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Friday, September 23, 2011

My Childhood Love = Dogs



Since my last posts I've been trying to remember what I loved as a child and the one thing that kept popping up was - Dogs.  Yes, I'm a dog person and from a very young age (probably starting at 6) I've always asked my parents if I could have a dog as a pet.   My love affair with dogs started when I was about six and my cousin got a puppy.  It was a fluffy, tan-coloured pomeranian named Bimbo.  It was love at first sight and I think that Bimbo loved me.  Whenever I went to visit, Bimbo would run directly for me and lay thousands of puppy kisses on me and while the others would stop him for doing this, I welcomed them.  I wanted one of my own so badly and when my cousin decided to breed Bimbo - I was overjoyed because that was my chance - get a mini-Bimbo of my own.  But when the time came and a litter of 5-6 beautiful puppies were ready for a home - my parents said "no."  My heart broke.  Lesson learned:  Just because you love something, doesn't mean you'll get it.

Fast forward to university - I met my husband in 2nd year university and he had a golden retreiver named Junior.  Sweet loveable dog who would followed us around all the time.  I talked all the time about having my own dog and the following Christmas, his gift to me was Rockit a energetic Jack Russell.  As much as I loved him, this breed is not for the inexperienced dog owner (which I was) and Rockit basically ripped apart my parents home.  Chewed tables, chairs, jumping up on everyone that visited, nipping at children, running away several times and I was never able to train him to do his business outside.  Of course this was all my fault, because I didn't invest the time to train him and recognizing that, a couple of years later we gave him up for adoption to my husband's coworker who brought Rockit everywhere - to work and the corner store. They became best friends and Rockit lived a really good life.  Althought I loved him, I knew I couldn't give him what he needed and would be happier with someone who could.  Lesson learned:  It's true what they say - if you love someone, sometimes you have to set them free.


Last December, my family and I decided to adopt a chocolate labrador retriever.  His name is Duncan - which means "Brown Warrior."  This name is appropriate, because it has been quite the battle from day one.  From training, chewing on furniture, to learning new routines, taking on new responsibilities on top of what already needs to get done, arguments on whether or not we could handle him etc.  The list goes on and on.  But this is where I stand - I LOVE Duncan.  He is a beautiful furball of happiness and love.  He's my personal trainer, keeping me active, my running partner and bodyguard at night.  He's stress relief for me, because no matter what kind of day I had, I could sit/play with him and forget all the troubles of the day.  He helps put life into perspective for me.  There he is overjoyed chewing on a sock or catching a ball and it makes me think "what am I complaining about?"  It reminds me to be grateful for the simple things in life.  Lesson learned:  Love is not easy, it takes commitment and hard work, but the rewards you get back are worth it.




Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Childhood Love

I took this picture of my daughter this weekend.  I call it "Soccer Love."  Witnessing her love for this hobby and the exhilaration and sheer happiness it brings her to get out on the field, it made me think about a course I took back in the summer.  The instructor asked us to visualize ourselves walking towards a child in the distance and as we approached each other, the instructor revealed that this young, innocent child we were walking towards was ourselves and to think about what we were like and what we felt as this child.  In addition to this I thought about a book I read called "The Happiness Project" where the author did an experiment and reflected on what she loved as a child and decided to reintroduce those loves back into her life and when doing so, how much happier and fulfilled she felt.  My goal over the next few weeks is to take on a similar experiment and answer the following question: 

What were my childhood loves? 


Join me and share yours too.  I'll post my findings as soon as they're found.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Being easily pleased

It's a joke in our family that we all seem to be easily pleased with the simplest of things - a quarter we found on the floor, a yummy meal we had at a local food joint, a great parking spot at the mall or a silly, corny joke that one of us came up with (usually me) that makes us all laugh.  These things are usually celebrated with a Homer Simpson "Wohoo!" and one of us stating "Ahhh...simple pleasures."  I have to admit, that there was a small part of me that thought "if anyone were to see us now, they would probably think we were simple-minded bumpkins."  Yesterday,  I heard an excerpt from a book called, "The Book of Awakening" by Mark Nepo that has made me think differently - no longer embarrassed of our joy in simple pleasures, only a reason to rejoice.  The following is an excerpt from his book:

One key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.

So many of us have been trained to think that being particular about what we want is indicative of good taste, and that not being satisfied unless our preferences are met is a sign of worldliness and sophistication.  I remember being at a party where a woman wouldn’t accept her drink unless it was made with a certain brand of vermouth.  She was, in fact, indignant about it.  Or going to dinner with a colleague who had to have his steak prepared in a complex and special way, as if this particular need to be different was his special public signature.  Or watching very intelligent men and women inscribe their circle of loneliness with criteria for companionship that no one could meet.  I used to maintain such a standard of excellence around the sort of art I found acceptable.

Often, this kind of discernment is seen as having high standards, when in actuality it is only a means of isolating ourselves from being touched by life, while rationalizing that we are more special than those who can’t meet our very demanding standards.

The devastating truth is that excellence can’t hold you in the night, and, as I learned when ill, being demanding or sophisticated won’t help you survive.  A person dying of thirst doesn’t ask if the water has chlorine or if it was gathered in the foothills of France.

Yet, to be accepting of the life that comes our way does not mean denying its difficulties and disappointments.  Rather, it means that joy can be found even in hardship, not by demanding that we be treated as special at every turn, but through accepting the demand of the sacred that we treat everything that comes our way as special.

Still, we are taught to develop preferences as signs of importance and position.  In fact, those who have no preferences, those who are accepting of whatever is placed before them, are often seen as simpletons or bumpkins.  However, there is a profound innocence in the fact that sages and children alike are easily pleased with what each day gifts them.

The further I wake into this life, the more I realize that God is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary.  Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe.  Yes, God is under the porch as well as on top of the mountain, and joy is in both the front row and the bleachers, if we are willing to be where we are.
-from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Art of the LAUGH

I love art and on vacation was able to convince my family to visit the art gallery.  Being surrounded by the beautiful art inspired us to create some of our own.  Introducing our art exhibit called:  HAPPINESS.  This is a travelling exhibit - no tickets required.