How are my empath friends doing? (newsletter)

My brother Michael is visiting this week! And before he arrived, I asked Brad to measure the grey rug in this little area next to our living room and cut a rug pad to fit. I walked in to find this... ;-) Do you see Lucy laughing in the background?

THE EMPATHS:
Does it all feel like too much this week? The dehumanizing trans laws of Texas, the next Covid variant on the horizon, the invasion of Ukraine and the bombing/take over of their nuclear power plant. Learning that we can support Ukrainians in the tiniest way by pronouncing their capital in their way, "Keev" instead of the long-known Russian pronunciation of Key-EV. The guilt for not being able to do something more than change our pronunciations.

So many of you here are empaths and/or highly sensitive people, feeling each other and our world on a level that others don't.

Watching Putin bully his way into Ukraine is triggering a lot of emotion as many of us have had those people in our lives. Sociopaths who squash those around them. I'm currently listening to The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout on Audible and learning a lot. Well, at least I was until this week.

I guess all this to say, I'm giving myself permission to use ALL of my self-care/positive coping mechanisms in these upcoming weeks: being with the animals, taking baths, neurofeedback, eating comfort foods, energy clearing... 👇🏽 Awhile back I created this 8x11 poster to remind me. Because when the wild squirrels of anxiety take over my brain, I tend to forget what I can do to stop them. You can get a free printable PDF of this poster here.

THE BLOG:
This week a blog post that I wrote back in 2014 popped up on my Facebook Memories. This horse...she has my heart ❤️.

Being a horse's human is always special and they each give us a particular perspective and lessons to be learned. But mares...I think mares are extra special! They teach BIG lessons. Like this one:

"Then, in one big download of information from Rayn:
“I ‘behave’ when I got to the barn with you. I ‘act correctly’, and do the things that are expected of me. When your friend who was emotionally hurting came out to the pasture with you last week I stood solidly with you to help her. You had your hand on my back and we worked together for her. When you come to my world, I expect the same. No pawing and petting. Watch where I am and where you are. Watch the herd move together. Watch our levels of asking each other for things and the responses. Learn my expectations and the herd’s expectations and reach for them—just as I do in your world.”

Well damn. A fifty/fifty partnership is... (read the story here!)

THE RANCH:
Friday afternoon I went out to visit Wynter, Rayn, and Sweetness. Remembering the old blog post above, I entered the pasture the way I used to. I waited until Rayn looked over at me and walked toward her. When she looked away, I stopped and waited again. She looked toward me again and I took some more steps and stopped when she looked away. Then she started walking toward me and we met half way. I had forgotten this game! It's a simple pleasure to play with being a horse :-)

Rayn walked off to eat and Sweetness came over to visit so I sat in the sun on their big square mineral block. He proceeded to do his own personal brand of energy work, giving my root chakra (safety and security) lots of extra support. He also reminded me to be in the "now."

The horses and donkey got their mani/pedis on Monday and I caught this great photo of Wynter dispersing some Sweetness anxiety!

We've learned to halter Sweetness before the trimmer comes because he's not a big fan. He usually puts up a fuss for a minute (thus the lead rope being preloaded around the post just in case) but settles down quickly. Wynter usually comes over to support his friend and that always helps :-)

The barn hasn't changed too much since you last saw it. It seems the trusses and roof stuff just take a long time.

THE ART:
If you notice in the 12 Ways to Calm Anxiety above, you'll see that "create" is one of my favorites. Here's one of 12 tiny paintings I made this week:

I'm enjoying just painting for the fun (and calm brainspace) of creating. It gives me an opportunity to paint a LOT of different things—tiny paintings go fast so my ADHD brain can just continue to think up new ideas and I can keep up lol  I'll share more next week :-)

THE GIVEAWAY:

Congratulations to Brenda Hill, you won the print of Mary! Keep an eye on your email!

See all of the prints of my original watercolors here!

Thank you for reading :-) My blog is reader-supported—that's you my wonderful friends! The best way to support my work locally (Research Triangle area of NC) is:

Schedule an Equine Gestalt Coaching session.
Schedule a NeurOptimal Neurofeedback session.

Commission a painting or bring your logo idea to life,
buy a tshirt or a print with my artwork.

Out of state?
Call for Zoom or phone coaching (feeling anxious, stuck, or out of sorts?)  Remember to forward this email to a friend and Subscribe to my YouTube channel!

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