dogs - Lightspirited Being

First Thing Every Morning

Jun 202012

Ollie

Every morning, the very first thing I do after my feet hit the floor is huggle with the big, cuddly, furry ball of love known as Ollie.

He’s our goofy yellow lab who we got from the pound when he was about 3 or 4.

He makes his loud anticipatory groaning noise (yes, our dog sort of purrs), so I get down on my knees. He dives and rolls and offers up his belly. He seems to need to put his mouth on my hands ever so gently and of course I allow this as it’s a part of our connectiing.

After a minute or so of this he gets up again and dives under my arm with glee to be loved again. And so it goes and would go on as long as I have time.

Jasmine

But within a few minutes I get up and go over to sweet Jasmine who is lying quietly on her bed watching us. She’s become so regal in her old age.

She’s our boxer who we got at 6 mos. of age after she’d been returned to her original owner several times and they were at their wits end as to what to do with her. What a blessing she’s been.

Her little white face looks at me patiently (it used to be the most beautiful velvet black when she was younger) and she eagerly accepts my gentle hugs and kisses. She loves the insides of her ear flaps massaged and so I do that as she presses against my fingers, all the while listening to the sweet nothings I whisper in her ear.

She is so beautiful.

As all this is going on, I am happily aware of my husband, the love of my life, who is still snuggled up in bed under the down comforter, snoozing away. We are all being (somewhat) quiet so as not to disturb him. But asleep or not, he is an integral part of this family activity going on practically under his nose (or more like his toes).

As I give and receive all this wonderful love and affection, I can’t help but feel so glad to be alive (overwhelmed, almost) and I so appreciate this glorious thing called life and all the gifts it has showered upon me.

My cup runneth over.

I can’t help but smile.

And after this wonderfully sacred start, I move into my day.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Happy summer, everyone! I know … where have I been? And what does this post have to do with Emergence?

Well … nothing. (And everything.)

I’ve been amiss because I’m grieving right now. Deeply. HUGELY.

Sweet Ollie passed away suddenly last week. He had a mild to moderate case of bloat which was misdiagnosed and after a grueling 4 days the poor thing gave up the ghost. Fortunately, he was here at home with us by then. Sadly, I think if the vet had listened to me and treated him for bloat immediately he’d be here with us now. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

As to Jasmine, well, she left us just over a year ago.

I honestly am not capable of writing with my heart right now and I refuse to blog here as a duty. So what I’ve done is snatched this March 2010 post from my short-lived personal blog to re-post here for you. I hope you like it.

I wanted to touch in and I wanted to let you know where I’ve been, but this is about all I can muster right now. Forgive me.

Blessings to you and love those critters while you’ve got ‘em (oh, I know you do!) Thanks for your patience, and namasté.

P.S. I just remembered that some of you met Ollie! Remember this?

You Can Help a Lot of Animals With Just One Click

Oct 192011

Do you love animals? Think they get the short end of the stick?

Ready to cast your vote for the underdog – literally?

Then please VOTE HERE for Animal-Kind International (AKI).

It takes less than a minute.

AKI is a small but established non-profit that does amazing work helping animals world-wide.

100% of its donations go to the causes it supports. NONE to administrative costs!

If it wins, it will be one of 3 charities that people can donate their purchase funds to when they buy from One Million for Good. (One Million for Good is the brain-child of the inspired Courtney Carver and is the site where you vote.)

AKI Offers Hope and Solutions

I know Karen Menczer, the founder of Animal-Kind International personally. In fact, I’m proud to call her a friend.

I can assure you of her integrity and the legitimacy of AKI. It’s a labor of love and she’s extremely dedicated.

But it’s not just a heart thing.

She’s an efficient organizer with the requisite connections and a great track record.

I’m especially impressed with the fact that AKI is not a huge, impersonal organization, but instead is intimate with the day-to-day activities of their partner organizations and even the individual animals they help.

Their careful attention to detail is apparent on all of their partner pages, like this one for Jamaica, or the Honduras page here. They’re heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time.

As explained on their site, “AKI’s partner organizations were chosen because AKI is familiar with their programs, their staff, and their use of funds, and because we are able to get regular updates about their programs and how AKI funds are used—and we know this information is important for our donors, so they can feel secure in the knowledge that their donations are being put to good use.”

You Can Help – No Strings Attached

Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

- Albert Einstein

Your vote will help AKI get exposure and allow more people to easily donate — at no cost to you.

Please VOTE NOW – there’s tough competition! And voting ends on October 31st.

With a few more clicks you can easily multiply your contribution. Just share this with your friends (email, tweet, FB share, or like) using the buttons below. Thank you!

Has the voting deadline come and gone? Or do you want to do even more?

You can go to the AKI site and become an advocate by joining their social network. Or make a donation. AKI is an excellent place to put your dollars, and any amount is greatly appreciated!

And thank you, from me, for reading, voting, and sharing, and most of all for your compassionate action on behalf of animals everywhere. They have a special place in my heart — as do you, for your help. ♥ Namasté.

[Images courtesy of Animal-Kind International]

Handling Loss :: A Message of Renewal

Apr 232011

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that flow,
I am the sunlight on my own grave,

I am a gentle autumn rain,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there I did not die.

Lizzie West: “Prayer”

I’ve found some comfort in listening to this evocative and hauntingly beautiful song these past few days.

3 days ago, my husband and I made the decision to help Jasmine, our sweet 13-year old boxer, take leave of her pain-wracked body. When she was young she could run like the wind, and we hope that’s what she’s doing again. She so loved it!

