The Waves of May and Intuitive Powers

As I sit here on June 2nd, I never would have guessed I would be here at the beginning of May.

On May 6th, our family life took a sharp turn when a cyst burst on our senior dog, Becker’s, chest and we took a step into the unknown.

May 19th, early in the morning, I woke up and something pulled me to Instagram, I even resisted and thought to myself, why? I don’t need to take a step into others lives before my own. The pull was strong, ok just go on and see what it is that I need to see. As I opened Instagram, the first post that popped up was from the same breeder we got our Becker from, a yellow male available. As soon as I saw it something pulled on my heart strings, but then that sinking feeling entered, something will happen to our Becker. I even said to myself, no our Gunner isn’t born yet… I closed my phone and went about the morning.

Our Becker May 18, 2024

Merely hours later, our sweet ol man Becker, unfortunately had a bad seizure while we were out gardening. I am truly grateful both my husband and I were with him. Time felt so long, and yet it went very quickly. While we were in the vets office, after saying goodbye to our sweet boy, I left the room and went to the washroom, as I was returning, I looked up and saw 1:11 in big bright red numbers.

Truthfully, the time leading up, after the cyst burst and doing wound care for him, we knew we probably wouldn’t have a lot of time with him, we knew we needed to stay close to home, which is why that long weekend the option of heading to the family cottage, was a firm no for us. I realized a few days after he passed the weight I was holding during that time.

The next morning my husband asked me to reach out to the breeder, to get our name on the list. At that time I let him know what I saw on Instagram. At the time we had my parents dog with us, which we were so grateful for. She was able to have a full week with her best friend, she understood he wasn’t well and she did so good with him. She held our hearts the week and a half after. When I was typing the email, he threw in another thing he wanted me to ask… do they have any upcoming litters that have Becker’s dad in the genealogy.

Tuesday morning I received a response back from the breeder, 10 min after I cancelled our Becker’s auto food order, the reminder came in late on the 19th. The breeder had a few options for us, they had a dark yellow male available by May 30th, a light yellow litter for mid June and then the next litters would be approx August and September to head home. My intuition already told me, when I saw 1:11 I knew Beck was at peace, and we were on the right path. Truthfully, the time he wasn’t well, I was totally off, I was out of alignment, I was seeing angel numbers literally one off, I was living my daily in fear and worry, when would it happen, would I find him, will I know when to make the decision… Saturday evening, I verbally said out loud, ok I surrender and I will know when the time is right and will be in full alignment.

We committed to going to see the little dark yellow male on Sunday, before Sunday our family had already emotionally decided. The following Thursday May 30th, our Gunner came home.

He is such a laid back pup, plays hard and then crashes, already loves his family unconditionally and is my wee little shadow. His great, great granpa… is Malloy, Becker’s dad <3 He is also cousins with my parents dog!

Why did I lean so hard into my intuition for this little guy… because when we moved to this house, our Elwood lived here with us for 2 days and then sadly had a seizure and we had to say good bye. Im grateful both my boys had the BEST lives and each almost reached 13. A couple days later I emailed the breeder to get our name on a list for a yellow male, a few days after that we received an email, that our boy was born. It felt surreal and I was rocked. My Elwood was such an emotional support for me and as much as I thought I had healed, Becker stepping in took me to the next level. Our kids were young, 3 and 4 at the time. Becker was the best dog to raise our wee kids up with. He loved on them hard and he truly was our loving protector with unconditional love always. I deeply felt that our Elwood moved with us, to know his family was ok and would BE ok without him, because we would also have our Becker.

As much as it hurt so much emotionally that Sunday, I knew Becker knew we would be ok… To know that he is at peace and had the best life. When I took the photo of him on Saturday in our front yard, it deeply reminded me of the photo I took of our Elwood, in our back yard, the day before he passed. As soon as I looked at the photo, I had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t be long, to the extent of thinking there’s no way it could happen again…

I had to lean in, I had to trust the process.

I had to turn ALL fear of judgment from others OFF.

To lean in FULLY to the love and connection with this beautiful boy, who was clearly brought into my awareness for a reason to join our life as a family. As much as we all miss our Becker, I am truly grateful and thankful that he had a very full life with us.

Excited for this next stage with Gunner, whose name Ive had tucked away in my heart for a good handful of years. I did a lot of healing with my boys Elwood and Becker and its now time for deeper living and connection within me and the world around with baby Gunn!

