Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Take the Leap: Grace Speaks




Greetings, my dears. The New Year’s here. I’m snuffling your ear.

Do you like my poem? Woof.

I’m sorry my New Year’s message is late but my two-legged’s been having trouble translating what I’m telling her. The human brain doesn’t easily catch the drift.

This is my New Year’s tip. You realize you’re listening to a dead dog. Ha ha ha. I’m only dead in the way that I dropped my body. I changed. But I am here in full fine form finally. Bigger than life. What does that mean anyway? I know, but it’s a koan for you. Woof!

Love. That’s the deal, seal. Nada mas.

You got to love. A person. An animal. A being.

All different kinds of love. I’m talking about them all in the largest, most expansive, the deepest sense. In the smallest daily way.

Every day my person put her palm on my flat head, “Good morning, Gracie.” She said. She’d gently rub the points of my ears with her fingertips. “You’ve got the softest little ears, and look at those cheeks.” She’d stroke my cheek spots and squeeze me.

My younger person curled up with me on the floor every evening. “Goozie, I love you.” Then she’d tell me all about what happened at school, especially things that made her feel badly. She played soccer with me in the back yard, giggling, running, and kicking the ball. “I got you. I made a goal. Woa, great dribbling, Goozie. Give that back.”

Loving another being connects us-- to them and to ourself. A oneness. I’m not a guru, but it’s true. We feel at one with ourself and the universe, if only for a second. That’s all we need to begin, a second. It’s worth going for. After all, if we have a choice, why not choose love? Make the leap. Abandon your self.

Plus, our love moves us to work for the loved one. I loved taking care of my people. Working for them. That’s the deal. We’re here to work for each other. It feels good.

I worked for my family, my two sweet ones. Keeping them safe, loved, cared for, having fun, reminding them of the present. I felt joy whenever I saw them. I gave them joy and giggles and someone to care for in return. Wag wag wagging.

They worked for me. They gave me shelter, food, water, joy, kept me safe, and loved. They cared for me deeply. We were connected. Although we each had different relationships, love unified us. Even though I dropped my wonderful body, we’re still deeply connected, as you see. I trot after them everywhere they go. Woof.

Love connects us. Love is a joy. Connection can lead to compassion, which is part of why we’re here, I think. Part of our work. Being at one with someone can take us to instant exhilaration, to joy, as well as instant compassion for their suffering, which we are moved to relieve.

Picture our world in which all humans acted from love and compassion. Woof!

My companion, Soft Tone, used to throw balls for me really far in the distance and I ran so fast and leapt up in the air and caught them. What a feeling! I flew through the air and snagged the ball right out of space. I held it with my teeth and felt it on my flat tongue. Sometimes I’d squoosh it between my teeth. It tasted like Soft Tone’s scent and the wind.

I’d gallop back and drop it in front of her. If she didn’t pick it up, I’d bark or grab it back. I didn’t think about it; I was just one with myself, my person, the ball, the space, the earth, my muscles, the flying, my intent to catch, the universe around me. When we’re one with ourself, we don’t think about it. We just are.

And when love comes, when compassion happens, it shoots through us like leaping for a ball, a wag of the tail. It’s automatic and it’s deep. It happens. In that moment we are One. With the air, the earth, the ball, the universe, all living things--One Heart.

When Soft Tone saw me leap and fly for the ball I could tell by the way she stood still watching and by the smile that emanated from within that she felt it too. That moment.

“Wow! Gracie you are so beautiful. You just do it and then you have such a huge smile and you want to go again.”
She loved me. A miracle.

This is not an intellectual exercise I’m describing. I’m a dog. Woof. I’m giving you instructions on leaping. For love.
It’s not just words.

Connect with a person, a blade of grass, a flower, a cat, a bird, a rock, whatever it is, you’re on your way. Connecting opens the passage.

Connecting leads to Heart. We have a million opportunities each day. Leap!

Let me know how it goes. It's up to us.

I hope you like the photos.

Grace