Lately we’d been working with the vet trying different pain meds for what we thought was an intensification of her life-long arthritis, but nothing seemed to help.

We found out Tuesday that she had bone cancer and that the already constant pain would only continue to get worse.

We made an appointment for the next day and brought her home for one last night so we could all have a little love-fest and say our goodbyes.

Of course we were and are heartbroken, but there was no question it was time. It’s so hard to take the life of anyone or anything, especially a beloved family member (which she definitely was). But in this case I actually felt some relief being able to help provide her with a release from her suffering. I am so grateful for the ability to do that, and for the loving manner in which our vet and her assistants handled everything.

The Initial Death Experience

When I was in my 20′s, I had a near-death experience. I was right on the brink of departing permanently, yet obviously, still had enough connection to my body to be able to choose to stay. (And it was a choice.)

But the point I want to make here is that it was such a liberating experience! Words cannot describe how expansive and freeing it was to move out of my body and let go, and I was not even in a painful body.

I knew for that brief moment that everything was perfectly fine. And not just there in the spirit world, but even here in the physical realm. Everything. Perfect. Fine. There was no stress, no tension, no anything but bright freedom and goodness.

My life had been so terribly heavy by contrast.

Still, I did decide to “come back”, in fact it was a little difficult to actually do it and I thank my lucky stars I was able to (it was a close call).

I didn’t get so far away as some who actually see other beings and go to “the light”. But it was enough to give me a taste of the experience of dying.

Remembering that was so helpful to me as we watched Jasmine go. I just knew that she was flying free at long last, just as I had done that day. That she was free of her crippling pain. Free of what she obviously held as her serious responsibility of taking care of us even while debilitated. Free and at ease. Liberated. Happy? I hope so.

Luminarias (a New Mexico tradition) on Jasmine's grave

A Goodbye, and a Hello

And so I know that even as we say goodbye to this awesome, sensual life experience here on this beautiful planet with all our fellow creatures, we are — at the same time — entering into another level of what can only be thought of as life as well.

Over the days we prepared for our goodbyes, I was struck by how many times I noticed signs of new life. New buds on the newly transplanted tree. Bright, lime-green leaves popping out on all the large trees along the road. Little flowers blooming even in the sand of this high desert.

I also notice that little birds keep appearing in the oddest of places, and every so often I hear new birdsongs that I haven’t heard in almost a year.

And today the hummingbirds have arrived for the season. How perfect is that?

New Birth, Resurrection, Renewal

And so on that note I wish you a Happy Easter. I hope you get to experience the vibrant sense of renewal that this holiday — this holy day — brings.

And just like the little hatchling of the symbolic Easter egg, may you feel the wonder and vigor of being born anew.

Even if, like us, you’re experiencing some sorrow or loss, may you also experience the sense of newness that that very same transition often brings with it if you but pay attention. For they are two sides of the same coin, after all.

And isn’t it just all a part of the richness of this thing called life? Precious, every bit of it.

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How Warm & Fuzzy Can Be Potent Medicine

Dec 032010

Sometimes our healers show up in the most unexpected places.

Several years back, I found myself grieving deeply after suddenly losing our 6-year old yellow lab, Zak, to cancer. I knew I needed to heal and was searching desperately in all the conventional nooks and crannies, but to no avail.

I’m sure you’ve been there, to some degree. You don’t need to be on this planet for long before you experience loss of some sort. We look around for something, anything, to help fill that hole, to help us feel complete again. And sometimes we give up even looking because we’ve grown so discouraged and apathetic.

Fortunately, healing doesn’t require our looking in order for it to quietly enter our lives and begin to work its magic.

Out of nowhere, something mundane and ordinary happens.

And there it is.

Or rather, there it was. Because often, we don’t even know our healing has begun until we’re whole enough to recognize it.

My healer came into my life in the form of a 14# bundle of fuzzy-faced love. And there I was, thinking she was just a puppy. Silly me!

And little did I know I was about to embark on a healing journey that would guide me out of the depths of despair and lead me dancing into the sunshine.

The cure that helped bring light back into my life was discovering the joy of fostering rescue animals, in my case dogs.

I’m thinking about this today because my first guest post has just been published on that very topic. It’s about The Rich Rewards of Fostering Dogs, and you can read about my healer Kelsey, as well as Rosie whom I also mention in my entry below.

It just so happens that the healing I experienced through fostering is touched upon in a few short journal entries I have from those days (I’ve kept diaries for 42 years now). I decided to illustrate a bit of my experience by sharing them with you.

Here they are, and I’ll let them speak for themselves.

Black journal with cover photo of Zak's grave

That was the last entry in the black diary.

Don’t you think it’s interesting that the healing juncture I’m telling you about happened in the junction between two diaries #26 and #27?

From the black and gloomy to the colorful and bright.

This was a major turn in the road for me.

So you see how remarkable the healing power of fostering animals can be? Not only do you get to experience the open heart I refer to in my guest post, but getting out of ourselves and being of service has great value, too.

And somewhere in that mix is where the healing occurs.

Note: Many thanks to Barbara Barth of Confessions Of The Unfaithful Widow for inviting me to guest post and share a little of what I know about the joys of fostering dogs. Visit her blog and also check out the gorgeous premier edition of her online dog magazine Writer With Dogs. It’s amazing! (Pssst: This is the only time it will be free, so hurry!)

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