The 4-footed teachers have been in full form!
Luther, of course, has been the most obvious. Watching him heal, physically, from his eye surgery has been a wonder in itself. I’ve actually been able to watch his energy field come back online after all the anesthesia and the post-op meds. This big guy has been blind for a while but he temporarily lost his navigational radar.
It was all hands on deck to keep him from bumping his face until he was healed enough for the sutures to come out. I spent two weeks with a 140 pound dog literally tied to my arm, to keep him safe.
Today, he can make it out to the yard and back, safely. He’s re-negotiating his paths through the house, learning to feel gently with his nose for doorways and to pay attention to different floor mats to know where he is.
We’ve started some new walking training and directional cues to help and, blessedly, they are.
Sarah and Phoebe, meanwhile, have been in varying stages of regression. Sarah is bossy and needy and in my face, afraid, I suspect, that Luther will get most of the attention forever. She is, in some ways, assisting my inner critic in whispering messages of blame and inadequacy in my ear.
Meanwhile, Phoebe seems to have decided that, since the pattern disintegrated utterly for a few days, she is free to comply with or ignore the suggestions known in dog obedience land as commands, according to her mood.
I get it. Everything I’ve learned about sleeping in the dark with no electronics, eating real food, and believing in my ability to cope has gone astray.
I’m way beyond grateful that my inner Observer is also whispering in my ear.
One of the things that she’s whispering may have come from my old friend, Steve Glenn. Pardon the redundancy if you’ve read this recently, but it’s really helpful and deserves a re-run.
There’s no such thing as failure. Only experience to be learned from.
This, I’ve been reminded, is something we can’t teach our kids unless we, like Luther, learn to use it as a compass with which to navigate our own worlds.
So, the numbing TV, which wasn’t working for any of us and only added to the stress, has been switched out (mainly) for coloring.
The amazing Shiloh Sophia recently posted a documented medical article claiming that 5 minutes of coloring would interrupt the body’s stress response.
I already had the pencils and markers so I stocked up on coloring books. Mainly Mandalas and Shiloh’s divine feminine images. I’ve colored enough to wallpaper a good sized room and it helps. It was an easy something I could change in the midst of a bunch of stuff I couldn’t.
And, I re-examined my food issues.
Once again, Michael Pollan to the rescue.
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
This is a system I can manage. (And remember!) It’s also a system I believe in.
Blessedly, lots of those plants are growing in my garden right now, since leaving home is still a bit complicated.
And tomorrow, I suspect, will bring its own challenges. I trust, though, that my 4-footed teachers and my inner Observer will still be there, shining light on the path.
!
Luther, our Newf Rescue who is healing from eye surgery, has needed constant supervision. Sarah’s on floor duty. I’ve spent most of the time camped in my magic chair with a stack of books beside me.