Gunner’s mom is a lighter yellow lab and his dad is a fox red lab. We were able to see his dad when we went to see him, he is a beautiful tall male. We suspect Gunn will be a big boy!

I never would have suspected at the beginning of May that we would ever be here, truly feels like divine intervention!

Hes been a good little boy, receptive to all of us and has even begun using the bells on the door the odd time, as we teach him to use those to let us know he needs to go out. Last night he slept through the night and Friday night he stirred when I got up to pee, so we had an outside bathroom break/quick play time and then I put some of the Balance and Serenity oil mix I was using with Beck and Kels, the night before went 5.5 hours straight (we also had a later night!).

Meet Gunner…

I Lilac You

Lilac’s instantly take me back to my childhood, specifically pre-teen, actually freshly double digits. We had lilac bushes at our house and I just adore the smell!

I had the opportunity to get out with my big and little cameras.

My Canon R6MII with my big 180mm f3.5L Macro lens and just before I left, I also grabbed my Canon RP with the 35mm f1.8 Macro lens. With my biggie and little out on an impromptu shoot. I am OBSESSED with my macro lenses!!! 😍

Canon R6MII + Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro Lens
Copyright Pamela Zmija – All Public Photos Available for Custom Order

I am continually blown away at the crisp quality of this lens. As someone who was once worried of having to make a switch to mirrorless to grow beyond my 5DMIII (which I just learned is end life!), I am loving the main and backup camera’s I have! What I love about the 180mm lens is the reach, so shooting from ditches on the side of the road or trail, is MUCH easier to capture the image I see in my mind! Its also one I desired to have the extra space and reach for insects, birds etc!

Canon RP + 35mm f1.8 Macro Lens
Copyright Pamela Zmija – All Public Photos Available for Custom Order

This was my first time using the 35mm on macro and I am incredibly impressed! It is a great macro tool to have for opportunities like tonight. I was able to get super close and create an incredible artistic feel to the lilac’s. You can feel the love coming out of the screen!

I Lilac You 💖

1st 📷 Canon R6MII + Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro
(With the RF to RF adapter – I use my EF lenses!)
2nd 📷 Canon RP + RF35mm f1.8 Macro

What do I love? The reach of the 180, totally different feel/look, amazing reach when bees are around or if the blossoms are higher. The 35mm is the lens I picked up with the RP when I entered the mirroless world, awesome camera and lens for walk around with less weight and I love the effect of the super close up Macro. I was impressed at how close I could get and the images created! I’ve also got the Canon 100mm f2.8L Macro lens, it does auto focus much quicker than the older 180mm (I got super lucky this winter – had my desires set on this beauty and found her used 🙏), the 100mm is also a beauty and will get her out later 😉

LOVE this time of year!!!

If you know of any amazing plants, flowers blossoms let me know 😘

✨️Blog https://yourlifeasartessentials.com/2024/05/17/i-lilac-you/

The Bee and the Flower

Pamela Zmija 2004-05-15 Canon R6MII + Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro Lens
Do not copy or share. If interested in image contact Pam – Thank you!

Just feel into the peace of this image, the beauty of nature, the depth of the image with such clarity on the surface. Kind of like life, we never know what is ahead of us, however when we focus on what is present within our life, this is truly a gift.

If I may encourage you, whatever your passion is, even 15-30 minutes a day will absolutely fill up your soul! Im grateful when I lean in to the creative urges!

All public images are available for custom order of a canvas or a print.
Please connect with Pam here!

Higher Self, Go Before Me

One of the best ways I support my emotional and physical health is aligning with my higher self.

The other night, we saw these gorgeous northern lights. Interestingly enough, I could only see this through my phone camera. When I looked up into the sky, I could see white, but no colours.

So I leaned in to trust. Leaned into the unknown and took the photos. I trusted what my husband was seeing and then, when I opened the photos after on my phone, my heart felt so big and expansive! 💓

At times life can feel challenging and difficult for you and your loved ones. The more we can lean into the feeling of this, is the best way to shift, to grow, to expand.

With peace, grace and ease!

For The Love Of

When a loved one isn’t well, it can feel like your life is turned upside down.

Our sweet fur boy, our yellow lab Becker will be 13 in early July. He has been a part of our family since the fall of 2011. Honestly, it was surreal how he came to join our family, quite quickly after our Black Lab Elwood passed in July 2011.

We knew our boy Elwood wasn’t doing well and as he was aging, knew when the time came that we would eventually get another dog, especially as our kids were still quite young.

