self discovery

Finding that Meaningful Life

Posted by Barbara Techel

Finding that Meaningful Life

I think it takes courage to live a life that feels meaningful. To not live the status quo, but to live from that inner space within that yearns to trust that inner voice, while at the same time not knowing what that may really look like as we try to move toward it and what we believe it is that will bring us joy.

I feel like I’ve been down this road hundreds of times – and no doubt it will surface time and again as I grow and evolve. Though I am much stronger in my convictions which feels liberating. But isn’t this what being human is all about?

The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my almost 54 years is that happiness isn’t outside of us, though it can feel like an uphill battle because it is what is in front of us constantly in TV, ads, etc. if we allow it to be.

So when I hear of a breakthrough from someone who I’ve shared the SoulCollage® process with that I facilitate in my studio and online, my heart overflows with ecstatic happiness. To know another person on this planet is learning to accept who they are – well – it is very rewarding. 

Kathryn, who is part of my online SoulCollage® True Essence class is a beautiful example of taking the steps necessary to move toward living a meaningful life. I was so touched by a recent posting she did on our private Facebook group that I asked her if I could share it with you. She graciously agreed. Thank you, Kathryn.

This is a recent SoulCollage® card she created for her altar: 

Kathryn wrote, “It (the card) was created intentionally, the image of the woman had a quote by it and the woman said that she loves who she is just the way she is. The locusts represent my fear of bees and wasps. This is the first summer in many years where I no longer feel afraid of getting stung. The card is about being proud of who I am today, stepping into my power and releasing fears that no longer serve me.”

Kathryn’s insight for herself not only no doubt freed her in many ways and brought deep meaning to her life, but in sharing with the group, she made my life (and likely others in the group) feel even more meaningful. 

Finding a meaningful life takes work and is truly an inside job. And why I continue to do my own inner work too so that I can support others on their path to a meaningful life. This summer I’ve devoting myself to a 22-week online course to help me grow in who I am and expand my workshops online which began this past Monday.

Because truly, it’s moments like this that Kathryn shared with me that are food for my soul – me as facilitator guiding others toward deeper meaning for their lives, in-turn makes for a meaningful life for me. Win-win not only for me and participant, but a big win for the planet!

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If you’d like to learn more about the SoulCollage® True Essence online course details are here.

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SoulCollage® Reading for the Week for All of Us

Posted by Barbara Techel

SoulCollage® Reading for the Week for All of Us

I think many of you know by now that I LOVE oracle cards! Such helpful and fun guides to help us with life’s big and small questions. Finding SoulCollage® and making what are in a sense, my own personal oracle cards, has just helped to deepen this ritual I find such a fascination with.

The universe really does love us and is always sending us signs and symbols. Our job is to pay attention!

I have different rituals for my SoulCollage® cards and that is part of the fun of it! As I got out to my writing cottage today the thought popped in my head that I’d like to choose a card at random not only for myself, but for all of you who faithfully read my blog each day.

So here is the question I posed for us all as I shuffled my deck of SoulCollage® cards:  What do we need to know for the week?

The card I made of my favorite flower, the ranunculus, which I made earlier this year, is the one who presented itself. The answer I heard by being in silent diaglogue and journaling with it had this to offer us:

You need to know that it is going to be a beautiful week! One filled with many layers of possibilities. Just as new buds are beginning to open to the sun, so too are you being presented the same opportunity. Lift your arms and your whole being to the heavens, just like the petals of a flower opening to warmth of a new season, and embrace all of who you are. Let the exquisite beauty of you bloom and fill this world with the many magical shades of color that come from all the many layers that make you uniquely you!

I realized after choosing this card for the week, that yesterday, a friend has posted a photo of her “art studio mates” for the week, which she always has fresh flowers, and this week they are the ranunculus! Coincidence? I think not! 🙂

Photo credit: Cynthia Morris Art

Wishing you each a beautiful week!

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Search for Yourself, by Yourself

Posted by Barbara Techel

Search for Yourself, by Yourself

Do not allow others to make your paths for you. It is your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Accept yourself and your actions. Own your thoughts. Speak up when wrong, and apologize. Know your path at all times. To do this you must know yourself inside and out, accept your gifts as well as your shortcomings, and grow each day with honesty, integrity, compassion, faith, and brotherhood.  ~Terri Jean

I love this quote though may I add, “sisterhood”  to this as well. The quote is from 365 Days of Walking the Red Road – The Native American Path to Leading a Spiritual Life Every Day.

I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the Native American culture. The more I learn and understand, the more my heart breaks for what I feel is such a disservice we did to the Native American’s in our history. How we thought our way was better. How that caused great distress and harm to the Native American’s and to the earth and to our ourselves.

Their connection to the earth, plants, animals,  sky, and the Creator, and the wisdom this offers is something I feel more drawn to everyday of my life. How their connection to all living things is what they instill in their everyday practices and rituals to guide their lives. 

Author Kent Nerburn quotes Ohiyesa, a great Dakota teacher and thinker in his book, Voices in the Stones – Life Lessons from the Native Way, “Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth, and the Great Silence alone.”

He goes on to write, “There is no need to justify the purity or sufficiency of your spiritual convictions, no need to defend them through theology or philosophy or argumentation. All that is necessary is that you acknowledge the Great Mystery that is behind everything and present in everything.”

Having read this last night and then the quote from Terri Jean about walking your own road alone this morning, accepting your gifts and your shortcomings, and understanding that the road is yours alone to travel really hit home for me today.

We all take wrong turns in life. I was reminded of that today having just let go of something I thought I wanted to pursue and realizing I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons. I’d lost my way of who I was.

What I’m grateful for is that I found myself back to what matters most to me in a relatively short period of time and didn’t spend too much time traveling down what I feel was the wrong road for me.

It was by being in silence and having an honest conversation with myself that I realized an opportunity I was looking to follow wasn’t coming from my heart. When I took the time to tune back into who I authentically I am it became clear that the intention and committment I made to pursue teaching workshops and SoulCollage® workshops is exactly where I want to be.

While the other road I took for a very short time may have afforded me the opportunity to gain more financially, it didn’t speak to my soul of how I want to continue making a difference where I can.

As I read the teachings of the Dakota teacher in Nerburn’s book I was reminded that being open to the Great Mystery, having faith, and trusting the path ahead when walked with integrity and from the compassion in my heart is the right road for me to walk….

And my spirit soars for having found my way back to myself, by myself.

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Space still available for Talking Sticks Workshop at Joyful Pause Studio, this Saturday, March 4th, 10am-12:30pm.

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