This is Max, the dog that my brother and his partner adopted from a rescue group. Max was left in a crate in a garage for the first two and a half years of his life. He is now thirteen, and his life with my brother has been stellar. Max deserves all the love and doting attention he has had and continues to receive.
This brings me to another reason for writing. One thing I really like about blogging is the sharing of life. When you really think about it, none of us know each other in the way we know a friend we meet for coffee or a friend we call on the phone for a heartfelt visit. We don’t know what sorrows a fellow blogger might be experiencing or what family problems or worries are hidden beneath the words and photos. We don’t know a person’s past unless you are like Max and someone informs you. That said, I feel I do know some of you fairly well simply by reading your blogs and the responses to mine. It is all about sharing. Some days are good and some days are bad or sad. It is called living. That is what brings me comfort in the blogging world. It is the steadiness of postings, the hope and promise that I can reach out and find certain people living in a similar way and coping or rejoicing in the same twenty-four hours that I roam around in.
Truthfully, I have days when I wonder if my blog is boring or meaningless or unfocused, but I would not want to give up sharing….your sharing or mine. Life is not easy, and I think it is nice to feel we just might need each other.
phyllis this is so true. it is about sharing and finding out if that is really possible which is my goal. and so i keep on, recording my days and sharing the days of others. and i can say i have learned a lot but doing it and even though there is a distance…there is less than there was before. it is about some honest witnessing of story. thank you. max says it all.
I do think there is sharing, but it is one that might be slightly inhibited. On a blog one does not want too much exposure, and that is why I think a focus is important. Your focus on story-telling via your cloth is key. When I sit down with a journal in hand, which is more rare these days, I find that I am absolutely free with my thoughts and sharing, but on a blog there is a natural and important screening that is inherent. The distance is the part I find a little difficult sometimes. My thoughts here are convoluted, but they are free-form as I write this. More to come through the blogs!
I think of blogging as a form of having a pen-pal, as well as a journal with feedback. I think too that as technology has made our world larger, blogging brings it back down to a community. Certainly it is a different kind of friendship than the ones that we form in our physical communities, but no less important or valuable. I know it’s added a layer to my life that has made it richer…and yes, it is about sharing.
I like your thoughts here. I guess blogging is similar to having a pen-pal, and it definitely has added some value and richness to my life as well. Some days I will wonder why I am doing this, and then when I consider giving it up, I calculate the meaning and sharing and importance it has added, the layer you described, and how I would greatly miss it.
Thank you for your post. I am finding that each day is different and not necessarily better. But, I am still trying. I have found that Chester is trying to fill in the void. He follows me and when I sit, he is there. That sensitivity to need is extraordinary when you find it in a human being but it seems normal in a pet.
Max looks very special, I am glad that he found a loving home.
I imagine Chester is doing his own manner of grieving. Dogs have such an uncanny sensitivity and seem to know when we are feeling sad or upset. I think losing a pet is as upsetting and sad as losing a friend or family member. Your comment that we find need extraordinary in humans but not so in pets is completely apt. I am sure it is all of matter of time, and sometimes it takes longer than we would like. Just know I am here as I know others are as well.
What a beautiful dog, I am so glad he found the life he deserved after such a horrendous start, you can see the contentment in his eyes! I am glad to be able to share your ruminations, always so honest and heartfelt, even when you are going through a hard time. As you so wisely say, ups and downs, sorrow and joy, despair and contentment are all a part of living – lifes rich tapestry – we all face them, and try to deal with each new circumstance as it arises as best we can. I for one am enriched and feel emormously supported by you through our blogs. Thank you! xx
Lois, what a very special comment you made. I feel the same….it is mutual. Life is a rich tapestry, and we never know exactly what way our path will turn each day. Recently jude posted on the subject of growth and how we think we can control this, but so often we cannot contain all that we have to deal with in terms of change and unpredictability. I guess I would rather be challenged than bored, and I think this might be true of everyone that responds or comments here. You always leave words of wisdom and quality.
I enjoy sharing too, and having the blog lets me share good things, which in turn means finding good things, even in a slow dull day.