Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers.
I have been thinking a lot about my podcast lately. What do you want to listen to?
What do I want to talk about?
When I research what people talk about online, I see a lot of tips and tricks that help us make life with animals easier. "How to take care of your senior dog" or "What to feed a kitty who is picky."
Those are good topics; they come up in some of my phone sessions, but in my experience, nothing is ever set in stone. No two senior dogs need the same care. Rarely are cats picky for the same reason.
My love of writing comes from the other end of the leash. I like to share what the animals want us to know. When we look at the world from the animals' point of view, we get to learn so much more than just figuring out the day-to-day care of animals.
I don't know, but I hope you are here because you want to know more about animals and their perspectives. You are here because you know there is more to you and your cat than simple companionship. You are here because your dog is so clever and in tune that he acts before you even finish thinking the thought. You are here because you love your horse on good and bad days. Her life doesn't depend on her performance, but you are committed to her 'til the day she dies.
That's why I am writing, recording, and broadcasting the animal's point of view.
To bring us together.
During our session, we geek out over a new profound perspective your cat shared.
During barn calls, we stand in silence with your mare for minutes on end, following her into deep stillness.
On the phone, we grieve the loss of your beloved dog and learn about the 'other side'.
Let's jump into the wisdom of death and dying bestowed upon us by one insightful and beautiful Tibetan Terrier.
This particular Tibetan Terrier, black and white in color, had an internal mass affecting several organs. His people had seen the scans, and during our call, everyone, the dog included, had decided no surgery and radiation. Everyone wanted him to live out his good life until it was time to leave the body.
In our next call, the dog seemed a little more tired but was generally more concerned about his people and how they would feel once he left his body.
A few weeks later, I received a text from my client that the beautiful Tibetan boy had passed away with his people's help.
We spoke five days later to process the dog's passing and the hole he left in his people's life.
During the call, the dog helped us understand death and dying in a new way.
Let me go back to something you have heard me talk about before.
In many different ways and voices, the animals have explained to me and their people that we are consciousness-embodied. Essence, spirit, and consciousness are the various ways one can describe our unique beingness.
When conceived, our essence or spirit enter a body and, therefore, become consciousness or spirit embodied. You might have heard the saying, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." That's what the animals explain again and again.
Ok, so the animals tell us that they, just like us, are consciousness embodied, and when they die, they leave the physical vessel behind and once again fully merge and mingle as, or shall I say with, consciousness again.
Ok, on to the wisdom bomb our Tibetan friend dropped on us during the call.
As we talked about his transition out of his body back to full consciousness, we wondered how much it had mattered to him that his people were present during the transition. I will read you his answer from my notes during that call. I wrote it down verbatim.
So again, we asked him if it had mattered to him that his people were present during the transition. The dog shared: "This transition one does on one's own. But it is comforting to know the presence of those who carry pure love for one are present."
I am gonna reread this. The voice is almost like old English. Here are his words.
"This transition one does on one's own. But it is comforting to know the presence of those who carry pure love for one are present."
For those of you who get intuitive hits, you know when the words are unusual, or the sentence structure is not how you would usually speak, you are receiving information from the animal.
Next, I asked the dog, "So, did you transition from life to pure consciousness?"
Before I could even get the whole sentence out as a thought, the dog interrupted and corrected me. "We are always life. We are just no longer a-live."
I didn't just hear the words he shared, but I saw them written.
The dog continued, "In the body, you are a life. After death, you are back to being life."
Alright, my friends, that put me on my haunches. I never thought about the word alive in that way. When you see it written as a word, it means you are alive, yay. But when you see the a separated from the word life, you understand that when we enter a body as you and I have done upon conception, we become a life. In that moment, life becomes a life.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
As humans, we can explore what it means to have a physical body.
We can explore what it means to have a mind that can jump into the future and go back to things from the past. We have a life during which we can experience the idea of embodiment.
Now, for the Tibetan Wise Guide, the embodiment is different because his senses are more heightened than ours. And his mind is quieter. No hopping back and forth between the past and future. Only right here, right now. That's the difference between humans and animals.
But in the end, we both leave the body behind while the spirit continues to soar.
The dog gave us one more message at the end of the call.
He said, "Life equals love, equals presence. And presence is comforting."
As you might know, when we live in the past or crave the future, we often find ourselves in discomfort. When we are present, our mind is still and comforted. That is what our animals are here to teach us. They invite us into the now to find comfort. Find ease.
Since that conversation, the idea of having a-life has been roaming around in my mind. It reminds me of Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Well, two things come to mind. One is to take the animals up on the invitation and spend as much time as possible in the present moment. I can get sidetracked or busy with chores instead of being present.
And, I am letting my wild and precious self dive deeper into the subject of death and dying. I told you before that I am taking the Companion Pet Doula Certificate Course at VVM this Winter.
Helping animals and their people communicate through the heartbreak at the end of life is most important. Learning new concepts and understanding from 'the other side' is a blessing that hopefully comforts you as much as it comforts me.
Here we are, full circle.
I can't just pick a topic and write to it.
I take a story and write from it.
From the inside out to you.
And this time, the dog picks the title.
A Tibetan Dog On Death + Dying
A book title for sure.
Thank you for letting me into your wild and precious life.
I am glad to have you in mine.