My Walk on the Wild Side

My walk on the wild side spanned the past eleven days, encompassing not one, but three walks. How am I defining wild? I’m referring to a natural state, untethered by conventional rules. However, it doesn’t mean unruly.

The Basis for This

I’ve always been a very spiritual person, whether sitting in church as a child, enthralled by the light streaming through the stained glass windows or walking alone in the forest. I have a deep, abiding belief in God and His plan for me. This belief extends to a network of spiritual guides, helpers, angels, and loved ones who are always with me. Intuitive thoughts guide my life and brought another loving soul my way recently, The Healing Hummingbird, Meredith Johnson. She performs shamanic and reiki healings. Furthermore, I was led to engage her to heal three aspects of my life.

The House First

How did I know the house needed healing? First, it felt heavy. Second, there were so many electrical disturbances during Zoom calls and even phone calls, I felt the house needed  clearing. Although Meredith normally used Zoom for this, we decided a phone call was more stable. I have an app, Otter.ai, which both records audio and creates a text file. With my iPhone on speaker in one hand, I carried my iPad with my other hand. Otter on the iPad recorded all the information and messages Meredith relayed to me from Spirit.

One concern was the numerous animal heads on walls. The bull elk communicated to Meredith that he felt crowded and needed a space just for him. Afterward, I moved all the stuff elsewhere. I feel calmer and Mr. Bull Elk looks happier to me.

Consequently, now the house feels calmer, my electronics are much more stable, and it even helped me talk to Wayne, my husband, about his feelings during his stressful recurrence of cancer.

The Dogs Came Next

My second walk on the wild side was the shamanic healing of our dogs. We have three; Daisy, Dynamite, and Sugar.

Daisy – the American Bulldog

Daisy, a young dog, arrived in Wayne’s Georgia hunting camp years before we married. Her rear right paw had been mangled in a trap. Of course, Wayne took her in. He was unsuccessful finding her owners and brought her home with the intention of finding a good home.. You know where the good home is – here.

Daisy – Before her Shamanic Healing

At the time, Wayne placed her in the dog kennel with Dubba, the male Brittany. Being a bulldog, Daisy is a physically powerful breed, not the best choice for an elderly household. But the most difficult trait was her barking, almost nonstop. Meredith found all her chakras were closed, except the throat chakra, hence the barking.

Daisy – This morning I had to wake her up!

Since her healing less than five days ago, the barking has all but stopped. Furthermore, she is much calmer in all ways.

Dynamite – the Beagle

Dynamite was bred to aid deer hunting. Before coming into our household, she had lived in a communal, raised, kennel with a pack of beagles. Her name alluded to her incredible stamina and tracking ability. Dynamite is sweet and loving, especially toward me, but she appears to be stubborn. In actuality, she had energetically stopped up her ears to protect them from all the noise in her young life. Also, she showed Meredith that she was trained with a stick and hand signals. Now I use hand signals to direct her. She responds more quickly to my requests and seems even more loving.

Sugar – the Brittany

Finally, we have Sugar, our three-year-old Brittany. Although I knew she and I are very close, I didn’t realize how close. When I’m away from the house, if I am distressed about something, Sugar can feel it, becoming anxious too. We have an energetic cord that binds us, which was mostly healthy, but there were some dark spots in the chord that made Sugar overly anxious. It was especially noticeable when I arrived home. She would emit a little cry as she ran circles around me. Now, she is calmer, happier, no longer crying when seeing me after I come home from grocery shopping.

My Healing

My walk on the wild side was so healing and informative, I’m going to write a separate blog about it. I invite you back here next Friday for the full story.

Continuing to Heal,
Dawn

Dogs Have Been Special to Me

My entire life, dogs have been special to me. Do you find their pure energy  attractive too? Or are you frightened by them?

I’ve Had Scary Encounters Too

When I was young, there were a pair of German Shepherds on the corner of our street. It was possible to avoid them walking home from school, but not always easy. Their snarling, barking and rushing to the fence made my heart race. Consequently, I was always extra affectionate to our family dog, a one-eyed Pekingese named Mitzi, when I got home.

Once, I was even bitten by a police dog, though not a German Shepherd. Rather, he was a docile looking bloodhound named Beau. At that time, the comedic variety show, Hee Haw was popular. I thought the bloodhound on the credits looked sleepy and harmless.

My neighbor’s husband was an Orange County Deputy Sheriff who kept Beau in a kennel on their property. I volunteered to water the plants on their back patio while they went away a few days. Someone else was taking care of Beau, but I didn’t know who. My son was not yet two and I had him secured in my backpack. As we strolled into the enclosed patio, guess who was laying in the middle of the bromeliads? Yep, there was Beau, lounging amongst the plants, copious amounts of saliva dripping off his large head.

