Welcome back to S&UP, it’s been a refreshing break from the interweb - there are other pursuits ya’ know.
If the cover image compelled you to open this - you’ve been punked, and you’re just a softie; get into Milo’s space and he might bloody your nose or snatch your lunch, if you’re lucky. He punks everybody, that’s his job.
We consider the human race to be largely a disappointment and prefer the company of dogs. That’s not to say we can’t show affection but does act as a deterrent to the overanxious compulsions of people; it’s comfort enough knowing we can’t share in your world - nor you in ours. Oh, we can let you in, just understand it’s a contact sport and there will be damage.
Living with dogs is enlightening. Living every waking hour with one is a different thing entirely; they become more like us, and we become more like them.
Our over-complex world merely evaporates in the monochromatic world of my canine companion and is reduced to spontaneous reaction at the molecular level. Actions are determined by conditions in the immediate surroundings in the present moment, and all energies are devoted to that action. Living in the moment doesn’t mean there’s no memory bank since dogs will follow a trail not travelled in months, in any weather, any time day or night, know every burrow and shrub, glance sullenly at a favorite trail head as we drive past on our way to another destination and poise for action the moment we approach a familiar stop. Every experience is filed away in the archive.
To be unencumbered by the thought process is liberating; absent are guilt, regret, anger, remorse. Snatching food isn’t thievery - it is a service and a lesson in survival; be quick, fight back or go hungry. If your world view includes a flowery vision of the natural world, it’s because you’re not living in the natural world.
We live in the Many Worlds. Whether we live in a physical multi-verse is unknown; beyond debate is that Milo’s world is his and mine is mine. Yours is yours, we have no power to change that. We can surrender to it, and there would be no need for the endless spellbinding white noise broadcasting from every direction. We can live and share in other worlds without the pressing desire to describe it.
Let it be.
Lovely photo of Milo.