Dog Focus - Your No. 1 Dog Site
/

 

My Wabi-Sabi Master is My Dog-Part2

Beware The Dog Days Of Summer!
Heat is one of the worst enemies that roses face, and the months of July and August can be scorchers. Not only are your roses at .....
...... and slobbering jaw. In wabi-sabi, decay replaces conversion. [Would be interesting to note the similarity(') to the modern Western countercultural aesthetic of worn and torn blue jeans and recycled vintage clothing and furniture.] As Buddhist poet and musician Leonard Cohen observes in his song "Anthem," "There's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in." In life, rain and ice may crack and erode the new and the beautiful, but the crumbling marks they leave behind are the signature of water, the ultimate life-giver. Thus, wabi-sabi doesn't simply see the silver lining in every cloud, it sees the cloud itself as a silver lining in a perfect blue sky.
As I struggle to appreciate the beauty of decay, Tucker is my faithful wabi-sabi master.
Tucker and I are running barefoot through the soft sands of my hometown's ocean beach. The night air feels clean and cool. I stop often, dislodging the golden-grains from between my blue-painted-toes while searching for a stick. I throw Tucker a three-foot long mini-log, and he returns it as a six-inch frayed twig. He will not surrender it. I hoist and parade another mini-log. He ignores me. He is mesmerized by the twig. He has the perfect chew toy. Marred. Scarred. Semi-hard. Its decay proves to be its strength. It is the perfect Tucker stick toy in all its dwindling six-inch glory.
I too have a habit of chewing my environment. Pens and pencils are particularly attractive when I'm struggling with a new challenge. In the past, I would discard my teeth-indented creative tools'. But Tucker has taught me the value of fractured belongings. Now when I look at the mangled implements of my creative struggles, I see their scars as battle wounds, each one a testament to the origin of a thought. I keep and respect them.

Everything is Enough

How To Housebreak Your Dog Or Puppy
Dogs are creatures of habit; and once they develop a habit, breaking it can be a long, frustrating process. Your dog needs guidance and encouragement .....
As Plato suggested true perfection is always an ideal, never a reality. Consider "the perfect egg." There are so many variables beyond the cook's control: the stove-top temperature, the accuracy of the timer, the needy neighbors relentless ringing (I love alliteration) at the door. Even if you do achieve the ideal creamy softness
or just-hard-enough suppleness, the egg still won't taste just right if you're queasy over being dumped, fired, or otherwise jarred by the outside world. Ultimately, the perfect egg is an inside job.

As the Tao Te Ching it states 'If you mold a cup you have to make it hollow: it is the emptiness within that makes it useful.' Westernized society tends to see holes as absences, instead of potential. Every day we suffer disappointments, because reality - like some mangled chew toy or overboiled egg - falls short of our ideals.
Yet those rows of hard bitten pencils bear witness to our best efforts. We have given it our best shot. Like Tucker, all we need do now to find wabi-sabi contentment is to stretch out on our war-torn blankets and delight in what we have.

About the Author

Nikki And Benny, My Therapy Visiting Dogs.
My two therapy dogs, Nikki and Benny, bring joy to our friends. Here is short report of .....

Galina Pembroke is an internationally published writer who specializes in health, self-help and spirituality. She is publisher and editor-in-chief of New View magazine online. Launched March 6, 2005, New View is a comprehensive resource that offers information and inspiration for a happier, healthier life. Visit them at http://www.nuvunow.ca

(c)  Dog Focus - Your No. 1 Resource For Dogs! 2006 - Author List - Sitemap