So, due to school and mental stress, I've completely skipped over the weeks for "C". I was going to talk about "color" and probably "clarity." Ah, well.
So today, the first "D" week, I'll be talking about human kind's oldest and truest friend, the dog.
I have two dogs; a long-haired Miniature Dachshund, and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
Of course, everyone's heard the praise of dogs, their loyalty, bravery, selflessness and so forth... It's the qualities of my dogs that are contradictory to those above, that I find particularly spiritual.
My dogs could be perfect.
They could be the stick-retrieving, crowd-adoring, command-obeying pictures of health that you see in magazines.
They are not.
The Corgi suffers from allergies, a very sensitive GI tract, a genetic cataract he's had since he was seven months old, and a near-phobia of unfamiliar dogs. The Doxie was unsocialized as a young puppy before I had her (I got her when she was just under a year), and as a result, she is very nervous and fearful around people that aren't me, and has just a dash of separation anxiety to top it off.
These dogs don't make me treat them like babies, anthropomorphize them, or otherwise pretend they're "little humans". They don't always do "socially idealistic things". They remind me every day that they are definitely dogs. I take care of them, help them with their fears and aches, and I love them for their unapologetic honesty.
Their breath smells bad, they fart right next to me in bed, and when one of them has an accident on the floor, the other one tries to eat it.
Despite being shaped physically, mentally, and genetically by humans for thousands of years, they have remained their own animal. And that is a very admirable spiritual quality to me.
If ever you're in need of reassurance of your sense of self, I recommend trying to contact dog. They come very highly recommended.
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