We all know the power animals have to help us mentally and emotionally. Therapy dogs, horses, etc. have been used for years to help people with mental, physical and emotional issues. In my life, to say that 2019 is the year of the animal would be an understatement … I have had so many random encounters with animals that it just blows my mind!
I was walking up my private sidewalk to my front door one day when I noticed something I couldn’t make out or clearly see. As I got closer, it jumped about three feet off the ground and ran up the tree outside my living room. My scream turned into laughter as I realized it was a squirrel. As it was running up the tree I said, laughing, “You scared me!” I think it might be the same squirrel I watch play in the tree outside my balcony on the other side of my townhouse.
During a trip to Los Angeles to visit my best friend earlier in the summer, I woke up the first morning to her son’s two goldfish in the corner of the tank next to where I was sleeping looking at me. I told my best friend that I felt like the girl in Enchanted lately with animals of all kinds being attracted to me. She said I’m Cinderella … She could be right!
One day, I was enjoying a cup of coffee under a tree, and several birds landed next to me. I just started talking to them like I do all animals saying hello and asking how they were doing. A duck and its baby waddled past me a couple of times in my office parking lot. The second time, the duck just stopped and let me get close enough to admire its green neck.
This makes me think about that song by The Carpenters Close to You that was so popular when I was a little girl:
“Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you. Why do stars fall down from the sky every time you walk by? Just like me, they long to be close to you. On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. So, they sprinkled moondust in your hair and golden starlight in your eyes of blue …”
All of these encounters make me feel honored and special. I’ve become very aware this year of the connections we have with the earth and animals. This realization comes easily for some people. (My grandfather was a genius at growing food, flowers and plants and working with animals.) For me, it has been a slow awakening — beautiful and astonishing all at the same time.
I believe animals have some sense of cognition. At the very least, they have spiritual cognition and know things on another level. Dogs more so than most.
Human’s best friend
I was walking in the parking lot of my workplace one day and passed a man with a little dog on a leash. The dog approached me, then started growling. Dogs don’t usually growl at me. So, I just smiled and walked past them. The next thing I knew, I heard, “Clang, clang, clang.” I looked down, and the little dog was at my feet looking up at me. I realized that he wasn’t growling at me. He was growling at his owner for not letting him get close to me and broke away — leash and all — to be near me. I just laughed as I bent down and said to the little dog, “You like chasing pretty girls, don’t you?” His owner ran to catch up with him and got the leash back saying that he has never done that before. The little dog started licking my feet then started growling again as the owner pulled him away from me.
While on a mini vacation this summer, I was sitting on a bench in front of a hotel enjoying my morning coffee when an older couple pulled up. They got out of the car with another little dog on a long leash. He made a beeline for me, and licked my leg before his owner could pull him away saying, “Come on buddy.” I just smiled at the dog and said, “Hello. How you doing?”
A close friend of mine (and former editor) once told me that animals and children are the best judges of character. She had a huge Great Dane named Goliath. That dog loved me! While I was staying with them during my divorce, he would run to meet me at the door, then proceed to sniff every inch of me. My friend said he was making sure I wasn’t cheating on him. (That always makes me giggle when I remember it.)
Goliath didn’t like everyone, however. I was briefly dating a guy at that time who Goliath growled at like he was about to eat him. The guy was scared … He should have been because that dog knew exactly who he was and what he was up to. It wasn’t long until my friend ran into that guy with one of my close friends from church, of all places! (He did the same thing to her shortly after that incident.)
Sometimes, I wish I had those animal instincts. They could have saved me from a lot of heartache … But they would have also stopped me from experiencing powerful love. So, I can’t regret any decision in life. I’ve learned from all of them and grown into the princess I am today because and in spite of them.
How are you making a conscious effort to be kind to all forms of life and one with nature today?
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