Today was day two of the June 2015 work extravaganza. It was much less successful than day one because of various “distractions,” most of which were beyond my control.
Coco is currently *underneath* the covers next to me, being all cute and shit. The Ho and I had a brief talk today whilst watching a video of a “disabled” dog about how amazing animals are at lifting us up. If you pay attention to them, they never sit around and feel sorry for themselves. A dog never feels “disabled,” or even gives a second thought to being “different.” They are who they are, and they can or cannot do whatever they can or cannot do. There is no wishing things were different, except, perhaps, if they’re eyeing human food from a distance…but even then, it’s more of a “if that human walks away, I’m *totally* scarfing that burrito down before they get back.” It’s never “I wish I was something else, like a human, so I could eat burritos, too.”
What *I* have learned from my dogs is to live in the present. That’s where they live, and that’s where joy is found. Those Buddhists and those Yogis and all those other “eastern” philosophers really hit the nail on the head when it comes to being “present.” The here and now is literally the only thing that exists outisde of our own minds. Our thoughts might exist outside of the linear march of time, but not our bodies, nor our connection to the rest of the universe; all that stuff exists in the present.
My mind is a wonderful, wonderful thing. I am quite literally nothing without it…but it’s also a very easy place for me to become lost in. I’d wager that’s true for most of us. Too easy to sit and swirl about inside my own thoughts, and not connect to the here and now…which is where *action* takes place. Dogs don’t have that problem. DO they sit around and think to themselves? All the time. Just watch a dog laying on the floor before drifting off to sleep. They’re totally thinking about stuff…but the instant actions spring into motion, a dog is 100% focused on the present, paying attention, and living life. THAT is a wonderful feeling. It’s why musicians love performing, or atheletes love playing, or writers love writing…the action takes over and you just kind of live inside it. That’s bliss, at least to me.
Anywho…no idea why tonight’s entry got so philosophical…but I do *truly* believe all this about dogs. I’m not imbuing them with human characterstics. They are not human. But, we do have similarities, and there are aspects of their…connection to the world around us that I do admire. It is perhaps less complicated, but no less real or intensely felt.
Tomorrow is my last work day of June. It’s going to be focused, and fucking bad ass. 30 minutes is the goal. I can fucking DO IT. Good night.