I had an epiphany the other day while walking my dog: Omgosh this is like going on a safari for her! Going on walks in my suburbia tree-line streets provides her with so much stimulation. It’s like she has short term memory and forgets that I took her on the same route yesturday and the day before and the day before that….it’s this novel experience everytime, a perpetual discovery that my senses are not attune to. What I am attune to she is not and what she is attune to I am not. It makes for a great relationship, this justopostion of conciousnesses between human and animal. Sometimes I almost yearn for her worldview, wishing I was in her paws, experiencing life at a lower conscious level.
There is something liberating about not being an adult and having the social awareness of a 3 year old. Ah, the old adage “ignorance is bliss” and, boy, do dogs live that phrase. We worry about the world and our place in it while they are hoping to just get one stick thrown today or see a squirrel (mind you, the equivelent of seeing a gazelle on safari). What are these other equivalents to “african Safari animals? Here are a few that most dog owners might agree on:
A chipmunk running up a tree is like a cheetah pouncing around on the savannah
A pinecone being pushed across the road by the wind is like seeing a Wildebeast running
Chasing after ducks in the water, she shape shifts into an alligator going after a zebra
Seeing another dog is like seeing a leopard in the distance. That brings me to my next thought…..
I am almost impressed by how relentless she is when it comes to meeting other dogs — like, I wish I had some of that nerve. Here I am, literally at a 70 degree angle leaning back against the pavement as her 80 pound body fights to meet the dog across the street from us. She is annoying in this moment but at the same time, like I said, I am impressed! I wish I could make friends with other humans as easily as dogs do with one another. For what would it take each of us to pull off such a brazen uncilivized act? For one, we would have to remove years of societal conditioning, taking all all of the shy conciousness and pride out of us, along with a heavy dose of Liquid Courage and some meds (probably NOT prescribed to us) — and that is how we can simulate a dog’s bahavior.
I find the fervor of dogs interacting with other dogs rather uncivilized yet endearing. In the midst of no social awareness/cues and left to their own primal devices, perhaps we could adopt some of that angst to get to know more random strangers on the street without any shame or fear of repercussions (if they turn out to be a weirdo that is). We seem to have little need for interaction with our fellow humans or maybe some of us do but think that the other person would rather keep walking by us (projection and fear of rejection). Well, dogs have nothing to lose and I wish I could adopt their gravitas on how important interacting with their species is. I find my dog’s aptitude for socializing and boldness to carry it out not as a “ice breaking” perk with my fellow humans but on a macro scale helping humanity reexamine the attributes that make life worth living: curiosity, discovery, connection, leadership, loyalty and love. Lower consiousness magnifies life. There is this aura of gratifude that my dog has and that reminds me to feel gratitude as well! I ♡ u Totem.