I didn’t want to accidentally spray Beau with the hose, so I bent down, grabbed his collar and put him back in his kennel. After I finished watering some hanging plants, I returned to the patio. There he was again.. in the same place. Once again, I went to retrieve him in the exact same manner. Only this time, he wrapped his mouth around my upper arm and clamped down enough to get my attention. Then he let go. Still not getting the message, I started, once again, to grab his collar when he emitted a low growl that stopped me cold. I kept my gaze on the ground and slowly backed away, willing my fear to drop beneath his radar.

The Aftermath

As I walked the two blocks home, I lifted my sleeve to get a look at the damage. There were small bruises forming in each place a tooth had pressed into my flesh. Thankfully there was no blood.

Once inside the house, I called 911. Who else would know how to get a police dog back in his cage? The dispatcher asked all the questions about my safety and my condition, advising me to get a tetanus shot and that an officer would be over to take my statement.

Behind the scenes, they contacted a Deputy Sheriff dog handler named Jeff, who was familiar with Beau. He knew that once Beau got riled, he was uncontrollable. Jeff arrived and suited up in full attack dog training fashion. Beau almost completely ripped up Jeff’s arm protection, before he successfully returned him to his kennel. Then Jeff secured the gate so Beau couldn’t get out again.

Lessons Learned

First and foremost, I learned you can’t forget the power that resides inside any animal that feels cornered or intimidated.

Second, I realized I could handle a potentially dangerous situation with calmness, protecting myself and my son.

Third, my instinct took over and everything I’ve ever read about dog behavior kept us free from serious harm.

Some Parting Sweetness

Dogs have been special to me regardless of my difficult encounter. Here are a few of my favorite photos of my three-year-old Brittany, Sugar. Click on a picture to view full-size in a gallery.

I invite you to comment below, email me, or sign-up for my newsletter

Sugar’s Human Mom,
Dawn

Say Goodbye To 2020 With Ease

Are you ready to say, “Goodbye 2020” with ease? It has certainly been a year to remember, or is it a year to forget?

A Dual Focus

As we near the end of 2020, there will be a bombardment of the highlights of the year. It seems there was both good and bad in past reviews in the media. Will that be true for 2020?

I’m proposing a different perspective to say “Goodbye 2020” with ease.

Rather than look at the headlines, consider looking inward to your personal experience. The duality of any year retrospective might be:

  1. What are you grateful for?
  2. What do you want to release?

I’ve done this before with Connie Chapman’s 21-day end of the year journaling class, but this time was so different.

Intention Within Ritual

Let’s get started:

  • Find a quiet place to be alone
  • Gather paper and pencil
  • Sit upright with your feet firmly planted on the floor
  • Close your eyes and place your hands atop your heart
  • Take 3 deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth
  • Say, “I am ready to remember all the good and release all the pain of 2020.”

Open your eyes. Now we begin the actual process by writing a love letter to 2020.

  • Start your letter with “Dear 2020,”
  • Now write out everything you give thanks for during 2020
  • Next express everything you want to let go of from 2020
  • Include anything you wish to complete before 2021
  • Sign your letter as you would any other love letter

Take your time with this exercise. Close your eyes and wait for the words to come.

What if You Get Stuck?

If closing your eyes doesn’t help, perhaps you need a few hours or a few days of self care. Yes… you are worth it. You can refer to my article on self care for some ideas.

Don’t give up on this. Remember that small steps result in big change over time. If you can come up with only one thing to give thanks for during 2020, that is your first step.  It’s okay. Then go to the next step. Perhaps you’ll find ten things to let go of from 2020. It’s okay.

How Did That Feel?

For me, writing the thank you list felt like I was filling my body with sweet gratitude. Then writing the releasing portion, I felt the energy of each declaration physically leave my body. Some were much more intense than others.

There is a ritual I added to say goodbye to 2020 with ease. I tore the letter up, cleansed my area with sage and burned the pieces of my letter safely in a flameproof bowl. To prevent burning my fingers, I used a long butane lighter. Sitting at the breakfast bar didn’t seem right at first. Quickly, I turned away thoughts and focused on feelings. The burning ritual felt peaceful; no anxiety, no joy, just neutral.

Although not optimal, the breakfast bar was good enough.
I am good enough.
You are good enough.

What About 2021?

As you might have guessed, there is another ritual to help prepare for the new year, 2021. Rather than start a second ritual right now, let’s sit with this one a few days.

As always, I invite you to comment below. If you want to be sure to get all my articles, please sign-up for my newsletter

Preparing for a new year,
Dawn