What is something you get to experience every day that sometimes you take for granted?
I came home the other day to this:
It was mid-afternoon. The dog was asleep. In the sunshine. In front of his window and believe me, it is his window. I just stared at him for a few minutes, and finally he stirred, stretched, got up and slowly walked over to me for a hello.
He is the dog. But he is a lot more than that.
Dogs are purely empathic. I can have tragedy strike, or win the Powerball, or any other thing in between, and he doesn’t give two shits about any of it. When I sit on the couch, he leaps up and simply sits with me and lays his head in my lap and while sometimes he cues me to scratch his head, he just wants to BE with me. Pure empathy.
We should all be the dog more often. When someone is troubled just sit and be with them.
You don’t need to solve their problem. You don’t need to say the right thing. Just sit and be with them. Be the dog.
I am so grateful for mine.
You can follow him too, he is @lucathelogotto on Instagram… I had to misspell it because the other was taken.
The furry lil critters in the home of course. All it takes is for them to drop a toy at my feet, or follow me from room to room to remind me I am so important to them! How do I not stop and show the same with a lil snuggle or play time? 100% on pets being empathetic, before I knew I was sick, my usually limited cuddler would not leave my side. He knew before I did.
Now this may sound a bit out there…but something we all have…and something I rarely thought about…until my brilliant 21 year old nephew and I had a conversation about it…Trees. He was reading a book “ The Hidden Life Of Trees” about trees communicating , and feeling. He gifted me with this book, then tragically died shortly after. I try and walk daily, thru the neighborhood, parks, forest preserve wherever I can…and since that day…I am rarely looking down (other than to navigate) I’m looking up at the trees. It is the most cathartic, mindful , energizing part of my day.
And AZ….let me say….it was very smart of you to design, build that window at dog/belly height so those munchkins can enjoy the views of their amazing trees! 💚
Someday… if you wouldn’t mind… could you grab a shot of those trees from the ground up?? I’m guessing it’s pretty special
My dog Teddy is my soulmate. We love each other and, like Andrew described, she fills me with gratitude and love. Sometimes when I get home from work I can see her little GoldenDoodle button eyes looking at me through the door window. It reminds me of all the good things dogs give us.
When I was a kid my dad was a typical 1960s dad. Not a lot of love bombing but every time I'd ride in the car with him, he would, during quiet moments, always reach out to me and pretend to pinch my check with his hairy Italian man knuckles. It was such a fleeting touch but I remember it and him any time I have a quiet moment to do the same to my 23 year old daughter.
Lastly, I take the brilliant voice of Joseph Calleja, the Maltese Tenor for granted. If you ever need a pick-me-up just YouTube Joseph singing Nessun Dorma. Stay till the end and you'll see the most genuine smile of a great opera singer to ever be committed to video. It lights up my world. Check it out...you don't have to be an opera buff. Just take in that incredible moment in human brilliance, passion, and love for what people can do.