The Journey by
Crystal Ward Kent
When you bring a pet into your
life, you begin a journey - a journey that will bring you more
love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your
strength and courage
If you allow, the journey will
teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of
all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one
soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark.
Along the way, you will learn
much about savoring life's simple pleasures - jumping in leaves,
snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the
satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.
If you spend much time outside,
you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no
rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be
overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and
noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be
slower - except when heading home to the food dish - but you
will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert
in the field.
Too many times we hike on
automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather
than enjoy the journey. We miss the details - the colorful
mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple
snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog
does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the
landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up,
down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature
has created a marvelously complex world that is full of
surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing
wonders, each day an essence all its own.
Even from indoors you will find
yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find
yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen. (How
bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the
flick and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to
observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air
after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in
this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most
important details slip by.
You will find yourself doing
silly things that your pet-less friends might not understand:
spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat
food brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or
driving around the block an extra time because your pet enjoys
the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys,
bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run
around the house trailing your bathrobe tie - with a cat in hot
pursuit - all in the name of love.
Your house will become muddier
and hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint
rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and
feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns
your living room rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound.
You will learn the true measure
of love - the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It
doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us
as long as we are together." Respect this always. It is the
most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will
not find it often among the human race.
And you will learn humility.
The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy
and love at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could
be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful
companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as
mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love
me anyway.
If you pay attention and learn
well, when the journey is done, you will be not just a better
person, but the person your pet always knew you to be - the one
they were proud to call beloved friend.
I must caution you that this
journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the
pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day
your dear animal companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go
down. And you will have to find the strength and love to let
them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short - especially for
those that love them. We borrow them, really, just for awhile,
and during these brief years they are generous enough to give us
all their love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one
day there is nothing left.