I’m super excited to be one of the speakers for the 2018 Animal Wisdom World Summit. It runs from August 27th-31st. And the great thing is you don’t have to leave home to learn from so many wonderful experts because it’s all happening on-line.
Author, Intuitive, and Coach, Dr. Cara Gubbins is the host of this event. My interview will be on Wednesday, August 29th at 2:00pm cst/noon pst/1:00pm est.
Please note, when you register, which you can do here, you will see a line-up of the speakers here and the day/time you can catch them which are listed as PST.
All interviews will be live for 24-hours. Be sure to listen to Dr. Cara’s video after you register, in the event you wish to purchase all the interviews after they have aired. She has made it very affordable to do so.
I’m truly honored to be among many of my friends who will also be sharing their expertise, such as Dawn Brunke, animal communicator, Joe Dwyer, animal advocate, and Pam Kachelmeier, Equine Assisted Coach. And having just completed my studies in Oracle School and receiving my Oracle Guide certification, I’m excited that founder of Oracle School, Colette Baron-Reid is among the speakers too!
On a personal note, this has been one of my wishes and intentions to be part of an online summit such as this. What makes it special for me, among many other things, is that it was one of those things that just landed in my lap. It was proof to me once again that following one’s heart, and not pushing so hard (which I can have a tendency to do, but am continual unlearning this), that if it is meant to be it will happen…and it did! So it makes me extra tickled pink and feels like such a perfect fit.
I’ll be offering a special discount rate for my Intuitive Oracle Guidance sessions which you will learn about during my interview, so be sure to check it out then if you’d like to take advantage of that. I’d be honored to support you in your journey if this resonates for you.
After a meeting via a video call with a friend/colleague discussing a potential collaboration on a future workshop, it was time to take a break.
In the past I’ve driven myself to the point of burning out a few times. It’s not a place I wish to find myself again. While I still have tendencies to push myself, I’m much more aware, and realize it sooner rather than later more often than not.
I remind myself that not everything needs to be done in one day…that pausing and moving away from the computer will benefit my work when I return to it again. See? I too am truly a work in progress and continue to practice what it is that I guide and empower other women to do…and the importance of pausing, listening and capturing what matters.
What matters isn’t only in the big things of life. But it’s in the small things too. It’s recognizing that time away from the computer screen is vital to my well-being. While I’m not a fan of the word balance, I often gravitate to the word flow. For me, it feels in alignment with following the flow of your souls wishes for the big things, and for the small.
I enjoyed myself immensely in my discussion with my friend/colleague this morning, but also recognized it was time to move away to something that didn’t require so much of my mental energy.
With the sun shining I decided to work on the high-top table on my deck. I gathered together my bullet journal, some pens, gelatos (not the Italian ice cream – though that would have been yummy (!) – but rather a creamy crayon for creative projects), scissors, glue, and an image of an owl. It was time to create my calendar for July.
A few months ago I set the intention to have more creative outlets that take me away from the screen of my computer. I remember hearing someone via a podcast talk about how she has a separate digital desk and analog desk. I liked that idea! So after a writing session or other work tasks I’ve completed, I’ll sometimes turn my chair around now and work on an art journal page, or as in today’s case, create my July spread for my bullet journal.
As I got lost in cutting out the owl for July, which by the way is the animal that swoops in as my ally for the month from a reading I had done in January, I glanced down to notice Gidget lying peacefully next to me.
As I was lost in my bliss of this creative spot in my day, so was Gidget, lost in her bliss enjoying the summer breeze and the warm sun, I had a moment of lovely reflection. It’s something that has been coming up for me often the last few weeks and how sweet this summer has been with her. Different, in a beautiful way- more expanded – in many ways than summers before.
It’s in large part due to me, I know, as I worked through some deep inner work late winter/early Spring. While that inner work was painful and difficult in many ways, I’m continually reminded now of how grateful I am that I opened to doing the work that needed to be done. Gidget was so often a reflection for me, even though I couldn’t quite grasp it in the thick of the emotional downpour.
There is a new depth to our bond that may have not otherwise made itself known had I not heeded the messages I was receiving from her, or the signs all around me. So while I got lost in the bliss of creativity this afternoon, I also melted into the bliss that this one said little dog has opened in me, too.
