Teresitta Fawcett: Dingle Wackers & What if . . . (un)LTD Dingle-Wacker©? What the heck is a Dingle-Wacker©? What do you want it to be? ~ A ‘Pay attention to me’? ~ A Shakra balancing? ~ A Talking Stick? ~ An Intention Rod? ~ A Goddess Stick? ~ A Scepter? ~ A Magic Wand? You get the idea . . .Okay . . . so what is it for you?

How they are made? Dingle Wackers are all handmade with love and intention, which begins with gathering grape vines from the 5 acres of land I live on in Berkeley Springs, WV. Following a ritual of asking permission and thanking the plant for its give-away I cut the vines to the various sizes. After they have dried I apply different essential oils to each pre-Dingle-Wacker. A few weeks later I begin the creation of applying the ribbons, beads and extra what-nots as they call to me.

Each Dingle Wacker is unique. No two are alike which means what you see in the photos are not exactly what you will receive. You will receive one that is the same size and color, however the shape and beadwork will be different and similar. In addition, if you want one or more customized to you, contact me and let’s dialogue.

Where did the idea of a Dingle Wacker came from? They are a creation from a vision I had while doing some deep personal work last New Years Day. On several occasions artwork has come to me after transcending a core wound. This has been my way of honoring that part of me that was in need of healing.

Another piece that was created in this way is Honoring Your Inner Child. This is a piece of copper wire that is lovingly formed into a shape that resembles a fetal position. Each is approximately 1 1/2 inches long, and was originally created to honor my inner child (wounded and golden) after doing some core wounded inner child work. Since then several have been given as gifts to other women and men to also honor their inner child.

All proceeds from the sale of the Honor Your Inner Child Pin and Dingle Wackers go to support ‘What if… (un) LTD’ which is an non-profit organization I founded that is an evolving network of individuals and organizations, with no political or religious affiliations, dedicated to supporting the creation of integrated, sustainable communities through the healing and transcending of personal losses.

‘What if… (un) LTD’ offers three main programs and each has a few components. One program is Moving Beyond Loss (MBL) which has two main components; working with the Individual (and groups) and Train the Trainer. The purpose it to create a safe place for participants to fully access the place where they are holding their grief and offer them a means of transforming their grief into meaning, purpose, wisdom, and mission. Participants are given a new framework and process for emotionally recovering from losses such as death, divorce, job loss, trauma, loss of a dream and any major life challenge.

The genesis for MBL was the healing of my grief of the death of someone very dear. From that I realized the power that grief had over me not just with this loss but for all the losses I had experienced throughout my life that I didn’t know I was holding on to. Once I transcended that grief and much of the grief of a lifetime of losses I was able to see the gifts of the losses and the role they played for my meaning and mission. From that I became a certified Grief Recovery Specialist through the Grief Recovery Institute and developed my own program – Moving Beyond Loss.

Another program offered by ‘What if… (un) LTD is Orphan Healing This program contains four elements: Experiential and Training of the caregivers, the Facilitation the children in their care, and Mentoring and follow-up visits. The purpose is the same as MBL. Our target group is primarily children who are orphaned, abandoned, in foster care, and otherwise vulnerable. In conjunction, we work with adolescents, adults, parents, families and communities.

The inspiration for Orphanage Healing was in part the fallout from my carpet work of my WW weekend Sept 2000 and then became obvious during my experience at WW Level 2 April 2001. I was born in Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) and spent much of my childhood learning about the diversity of places I lived, including two stays in two different orphanages: one at birth and again at the age of eight. You might guess that my core wound is abandonment. Through my abandonment work I realized that I was one of the lucky ones because I ‘got out’. From that work I learned that part of my calling was to go back to the many orphanages around the world and work with the caregivers to install a program (if they do not already have one) that allows the children to grieve and grow in a healthy way.

The last program is Sustainable Community Development and the purpose is to offer through partnerships with other organizations - economically, ecologically, socially and educationally sustainable practices that integrate communities into the larger world. We are beginning this by developing our 5 acres to include three environmentally friendly homes (2 - partially in-ground and one log-cabin) and a Community Retreat Center (Geodesic-Dome). We will do this by using renewable energy sources and reduce energy consumption, choosing materials considering their ecological and health impacts (including on those who make them). Conserving water and preserve its quality. Minimize use and waste; consider waste as a reusable resource. Be on the land within the earth’s equilibrium. Our intention is to be totally off the Grid and we plan to do by having well(s) water, septic system (3 stage to include a gray water system), solar, alternative heating etc. It will include permaculture of organic food and flower gardens, bat and purple martin houses, and so much more. I get tired and excited just thinking about it.

The idea of living off the grid in an environmentally friendly home and growing organic food etc has been a dream of mine since my early teens. I kept folder full of articles and clippings of ideas because I was determined to do this one day. Well that one day happened this time last year when my partner Paul and I bought 5 acres of land in Berkeley Springs WV. In fact the actual adventure began without me as I was in South Africa staffing their first two WW weekends.

All these dreams have happened since I did my WW Training weekend in Sept 2000 in Delevan WI. When I sat in the inner circle in the dark on Friday evening, I remember being scared, angry, and carrying deep sadness. I held the belief that “Life sucked and then you died”, and I had many life experiences to confirm that. One of the main ones was that 8 months prior my fiancée was killed by a drunk driver. My life changed in a split second. Life as I know it was…poof…gone. After Rick’s death I went into a downward spiral of not caring, to the point that I didn’t care if I lived to died. I wasn’t at the place of killing myself, however I didn’t care if you did.

I sat in that circle thinking I was going to work on healing from Rick’s death and what I found was that I had a far deeper wound that needed my attention that I had blocked and hidden away, which was being abandoned in two different orphanages in Africa, once at birth and again at 8yrs old. The experience as an 8 year old was abusive and tortuous. I learned how to create a large shield and how to use a hugh sword to protect myself. I carried these throughout my life as that is what I believed I needed to be safe. I brought that hugh shield and sword to my weekend ready to do battle as I know I could slice and dice anyone.

What I found there was staff that could see my shield and sword and weren’t scared of them. They could also see the little 8 year old girl holding them because she didn’t know what else to do to keep her self safe. I found a place that I good show my good, my bad, and my ugly…….and that was okay. For the first time in my life I felt safe. This was a totally new feeling for me. I found the gift of the little girl inside of me that I didn’t know I had and I took her home with me.

I now believe that life is what it is, and it is my responsibility to create the life I want. I learned that shitty things do happen and only I can decide how I want to respond to them. I am excited and scared at the adventure(s) I have planned. It is from this place that I am now able to allow myself the space to be creative, to be powerful, to be a leader, to be a healer, and much more...all the while knowing that I am not perfect and I will fall short at times and that is okay. Hence the Dingle-Wackers, Honor your Inner Child, Moving Beyond Loss, Orphanage Healing, What If … who knows what is next.

Teresita Fawcett
(WWTW, Sept. 2000, Lake Delavan, WI)
Trainer ~ Facilitator ~ Grief Transitional Specialist
www.whatifunlimited.org
tmfawcett@whatifunlimited.org