spiritdogtalking.com

Chili

The link below is an interesting entry into other dimensions of not so much our world but what we think is our world.

I have had some experiences like the ones discussed in the link …..I will mention only one …………. I was walking Chili (my now deceased dog) in a place where a flock of Canada geese hung out regularly. Each time we went there, same thing happened …….. we would walk toward them and by the time we were within maybe 50 yards of them, Chili would break into a full run, scattering them into the sky, barking their complaints in a cacophony of sound.

This day, I just felt differently. Gentler, maybe. My heart said to them (surely these were the very same geese we saw each day), please stay, it is OK, we will not hurt you, you are safe with us ……… that feeling …….. all in thought and nothing spoken out loud, as we walked toward them. When we had walked within about 20 yards of them (more slowly than usual  – walking fast is, by itself, threatening after all) I sat down in the grass and Chili nosed around a little (maybe considering his options) – usually he would have made a bee line for the geese long before this to scatter them to the winds, one of his simple joys in life. Then, without me saying anything to him, he simply, quietly, sat down beside me, watching the geese.

It is as if Chili, I and the geese were in a shared conversation of sorts.

There were about 40 geese in all and they all kept looking at us, milling around nervously and, after about 3-4 minutes, three of them finally could not stand the ambiguity of it all and flew off. A move like this would, more often than not, stir the rest to follow suit. But, they did not. After several more minutes, most went back to pecking away in the grass while a few kept eyeing us. Interestingly, there was a continual string of singular barks scattered between them, here and there, like they were discussing this unusual situation.

After maybe 20 minutes or so, without a word, I stood up, turned and walked away with Chili coming along with me. The geese finally fell completely silent and went back to their business as we got far enough away to break the spell.

I think we could have more peace than we have in this world if we were open to it.

If we believed it was possible.

Anyway, end of this story.

http://galeglassner.com/2012/03/the-butterfly-story/

Gradually, I am discovering what this blog is about ….

I am exploring what brings meaning to life – my life anyway – by writing about it – and, by publishing it, inviting others to travel along on this journey either as an observer or as a participant by commenting.

So, today, I will begin like this:

Passion points me toward meaning.

What I feel passionate about provides meaning to my life, my reasons for staying a bit longer in this reality.  Otherwise, why be here?

There are no “shoulds” where passion lives. Obligations, duties, what others want or expect, the maintenance doing of life, while all important, do not live here either.

Passion is whatever excites me, move me to action, makes me want to get up in the morning. These days, I feel more passionate than ever. Meaning I am more excited by life than ever.

Right now, my passions are:

• The book I just finished about my deceased wife, Dianna, called Dianna’s Way (currently in editing, to be published in early summer) – I want as many people who may gain value from reading her story to know it exists – so my next job is to publicize it as well as I can.
• This new dog I am adding to my life. Already named, Spiritdog will be born in early May and we will join up near the end of June.
• And, this blog, a novel (for me) way to investigate the meaning of life, and my life.

[The name for this blog came first, by the way. The naming of my dog, Spiritdog, came later – at least in my consciousness. 🙂 ] 

In my next post, I will continue along this theme. Enough for today.

3/16/12

Still hurts now and then, like a sudden hot summer breeze that whooshes through me, coming out of nowhere when I least expect it …..maybe a song, or catching a glimpse of her photo on my desk or just looking out the window at the lake and seeing Dianna in my mind’s eye, on her knees, extracting tiny weeds out of her flower garden and Chili nosing around nearby.

Both gone now.

It is a good hurt though.

The kind of hurt one has when what and who has been lost was magical and life altering. That is, a hurt with no regrets or malice – no wishing it never was – but, instead, feeling so grateful it was and that it was the way that it was.

They both taught me to live in a space of Gratitude and Appreciation ………….. and most of all, Love.

Life in this reality is composed of beginnings, middles and endings ….. so, life is about our stories …. and why we are so naturally and totally entranced by our stories, our own dramas. Nothing gets closer to our own truth than our own story ……… and yet nothing more effectively keeps us from seeing who we really are either.

OK though. Just part of The Game, the way it has been designed by the Designer ….. on Purpose, of course.

 Nothing to do but have fun with it.  🙂

Dianna – will always miss you in body and always with you in spirit

I have just completed writing a book about my wife, Dianna and it is going through editing with my publisher. So, just as when Dianna died on February 20, 2008, I am facing another blank page now, wondering what to do with the rest of my life.

I decided to start this blog. An on line diary to keep me connected to one of my passions, writing. Who knows, it may lead to my next book. In any case, it will be fun.

Another passion I have is dogs. Since 1970, I have had nothing but Golden Retrievers and, while all dogs are good, this breed suits my temperament and have what I look for in a dog – if chosen well, they are great bird dogs – hunting has been another passion but waning a bit as I age – and GR’s rarely are interested in biting anyone, fighting with other dogs, love touching and, over the years, have taken good care of me, taking me for walks in places we both love to go and, most of all, continuing to teach me all I am open to learning.

An excerpt from my book, Dianna’s Way (to be available to the public hopefully by early summer), referring to my recently deceased GR, Chili:

The spectrum of knowledge a dog has is not congruent with our own so we deem them less intelligent. Fundamentally, I absolutely know this is not true. Truth is, we have barely a clue about what they know.

I do know, while Dianna lived in the Present almost all of the time and I am an occasional visitor, it was Chili’s default way of being in every moment. This creates a wisdom we simply do not understand, do not even realize we do not understand, and certainly have no way to language.

Well, I do not mean for this blog to be about dogs as such but about exploring the wisdom found along the blurry edges of our reality, about who we are, why we be here and what might be fun to do while we are here – here meaning in this particular reality, this game we call life.  And, from this perspective, we may use this blog to have a conversation about life as we live it and as we see it happening in the world, whether in society, politics, the environment – I might mention what I noticed walking in the woods today.

Soon, my next GR will be finding me. This morning, the thought occurred to me that I might be naming him Spirit.

Will see.

Chili - miss you still