This butterfly that came to eat reminded me to enjoy the sweetness of creativity for the sake of expression no matter what.
When I first began writing back in 2006, I wrote mostly about the human-animal bond. I wrote to share my love of animals and the wisdom they brought me, and will continue to do so, though my writing has broadened over the years.
When I wrote and published my first two children’s books, I was on a mission to help others see paralyzed dogs in a new way – not out of pity – but one in which understanding they could live a quality of life and in a wheelchair if need be, just like my dachshund Frankie was doing at the time. Along with that, I saw that Frankie could be a positive example to children and adults and guide them to see their challenges in a new light.
Much of that focus was about getting the word out and involved much marketing on my part. While I cringed at the thought of marketing in previous work I’d done, this was different, and came from a passion of what I felt was my calling to share at that time.
When Frankie died and then my next dachshund died a few short months later, I knew in my heart I was in transition. Oftentimes I felt lost. My writing then became more about me expressing myself to help me work through the challenges I was going through.
It became clear that this is something I was meant to expand into and understanding that in transitional moments in one’s life there are often gifts within them. Though not always necessarily easy to see when in the thick of it.
How often I struggled with my identity, afraid to let go of what many have come to see me as in the paralyzed and wheelchair dog world, being an advocate, but also knowing I was evolving. While I didn’t always share the difficulties of some of the inner struggles I faced, I knew I had to keep writing – even if just here on my blog – and no one else was reading my thoughts.
But also in being honest, there are times I have wondered, Is anyone out there? Am I having an impact like I did with Frankie? Are other’s reading what I’ve written? Does it resonate with anyone?
But yet, I had to keep writing, even if just for me. So often it was, and continues to be, my way of expressing how I feel. In a world that is noisy and one where truly we all just wish to be heard, I know my writing has served me well in this way. I’m grateful for the self-expression and grateful for how this medium has helped me grow in so many ways.
I continue to make progress on the new memoir I’m working on (YAY!). What is interesting is that this is the first book I’m putting so much less pressure on myself than in the past. I’m also writing in a way I’d not done before. This time, I’m just dumping out everything on the page. In the past my perfectionist would kick in and I’d stop to edit or re-work sections. Though I sometimes still catch myself wanting to do this, I forge ahead reminding myself it can wait. I’m also not overly concerned with who my audience is right now either, even though you’ll hear via the industry standard this isn’t the “right” way to do this.
But trusting what feels right to my process is what I’m leaning into. I trust also it will all take shape when I begin to sift the words and sentences in a more defined way after the first draft is complete. While I had concerns about who my audience has been in the past, and that they may not be the same with this book, I’m at a much more peaceful place about that now too.
And then this morning I read this beautiful comment from reader, Alexa, in response to what I wrote about yesterday on my blog …and I lit up from the inside out, because this…this is the woman…like me…who I write to…
Learning to feel safe to opening my heart when in therapy. Until a couple of months ago, whenever i talked about childhood hurts it was without feeling. like i was reading the back of a cereal box.
Now I cry sometimes as I truly connect with the child I was. I’m learning to give comfort and love to the little girl I was. It’s like the adult me is reaching out to my child self. I feel as though I am passing thru from one place to another. For the first time ever I trust myself to feel the pain instead of burying it or just muddling thru. I can say I’m strong enough and know deeply that I am.
Barb..your blog means so much to me. Your willingness to share. to be true to your self. I don’t know the why of it or how to put it into words but thru reading your words over the passage of time, I have been expanding,opening. I just hadn’t realized it until I cried during a therapy session. Healing tears. reading your words, your journey, I have been beginning my own.
While I began to express myself to make a difference and be heard, there came a point when I knew I had to keep writing even if just for me. But when this happens and I’ve touched a chord in someone else, like I did Alexa, well then, this is sweet, delicious, icing on the cake…and feeds my soul to keep going with my book on those days when I am not so sure and those pesky doubts try to creep in.
So thank you, Alexa, and all of you who continue to walk this ever-evolving transformational journey with me.
As I got lost in cutting out the owl for July, which by the way is the animal that swoops in as my ally for the month from a reading I had done in January, I glanced down to notice Gidget lying peacefully next to me.