Starting today and for the rest of the month, I’ll be taking part in the Mindful Writing Challenge hosted by Kaspa and Satyavani of Writing Our Way Home. They describe it this way (the short version): “Start 2013 by making space for beauty and a little serenity. Commit to write a small stone every day during January,” and to do so is this simple: “1. Notice something properly every day during January. 2. Write it down.”
Small Stone Day One: Waiting
As I write, you wait. You begin so patiently, watching and waiting, still and quiet. Sometimes I even forget you are there, other times you forget and fall asleep. When you can’t wait anymore, you whine quietly, shift your weight from one foot to the other, or you nudge your nose into my leg or put your head into my lap, or sometimes even offer me a toy, reminding me you are there–waiting.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 
They are so amazing, really. How lucky you are to have those souls in your life! (And so glad that Dexter is still here, in all his wizened glory.)
Yes, Stacy–lucky, lucky, lucky. And you know how people sometimes say “I wish my dog could talk”? No way, not me. I suspect they’d probably say stuff like “hey remember that one time there was that squirrel, wait did you hear that?!, what’s that smell?, my foot itches, hey remember that one time there was that squirrel, why are you still looking at that box? we should go for a walk right now, we should play with this toy right now, hey remember that one time there was that squirrel” etc. etc. Whereas without a textual, alphabetic language, when I’m sad and they look at me like that, I can imagine them thinking “if only you’d love yourself like I love you, you are perfect, you are everything to me, you matter” and I absolutely can believe it for that one moment. Do you have any furries?
I love their imagined internal monologue. Heh. I have a cat, a sweet silken streetwise rescue cat who was adopted by my ex-boyfriend and his ex-wife. He was our door prize when Derek (the now-ex bf) moved in, and our consolation prize when he moved out. He is neurotic, licks himself bare in parts, and is one of the most beautiful animals I have ever seen—a lissome black tiger cat with green eyes and white paws and chest. I love his company (mostly). But I crave a dog, a new thing for me. I was bitten in the face by a German Shepherd when I was 4, so it took me about 35 years to get over my fear of dogs and a handful more to decide I had to have one! When my son and I move out of New York City next year, the new dog will be the door prize. : ) But yes, I love what dogs carry in their eyes; I always think of them as the reminder that our feelings are thisclose to the surface. We only learn to do other things with them besides experience them because we are human. Score one for the dogs!!
I got my first dog because of fear (there was a rapist loose in Fort Collins that summer and I did not feel safe at all, had other anxiety issues too), so we got a Rottweiler, German Shepherd, Husky mix as our first dog. The joke was that at first I was so afraid he’d grow up to be mean to me, that I wouldn’t be able to control him, I almost took him back (I cringe to think about that time now, because he was the love of my life, and to think I almost gave him back?!), AND he turned out to be the sweetest, biggest Chicken Little dog of all time, and yet, he made me feel completely safe, protected and cared for and loved. Keeping my fingers crossed that your future pup will make you feel the same (or maybe you could just get a little, cute one). Whatever dog you get, the cat will still be the boss 🙂
Oh yes, the patience of our pups. They must all speak the same language of waiting … Kobi does these same things. And sometimes I even forget he’s here, but am so glad he is. Happy New Year, Jill!
Right, Lissa. I sometimes pretend to be annoyed when they put their head in my lap or bring me a toy, but secretly I love it. Happy New Year to you too!
Beautiful small stone 🙂 My furry friends are the cat kind. Not so patient, haha.
Happy New Year
Yes, I’ve never met a cat that I would describe as “patient,” Lexie 🙂