We have this little spot in our neighborhood that is remote, and off of the beaten path. We can let our three dogs off lead and throw them tennis balls ad nauseum, to work off their seemingly endless energy. It’s a little buggy there, but that’s okay. It’s what keeps the patch of land from becoming overrun with people. When we are done playing fetch, our Labrador retriever, Ralphie, and our Boykin spaniel, Trip, tend to carry their tennis balls, in their mouths, all of the way home. The balls are gross and slimy, but the tennis balls almost act as pacifiers to our worn-out, sporty dogs.
Ralphie, our Labrador, also loves our pool and swimming in our pool, even more than he loves his tennis balls. We always joke that we have our pool for Ralphie. Islands of his fur tend to float around like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, when our pool pump isn’t on. I often make the off-the-cuff remark that I wish I loved anything as much as Ralphie loves to swim.
But that’s not a nice remark, nor is it true. There are so many people and places and things in my life that I love every bit as ferociously and exuberantly as Ralphie loves to swim. It’s just that Ralphie doesn’t let any fear in, when he loves. Ralphie doesn’t swim around in the pool saying, “Damn, I love this pool so much, I hope that we never move, nor that I get too arthritic to swim, nor that a hurricane destroys my little chlorine haven.” Ralphie doesn’t allow distraction in, when he is doing what he loves. He doesn’t swim around the pool thinking about the state of the world and all of the horrors of the headlines. When Ralphie does what he loves, that’s just what he does. He embodies love. He soaks in love. He embraces love right in the moment. Sometimes when I watch other creatures in nature, I wonder if our human being’s thinking and reasoning abilities are truly a blessing or a curse? I need to use my own thinking and reasoning abilities to develop an “OFF button” for my brain, so that when I am with the people whom I love more than Ralphie loves to swim, and I am in the places which I love more than Ralphie loves to swim, and I am doing the things that I love to do, even more than Ralphie loves to swim, I can switch the Brain Button to OFF and I can just embody love. I can soak in the love. I can embrace love right in the moment. When I find that OFF button and keep it duct taped to OFF for some moments, I can get a little taste of peaceful, loving, eternity right in my own little patch of Earth. Isn’t that what we are always saying that we want anyway?
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.