Last night a dear friend texted to get help with her brother’s dying dog who happened to be the sibling and litter mate of her own dog. She was worried about her dog as well as her brother’s and wanted to know how they were handling what was going on for them all.
When I went to speak to Sugar, the dog whose death from cancer was imminent, I got a huge wave of concern for my friend. I called her immediately and heard her confusion in what the focus of concern and help should be.
She had a lot going on, the death and possible pain of Sugar, the chance that this could happen to her own dog and her own concern for herself and her brother. A lot of emotional threads.
I think this is the thing I really do in animal communication. I listen for the threads and put them together in a way that soothes the humans involved. The vet had told them Sugar was not in pain, Sugar told me another story and said that this pain was not a big deal, she was ready to die and be away from the discomfort and, yes, pain that life was bringing her now. She was ready was her main theme.
Actually the most impacted was my friend’s dog who was apart from her, she is a nervous dog to begin with and her companion was emotionally torn and confused. Dogs can stand a lot. They have a resilience that boggles our minds and hearts. They are patient and forgiving beyond our wildest imaginations, but it is hard for them to have the people they look to as their chief focus be overwhelmed.
One of the best ways we can help our companions is to take a break, a breath, a walk. Do what they want for a few minutes a few times a day – walks, treats, a little panting never hurts. It could change us into being the humans they treat as if we already are.
Year of the Horse
The Wood Horse article here
Just Right
Dear World,
AKA: Universe, My World, What I Want.
Let me roil and thrash with attitude. Let me appreciate all the smells. Let me revel in the autonomy of the day, of night, wind, rain – all natural constants.
Let no other intrude upon me when I need to make my own way.
Let the sky fall wheresoever it will.
Let me appreciate its landing and my place in it.
For this and every other thing I know or don’t
For all above and below, side by side, tethered and free
Let it Be. Let it Be.
Within me the light is strong and the time is here. Now.
Thank you.
What Can The Center Hold
the small me is wrapped inside the big me
a core keeping me me
it’s full of what I noticed in my childhood
it’s rooted in what I cared about and who I love(d)
the part of me that’s the part of me that’s not parted
still here, necessaries and extras wrapped and seated
apple cores have seeds (we generally throw them away)
paper towel rolls have cardboard cores (we generally throw them away)
same for pineapples and other fruits
the structure and the seed go into the midden
making it a rich and succulent place
Beasties
Click on this link to see them
Beasties and Where they liv
The Dogs I know
When I experienced the Durga Festival in Kathmandu my senses were rendered senseless when I saw the dogs of that night.
The dog being killed by the car and then being taken aside by another dog meant to my well fed Western eyes that it was a retrieval, a saving grace.
When the dog proceeded to tear into the dying dog I could not absorb what I saw.
This went beyond my acknowledgement that we see only what we are accustomed to. Although I did not at first comprehend what I saw – I was able to look away when I perceived what I was actually seeing! And yes, all the phrases of my father came to me – his dog eat dog world – the shock of that reality is still with me. As are many of the lessons where I strayed from my comfortable life.
The take-away for me in the years since has been to look, to appreciate what is. To nurture the truth and not turn away, at least let the glance be a look.
Denial of what is, what I have or don’t have, who I am or who I’m not is the mucky place here. Dogs in Kathmandu do what they do. Dogs here, the same. I can’t make one the other, I can make a difference of course. The two dogs on the right of this photo are from southern Spain in Cadiz and their life here is very different from their life there and I know they were in both lives equally, though the lives were unequal in the extreme.
I tell myself to be careful with my categories, my judgements, my polarity. There is life everywhere and where there is life something right is going on.
