soulcollage

Please Don’t Look Away. Invitation to a Different Perspective.

Posted by Barbara Techel

Please Don't Look Away. Invitation to a Different Perspective.

I thought about whether or not I should share this SoulCollage® card I finally made this past weekend. I know so many have a fear of snakes – and I worried I may upset others or that they may judge me for sharing this – and the thing is, I’ve had a fear of snakes for a long time, too. 

And then I recall last year having shared the wisdom of Wolf from the Animal Wisdom Tarot card deck and how a reader of my newsletter was so upset with me. She couldn’t understand how I’d advocate for wolves when they have attacked and killed livestock on her farm.

And this is the thing, I guess ….there are many different perspectives – and I meant no harm in the Wolf card I shared, just as I mean no harm or discomfort in sharing this card – my only intention to help us see past our fears and look a bit deeper….for I do believe that all animals have wisdom to share with us.

And I truly can’t say I would have said this about Snake five years ago. But I’m learning to open to animals that are often not deemed as cuddly and cute. Not that it is always easy. But as I often say, I am a work in progress.

Honestly, I’m thrilled with this card I made of Snake. It’s been in the making for over two years…simmering in my mind…waiting to be born onto this card as a reminder of the healing that snake brought to me over two years ago.

It was seeing a mama snake, in beautiful shades of iridescent greens and blues, lying dead a few feet off the end of my driveway behind my car, and her unborn, dead babies beside her, and two a few feet from her, that I couldn’t look away…even though I couldn’t understand at the same time why I felt compelled to look.

In sharing this occurrence with my friend, Dawn, an animal communicator, she helped me to look deeper into what the message might be that Snake had for me.

It wasn’t an easy one to look at – though Dawn guided me by gently suggesting that I imagine as if I was in a dream and what it may represent that I came upon this dead snake and her babies.

While it is a personal healing that took place from working with snake in this way and not something I wish to share… I will say that it was a vital shift that needed to take place – one that had been begging to be addressed for a very long time.

It helped in many ways to set me free of something I’d carried as a deep wound that wanted desperately to be released. And honestly, if someone would have told me that by seeing a dead snake and her dead babies, then working with it as a dream while opening myself to a message of healing, well, I’d have thought they were crazy.

But I no longer think that. I feel truly grateful for the experience. Working with the images as seen on the card above came together so easily for me. And when I look at it, I feel a kinship with Snake and think of Snake as my friend.

And one last bit of honesty here:  I don’t know if I could actually pick up or hold a snake… though I think I could maybe do so with my friend Dawn’s sweet snake, Chloe. She has really grown on me.  🙂  And Chloe is great at recommending good books such as this one in the photo with her, of which I had to order.

So there it is…if you made it this far… and accepted the invitation to read about a different perspective regarding snake….BRAVO!!

Photo credit: Dawn Brunke

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Moments of Serenity through Creativity

Posted by Barbara Techel

Moments of Creativity through Serenity

I had such a meaningful discussion with my friend Rachel, this past week. She and I are co-creating some workshops we will be offering this year. The wisdom that comes from this young woman in her early 30s just fills my heart with hope for our world.

Whenever we get together we have deep conversations, which feed both our souls in such a positive and nourshing way.  We were talking about how there are many ways to find moments of serenity. But so many get stuck thinking inner peace has to be this or that way or that there is a right or wrong way, or it is strictly only when one tries to meditate…and then people quit if they thinking they are really meditating because thoughts run through their mind.

But I’ve come to realize even more the many ways in which inner peace or moments of serenity happen for me. One of which is writing. When I write, I’m in a different place. Even if it is something difficult to write about, I lose all sense of time and the space I’m within.

I’m realizing it also happens when I’m doing other creative things, such as creating SoulCollage® cards or just this week, working on chalk painting a piece of furniture I was gifted. The photo above is after shot of the finished piece.  I also chalk painted the mirror which was white before. Below is the before.

I’ll bet if you think about something creative you do, or time you spend out in nature, if you really think about it those are times when you easily lose sense of time.

Just something to give thought to next time you do something nurturing for you soul, pay attention to how you feel afterwards.  

It’s not always about sitting cross-legged in complete silence and meditating for a half hour – though there is something quite powerful about that if you can achieve it. I’ve not yet achieved thirty minutes as ten to fifteen minutes is tops for me. But there are days when the alarm on my phone rings and my mediation is done when I think, wow, that was absolutely delightful. Where was I? And of course, then I want more, more, more.

And more serenity I truly believe can be found in creativity, nature, and spending time with animals, just to name a few.

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Intuitive Guiding Messages

Posted by Barbara Techel
Intuitive Guiding Images
My 2017 SoulCollage card

Last year I was introduced to using twelve images, picked at random, from twelve different magazines to intuitively help create my New Year.

Initially, I was intimidated. While I enjoyed going through the meditation process for each month that led me to choosing twelve different images, when it came time to get all those images onto one 5 x 8 card fear set in. I thought there was no way I’d be able to do it.

In the “normal” process of doing SoulCollage(r) we work with an average of 2-5 images per card. I say “normal” as there is no right or wrong way to do this process, just helpful hints and suggestions. But twelve images on a card? That really did seem impossible.

But I’m happy to report I did it!!…and was quite pleased and ecstatic that I did.

Well, then I was hooked, and repeated the process again this year, which I then also facilitated a workshop at my Joyful Pause studio this past Saturday on this very process which I learned from SoulCollage(r) facilitator, Andrea Thuler who lives in Switzerland.

Above is my card I put together for 2017, which I did a few days before I taught it to seven other wise and wonderful ladies. I have to be honest and humble here…I am in love with my card!  I look at it and I can hear and see my soul with clarity, which is such a beautiful thing.

It speaks to me of my uniqueness in who I am, how I want to continue to dance more fully into who I am, how I find strength and courage from my rituals of meditation, yoga, and listening to my inner voice, how I feel the light inside me burning bright again, how my inner compass is my true guidance, and how I want to live more and more from that wild and wise person that I know I am.

But what lit me up even more was watching the participants in my workshop, half of which were new to SoulCollage(r) as they went through this process…and the revelations that it presented for them.

To watch as many began the process of letting go of what no longer serves them and finding the strength to step into who they really want to be….well, let’s just say, it was magical, priceless, and left my heart with a very good feeling, which still vibrates within me today.

I’ve walked the journey of letting go, and continue to… as like everyone else, I am a work in progress….which is perfectly OKAY…we are unfinished women, with so much more to give, finding our way to shine in this world.

One woman said of the experience, “My soul gained a little serenity today.” I wanted to weep with joy from that statement as this is the calling I’ve felt drawn to for quite some time now…

to help and encourage others to open to their own souls whispers and wisdom.

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