365 Photo Project - Day 141

Taken: May 21, 2010, 7 p.m.
Location: Healdsburg, Ca

Here I am, writing and filing two posts within a few minutes of each other. I'm telling you, this shit ain't easy.

I have a friend who is very sick and has been on life support for much of the last week. She's a lawyer and a tireless volunteer for a nearby pug rescue. She has come to the aid of many needy pugs and adopted a few herself. It was through her that we found our youngest pug, Chamuco.

I don't know this woman particularly well, but we've had some long phone calls about pugs and life and a dinner or two when I've had to bring my other pug, Louie, down to UC Davis veterinary hospital. There was a moment apparently when her condition was so grave, we weren't sure if she would make it. But she's relatively young and very tough and she has shown some signs of improvement. Her friends and family are hopeful, as am I.

What has really amazed and inspired me is the outpouring of love and support she has received from all over the world. This is what community is all about.

While many people have offered prayers of a religious nature and are talking about the power of God's word, I think there's something else entirely going on here. I think I've said this here before, but I don't believe in religion per se. I believe in spirituality, however that may come to you or work for you. If you want to go to church or temple or dance naked in the woods, it doesn't matter to me. Just don't try to sell your Way to me. Seriously, I think proselytizing should be illegal.

I do believe in positive thinking. I think that sending positive vibes out into the world can do some good. I mean I'm not saying that a group of people all thinking the same thing can make an elephant float in the air, but I do think energies can be created.

And if I can bring this back down to earth, there is no practicality in worrying. Most of the time what we worry about happening not only hasn't happened yet but probably isn't going to happen, Not in the way we expect. And really, what we want to have happen often isn't what needs to happen. This is all that ridiculousness that people get bogged down in, the idea that our futures need to unfold in a very specific way for us to be happy. Well I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that it's all bullshit.

So I guess what I'm saying is why not think positive thoughts and while you're at it, why not spread the love?

I don't know and I don't think anybody knows why our friend has come back from the brink. And I don't even think it's important to dwell on the reasons why. But I do know a lot of folks are thinking about her and I'd like to believe that the sum total of all that positive energy has had an effect on her cautious recovery.

What it does prove for certain is that our friend has touched a lot of lives, two legs and four legs alike, and if there's one truth that I know for sure, it's that if you put love out in the world, it will come back to you one thousand times over.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, as my friend's recovery is still in progress, but my favorite part of the story so far is of her rescued pug Betty who was brought to the hospital in hopes of providing her comfort. Betty, a little black pug with a face whitened by age, curled up at her owner's feet as she lay there on a ventilator unable to speak and unconscious. Yet I'm told that she reached out to touch her pug at one point. And Betty, being a pug, curled up and went to sleep. Reportedly her snoring could be heard throughout the ICU.

Clearly, there was a connection between them that could not be broken, that spoke to each of them, even when one of them simply could not speak. If you want to put a name to it, fine. But I'd like to believe there's magic at work here.

Is it any wonder that God spelled backwards is dog?

As a matter of fact, I know there's a connection between pets and their owners. I think sometimes we tend to ascribe human feelings and thoughts to animals and I think that's probably presumptuous of us. But I do believe that they understand us and love us and we can form bonds with them that are as strong as the bonds we form with each other. If that doesn't make you put a positive thought out in the world, then nothing will.

I'll be keeping my friend in my thoughts as long as she needs them. But I'll also be thinking of Betty, for I have confidence in the power of the pug. I expect if more people believed in that, the world would be a wonderful place.

Told you I was an optimist.