Late December I started to see the familiar offerings to take part in creating a word or vision board for the New Year. But it didn’t particularly call to me and I had no plans to do this. Vision boards, especially, I’d found to have become too focused on material things though I’d certainly participated in doing them a few times.

Not that I don’t like material things, as I do. But, let’s just say that they aren’t quite as important to me as they used to be. I realized that over the years, buying things was sometimes more about not dealing with my inner emotions.

It was during two oracle readings in December that I did for myself on the new moon and then the full moon and the card I pulled from my Animal Reflections Healing Oracle that Deer presented herself each time. In my deck, Deer represents gentleness. Both times I pulled the card, tears immediately pooled in my eyes.

I can still be hard on myself at times. I realized Deer was reminding me of the importance of checking in and examining why I get lost within myself at times.

From my guidebook: Deer, gentle and sweet, is a reminder you are your own gentle and powerful healer with the ability to regenerate new roots as you heal your wounded parts. As you become adept at making positive changes you are then able to connect with your empathetic nature, becoming a thoughtful and skilled listener for others who are also in need of some gentle care, understanding, and love.

The more I sat with the word gentleness, the more it moved into my being as a personal focus I wish to live from on a more consistent basis. It fits those areas I can still feel challenged by.

Then came along an offering to do a vision board based on how one wants to feel in the New Year. Now that spoke to me.

And from that experience came my vision board, incorporated with my word for the year, which you can see in the photo above. Then just this morning during my breathwork session, I saw the vision for pulling an animal guide for each of the categories I’d created for my board.

We could choose from a total of eight categories and could do all of them, or pick the ones that most spoke to us. I chose four: family/pets, health/well-being, love/friends, and passion/creativity. I also chose to try and find just one image to convey what I want to feel in each of the categories.

• Family/Pets: John and I have been talking on and off over the past six months or so about bringing another dog into our life this year. What’s different this time around, is that it is a decision we have made together. Summing it up, the one sentence that bubbled to the surface for me from journaling is not only that our waiting until it was right for both of us, which gave us the experience of deepening in love and peace with each other, that welcoming another dog will have us deepening in love for another being and experiencing the peace and joy that a dog so often brings into one’s life.

Dragonfly with the message of graceful reminds me that when I move from a place of ease and trust that life flows in such a magical way.

• Health/Well-being: I continue to practice breathwork to help me with my asthma, though I can become quite frustrated when I have flare-ups. In this category, I especially feel the word gentleness is key for me. I love the image I found of the flowers blossoming on the end of tree branches that are shaped in the image of lungs. Breath connects me with all that is really sums it up because when breathing consciously it is what makes me feel alive and connected to my mind, body, and spirit.

Cat with the message of choice says to me that I always have a choice – I can feel frustrated by my breathing challenges and go down the rabbit hole of internally beating myself up, or I can pause, check in with my breath, allow myself the space to do some breathwork, and check in with where I’m at. This is what helps not only allow my lungs to expand but for my mind to expand and let go of any negative thoughts.

• Love/Friends: This one came up for me this year as a good friend of mine I’ve known for over twenty years will be moving in the not-so-distant future from Wisconsin to Colorado. All the things I’d thought in regard to the future for us have now been changed. While I have no doubt we will stay connected via phone, and Zoom, and when she comes back home to visit, it’s just the realization she won’t be a city away that has had me grieving at times for this impending loss. But I also trust that perhaps a new friendship will come into my life, or perhaps I’ll be just fine with the distant friendship. But most important is that when I’m my authentic self this is what brings me into connection with other like-minded people and together we thrive.

Hummingbird with the message of believe reminds me to continue to focus on my own north star and that when I do the rest of my life falls into place just as it’s meant to be.

• Passion/Creativity:  I continue to be passionate about how when we do our inner work and connect with animals and nature, we not only thrive individually, but we thrive as a planet. Guiding people to connect deeper with themselves, animals, and nature I express with joy through my oracle readings for people and for pets and their people, my writing, my animal art, and the Animal Reflections Healing Oracle deck I’ll be releasing in Spring.

Vulture with the message of poised is so perfect. I know that when I continue to do my inner work this is what joyfully and passionately feeds my creativity for all that I do, not only for others but in my personal life too. The more I put my focus first and foremost on taking care of myself, the more I am poised to be of service to those that need my guidance.

And just like that. I have a word for 2023 and a vision that feels in alignment with who I already am and who I will deepen into becoming. And best of all? I really appreciate how it evolved in the most organic way.

XO

Barb

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