One year ago our beloved dog Pilgrim passed away unexpectedly. I was reflecting today on the year of “life” that has happened in these 365 days since then. Pilgrim’s passing was the first time that I had experienced the loss of an animal without guilt, fear or shaming myself for not trying to do more to keep him alive. Of course, I had been working with Danielle MacKinnon for quite some time at that point and had the value of her insight which had caused major shifts in my life.
What is so amazing to me, is that at this same time last year, my husband Jeff became really interested in taking Danielle’s Soul Level Animal Communication class. I definitely had an interest in pursuing this, but I was scared to really go for it. I thought that it would make me feel way too vulnerable to step into using my intuitive abilities. Well, long story short, Danielle offered a week long Soul Level Animal Communication class at The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts and we decided to jump on board! The week we spent in Kripalu diving into animal communication changed my life. I started to realize that I had been receiving intuitive information my whole life but I never understood what was happening, what to do with it, or how to manage it. That one small step to move outside my comfort zone and to bring a willingness for exploring the unknown started to shift my life in new and unexpected ways.
I could not have begun to imagine that just one short year later from that decision I would be a few weeks away from becoming a Certified Soul Level Practitioner through Danielle MacKinnon’s School of Animal Communication. So today when I remember Pilgrim, I think about the beautiful chain reaction of miracles his passing brought into my life. I look back on my life now and of course hindsight is 20/20. I can see that life was always leading me here to this moment. All of the ups and downs, struggles and victories were just stepping stones along the way and I wouldn’t change a thing. The grief and loss of my beloved dog was just another treasure trove of opportunity and possibility wrapped inside a seemingly negative experience. We are all capable of so much more than we can imagine and I am reminded that truly anything is possible if we just say YES to the life that is seeking to expand through us, with us and in us each and every day.
One of my favorite quotes from Patañjali says it best:
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
― Patañjali