Thursday

Dog Mats: The Smallest Things Can Become the Biggest

Today I am picking the mats out of Immy and Joey - each one a mess of tangled hair within the soft silken strands. My fingers press and pull and eventually somewhere within each knotted tangled mess is a shred of grass, a weed or a tiny piece of debris.  

There is a reason for everything and sometimes when something in your life brings chaos, discomfort, confusion... when all around you everything else seems to be okay on the surface, look closer at yourself for there you will find a shard of something deep inside the fiber of your life that is the root cause. Something that may have been a tiny little thing years ago grew bigger and bigger because it wasn't addressed at an earlier time.  Sometimes you find it and you go to pull it out and find is much larger than you thought - as you pull and pull and pull it out inch by inch by inch.  The longer that mat has been in there, the harder it will be to separate it from the fur.  

You may need to cut it out along with all the undamaged beautiful hair all around it when, if you'd only taken care of it when you first noticed it, it would have been a much easier process. 

You can see at this point in this post where this is leading. We have many things in our lives that wreak havoc in our beings:  early insults or injuries that we parked someplace in our body, deep within our being, thinking that if we hide them away far enough in a dark enough place that they will never be found - never be felt. But they live deeply within us beneath the layers and layers of our years and our growth. 

We must revisit them, extract them and let them go so that we can grow healthy and more beautiful without them. As long as they are lodged in our being, they are vulnerabilities.  Once we address them and let them go -- comb out the beauty of our soul, of our being - they are lessons learned.  Don't be afraid to dig in deep to find the messiness. Clear it out and let it go. You will feel stronger and be more beautiful as you face the days ahead. 

Tuesday

Dear Jack: Many of My Friends Just Don't Seem to Care

This is one of the many things your pets come to teach. Many of you have found out who your truest friends are as you work through your grief. Who can you turn to? Are you surprised who is there? Are you surprised who is not? One of the things we teach you in our departure is to open your eyes to see Who Is Really There for you. Who loves and supports you through it all? This is a true friend. Meanwhile, we still love you from the other side with a love that never dies.

Love, Jack 🐾


Saturday

In So Many Ways There is Life After Death...

 Note from Kate: 

I didn't want another dog after Jack. But I had Joey who became quite the handful (!) after Jack passed. There was a time in my early grief I thought of giving up Joey. I was in so much pain! When I realized it was the complications of grief that made me want to give up Joey I got myself on a new path. It was worth the ride. Keep your heart and mind open and try not to make irreversible decisions when you are going through the stages of grief. Once you ultimately accept your loss, you can make better decisions for yourself and for the ones you love.

Love, Kate

This is Immy.

It was about 6 months after I had passed. Kate didn't really want another dog, for she already had little Joey. The fact of the matter was that the Universe planned on her getting another dog and It made sure she knew it. After I passed, Joey exhibited terrific separation anxiety. He destroyed the house, chewed electrical wires and pens and highlighters, and his screams from being left alone could be heard from one end of town to the other. Kate had no choice. She began the search (you can read the synchronistic story in Book 3, "Return from Rainbow Bridge") which led her to Immy.
The relationship was far from perfect. She had had a very well-adjusted dog (Yours Truly 🐕) and ended up with a dog with many insecurities. But on Day 1, snuggled in next to Immy, Joey was happy and content when Kate went off to work. Mission accomplished!
It would be a very long time before Immy could handle social situations but in the process, Immy grew and Kate grew and Joey was happy and everything turned out okay. Just the way it was Meant To Be.
Loving again can be messy. You can never replace a Beloved friend. But know that that Friend is working behind the scenes to give you what you need to grow and to become a more loving human being.
Is all about the Love. Good girl Immy!
“I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” –The Alchemist

Sunday

Be a Hero of Love Instead of a Victim of Loss

   


   How? How do I stay with something when I want to leave? How? 

How do I let go of something when I don't want it to go?

Two words: Love & Commitment. Those of you who are making progress know this -- and there are so many of you, I'm so proud of you. It takes love. That's all. LOVE heals the grief. It takes making love stronger than your grief. Being a hero of love instead of a victim of loss.
Make the commitment to feel better again -- for your sake and theirs. It just takes starting at page one in "Reflections." For so long as you cry and weep and grieve, your best friend will mournfully be waiting to see you smile again. When they walked this earth with you they did not like to see you unhappy, did they? They still walk the earth with you, beyond the thin veil that separates, and they still look at you with mournfulness, waiting to see you happy again. Once you start smiling and living life again, they can truly be free.
If you've read our books, you'll learn how to get from here to there. If you haven't read our books, they wait patiently for you to begin your journey out of grief -- and back into love.
💗

Tuesday

Life is the School, Love is the Lesson, Grief is Our Teacher

 


Only those who avoid love can avoid the pain of grief. Grief has a Grand Plan. Grief teaches you to quiet yourself and learn to tune into the unseen world around you. Getting through grief will strengthen your faith in that which you cannot see. 

When we struggle we can die. When we resist we can get hurt. Surrender to the grief. You are not required to feel anything. Just FEEL whatever feelings come.  Don't be afraid of them. They will not hurt you any more than struggle and resistance.  

Only those who avoid love can avoid the pain of grief. Don't let yourself be one of them. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile --- and it's only a ride, this life. The Real Life is Yet To Come. 

Keep the faith. Keep going. Keep growing. It will all be worth it in the end --- in the beginning. 

Thursday

National Holocaust Remembrance Day

 We need to be reminded that we really have nothing to complain about...

FRANKLY SPEAKING

The strength of human will Is stronger than anything that can happen to it.

This phenomenon of nature holds true. 
As the strongest winds blow
So the seedling is strengthened.

When I think of the wisdom and the resiliency Of Viktor Frankl at Auschwitz,
I am much better able to tolerate
The foul-smelling woman
Who sits beside me
On the way to Penn Station.




Wednesday

A New Year

                                                                  

 


It’s New Year’s Eve… 

I’m waiting your arrival

To ring in the new year. 

 

We dated years ago and

Despite our differences

I loved you so.

 

Parting as the best of friends

We still get together

On Saturday nights

And Sunday afternoons

And New Year’s Eves 

When there’s no one involved 

With you and me. 

 

Sometimes I think, maybe?

Maybe we could love again?

Maybe it would work this time?

 

It’s New Year’s Eve

The call comes in:

You won’t be coming after all. 

 

It’s New Year’s Eve.

I understand. 

Nothing’s New.



From "One Heart's Journey: Lyrics of an Imperfect Life"

Available on Amazon.com



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