the Oracle asking Gidget what more she wanted me to know right now?

 

We are always connected. The key to being able to be with me is through quiet time and attention to the love we shared. That love is still here for you.

Our relationship has only changed form. I see you, I feel you, and I hear you. Rest sweetly in what you can’t see and know that it’s what you feel that matters. 

I’ll be your forever friend.

Thank you to Linda Su of ArtLin Creations for the beautiful and sweet gift of the memorial card in honor of Gidget. It’s such a lovely addition to my altar and I love how it looks next to the SoulCollage card of Gidget.

XO,

Barbara

Subscribe here to receive my bi-monthly newsletter which includes a digest of my blog posts, oracle readings, wisdom from the animal kingdom, first to know special offers and more

and/or

Subscribe here to receive my blog posts as they are published.

New Life in Our Backyard – Video

As I write this blog post there is an Oriole and Robin splashing in the bird bath. First time I’ve ever witnessed that!

Today around 8:15am I was listening to one of my mentors do an oracle reading. The card she pulled was about evolution and new life. It had the image of a sweet baby on the card.

Within moments after she pulled the card and was talking about it, I looked up to see a mama deer and her fawn come into our yard. More new life. I don’t remember in the 32-years that we’ve lived here seeing a fawn. It was such a treat!

I thought about how the oracle reading of new life and seeing the fawn connects with my life right now. 

It’s been a little over one month since my doxie, Gidget passed away. Some moments have been sad as I miss her sweet and loving presence and cuddling with her. But as the days flow by, I’m finding my way. And one thing that has been so beautiful is that my love is deepening even more for her. And I know she feels that. I feel it. And that feels incredibly good.

I’ve been practicing staying in the moment and trying to not let my mind race ahead of me wondering what is next, but just being open to allowing life to flow to me, instead of forcing it. 

My life is already anew in many ways just with how I move about my days now. It’s bittersweet at times, but I’m reminding myself to appreciate the gift of this time for myself now.

Moving through loss is a form of evolution as I reflect on what Gidget brought to my life and what I’ve deepened into with her teaching since she has moved on. This in itself has brought new life to me.

John and I are also going to go look at something tomorrow morning….though I can’t say right now what that is. But in case you are thinking it’s a dog, no, that’s not what it is. 

But it’s something that may bring another aspect of new life for us if it all works out. If not now, I believe it will manifest soon and I’ll be sure to share with you. I have to share it with you now that I’ve teased you, right?  😉

At any rate, I wanted to share this adorable fawn and her dear (deer!) mama with you. Life is always evolving and there are so many gifts in that.

P.S. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing the interview with my friend and new author, Lori Helke and photos of her adorable renovated vintage camper named Beatrice. Stay tuned!

XO,

Barbara

Subscribe here to receive my bi-monthly newsletter which includes a digest of my blog posts, oracle readings, wisdom from the animal kingdom, first to know special offers and more

and/or

Subscribe here to receive my blog posts as they are published.

Self-Reflection: Light and Dark and the Gift in Both

I’m reading a book right now by Stephen Levine called Unattended Sorrow – Recovering from Loss and Reviving the Heart.

In my recent newsletter, I wrote about honoring the void and allowing a new groove to unfold for myself after the passing of Gidget. 

I wrote:

I wonder how often it is we rush to fill a void because of its unknowns and because it feels uncomfortable. This vacillating between a void and finding a new groove, I think, is part of the process of allowing what is next to unfold.

I’ve had to remind myself of what I’ve written a few times now as sometimes I feel the tendency to want to just fill the void for the sake of filling it. While at the same time I also wrote that I’ve been experiencing this: there is a space within grief I’m appreciating and don’t recall feeling before. It’s a softening that feels gentle, graceful and calm, and brings me much peace.

The softening I feel is that I’m at peace that when it became apparent and Gidget’s diagnoses of congestive heart failure that it was her time to move on. Though I initially panicked and cried to my friend, and animal communicator, Dawn that I couldn’t imagine my life without Gidget. But Dawn gently reminded me to think about what it was that Gidget wanted and not my fear.

But yesterday I was in a funk that still lingers a bit today, though I’m feeling a little lighter after sharing my honest feelings with John last night. I realized yesterday that I was feeling lonely. At the same time, I still don’t feel this need to just fill the void of missing Gidget with another dog right now. But what I was feeling was what I was grappling with.

It’s this space of not knowing what’s next I realize at the same time that it’s human to want to know. But another part of me wants to allow what is next to flow to me naturally. And in this in-between space, this is what can feel so uncomfortable and all my fears and doubts come rising to the surface. I’ve also always had an animal in my home for the past thirty-five years. This is the first time without one. When John is at work now, I’m home by myself. It feels odd, but something I’m trying to learn to be with.

But it’s the awareness that this feeling is there and just allowing it to move through me I know is what I need to do – or rather, just be with.

I appreciated what Stephen writes in chapter nine:

“When we love someone, they become a mirror for our heart. They reflect back to us the place within us that is love, the divine principle. When that mirror is shattered through death or separation, we may feel as though love itself has died.

We may not even know where our next breath will come from.”

He goes on to say that what’s important to do is to quietly sit with this and count the breath. What really caught my attention was when he said to inhale mercy and exhale fear.

And that was it. To be merciful with myself and let go of the fear that tries to take over. Stephen also talks about bringing awareness to the belly. He shares that so often when we move into fear our belly tightens. So I’ve been practicing by inhaling and silently saying mercy as I bring my awareness to the softening of my belly and as I exhale letting go of fears that my mind projects.

When I woke this morning I took this photo above of the shadow on my wall of a bird and some flowers I have on the armoire in our bedroom. It caught my eye and I reflected on how this image speaks to how I am vacillating between the light and dark right now – wanting to experience more light, but also trying to honor the dark. But it’s in the shadow that I realize the gift in all of it. 

XO,

Barbara

Subscribe to my newsletter here for a bi-monthly digest of my blog posts, plus oracle readings, wisdom from the animal kingdom, first to know special offers and more and/or

Subscribe here to receive my blog posts as they are published.