As I write this, our little brown dog, Trip, our Boykin spaniel, is lying at my feet, making sure that his paw is touching my foot. He does this often. He likes to have one paw on his people, whenever we are sitting on the couch, or at our desks, or at the kitchen table. He knows the nurturance and healing nature of touch and he soothes himself with that touch, whenever he gets the opportunity.
Ralphie, our Labrador retriever, is overwhelmingly enthusiastic about everything that he loves every single day. He gets absolutely jumpy and lick-y and giddy about dinner, despite the fact that dinner is the same damn thing every single night: two cups of Hills Science Diet prescription diet dog kibble, put into a maze bowl, to make it last longer. Ralphie shows that same level of enthusiasm for greeting his family, for playing fetch, and for swimming in the pool. His whole body shouts out his feelings of delight, like he can barely contain the happy energy of those feelings inside of his powerful, muscular physique.
Josie, the collie, who is the most obedient of our canine trio, sometimes stubbornly plops herself down in the yard, into her own place in the sun, and refuses to come in. She knows the healing sensation of lying in the sunshine, and she insists that we sit awhile and relax and bathe in some Vitamin D. When I bury my nose into her sunbaked fur, I understand that she is right. She is absolutely right.
Nature makes no apologies for what she needs. Nature never hides her own true nature. That’s not in her nature to do so. Nature is so wise and pure and true. Why do we try to pretend that we aren’t part of nature? Why do our minds try to put up barricades to letting our own natural selves lead the way? Nature flows so perfectly, until we do things to artificially “correct” it. The thing about nature, is that she is quietly patient and powerful. In the end, she won’t let us destroy her, and she hopes that we remember that we are part of her, instead of insisting on separating, and then sadly end up destroying ourselves.
credit: @Native3rd, Twitter
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.