We moved into our home June 30th. July 2nd our boy passed. The photos I have of him sitting in our new backyard, just watching over everything, laying in complete peace. Its like he needed to be sure his family was ok in our new place. He moved with us and then was content on us continuing on. Elwood was MY first dog. He was my boy and eagerly accepted his dad when he joined our life a few years later. Elwood and I were a package, a team and I spent so much time with him. After he passed, a couple days later I emailed the local breeder we get our labs from, knowing they typically have a wait list. Confirmed my email and a few days later, things got real. We received an email that our boy had been born. This is our Becker. Who was 1000% meant to join our family. I, honestly, struggled with my emotions after receiving this email that I wasn’t honoring my Elwood. Yet… I could quickly begin to see, HE did this for us. He knew Becker is who would see us through this next chapter of our life and well, there certainly were some crazy waves that we navigated through that year alone and moving forward.

Into the Unknown

There are times in our life that we need to step into the unknown, it wont necessarily feel good, it may feel sticky and hard. Especially when our emotions and feelings are triggered, in the best ways.

When we have unconditional love for someone, regardless of a person or animal, this elevates our life and theirs, in such beautiful ways and when it feels “hard”, the lower emotions that, lets be honest if we do not feel, if we just pack up in a box, its those feelings that boomerang back to us in sometimes very big expanding ways.

When in alignment, those big expanding ways will help you through the unknown. When out of alignment, the big expanding ways will create overwhelm and stress.

Know how to differentiate the two – just because something sad is happening, that doesn’t mean you are out of alignment, it means you are FEELING your way through it, and thats the best way to “get through”.

Also, get closer with your soul. Create that time daily where you can come together and align in even deeper.

Macro Image taken by Pamela Zmija Copyright 2024
Camera – Canon R6MII with the Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro Lens

2020 Changes

Daily writing prompt
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
View all responses

Its wild to think that 2020, was 4 years ago now.

Have I adapted to the changes… yes and no. With Easter being this past weekend, I was tearfully reminded how PRECIOUS our family members and relationships are. I will never forget what the “leaders” within this country did to us and the divide that occurred.

How this affected me deeper, was dealing with the medical system – which needs so much more work. They also need to loosen the reins on the ego of those in charge and hire back people wrongfully fired.

To be 100% truthful, no I have not healed or adapted – I am HEALING. Anyone who had a loved one in the medical system when all of this was going on, could understand on some level. There was no logic to these decisions and it was literally causing divide.

I do appreciate that things that do not need to be done in person can now be “allowed” to do virtually or online – such as talking on the phone to a doctor vs having to see them in their clinic.

The biggest adaptability piece for me however, although it at the time felt extremely isolating because we literally had people walk out of our lives who were there before, is I gained a very strong confidence within myself, within my body, within my decisions and I can strongly say, I will never ever doubt myself again.

I have not adapted to the rising costs of everything, that were told to “us” that they would be temporary… all while the “leaders” who did this are sitting really comfy and cushy in their positions… especially after April 1st.

What the C19 years showed us is to ALWAYS trust your body and your intuition first – above everyone and everything else! No one knows my body, or my kids or husband better than us! Which I had to stand up for MULTIPLE times since Oct 2020 until literally the end of 2023!

You can do it too… trust in you first – thats the best thing that came out of this crazy 4 years!!!

Do you have a Morning Ritual?

Daily writing prompt
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
View all responses

I personally have found solidifying a morning ritual to be more challenging. Upon deeper reflection on this, I can understand better why and am working at healing those underlying traumas. One that I am actively healing is going through our infertility journey (which was yes many years ago) and then becoming pregnant with our 1st, such a blessing and then at about 9mths old, surprise was pregnant with our 2nd, scary at first but the biggest blessing. I truthfully did not process what I went through to heal that part of my parenting journey, before being an active mom!

I find the more I THINK about my morning or evening routine, the more I throw myself off. When I get in my flow and trust how everything is to unfold, that is where the magic is!

Also where we are, its very dark in the morning during the later fall, winter and early spring. One thing I have also acknowledged as a bit more challenging for me – which is ok!

My ideal weekday morning, would be up at 5am then follow my intuition whether I sit and journal, read, move with yoga or attempt some weights (thats early…) and just BE! That is my goal!

Your Life As Art Photography by Pam

Artist & Intuitive | Pamela Zmija

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