The Dog's Day

Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts of what may be.

John Dryden
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Hello Bruce
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Yesterday afternoon one of my neighbors brought home a 5 week old poodle puppy. I watched from my door as the two of them tried to agree on what to do next. It was a classic case of the dog taking the man out for a walk.

He had the dog on a leash, trying to get it to go one way, with much concern about when and where the puppy was going to do his pooping. False hope. The puppy was having none of it.

He was very busy discovering that he was alive, that there was a world around him and that the world had to be investigated. The dog was fascinated with things we wouldn't bother with: a rusty chain link fence, a car tire, the trash. Pooping? We'll get to that later, but first what's over there?

It was wonderful to see such eager, focused, immediate life going on. There were no concerns about the future or about what may or may not be the right thing to do. Follow the nose and drag the old, boring adult along with you if you have to.

I had fleeting memories of when I was free to do the same as the puppy. There were golden moments on the stage when the rules were written by the playwright and by my understanding of the role. I was on that leash but the world, the universe, was wide open to me and I took charge, followed my imagination, my instinct, my creativity and sniffed out every crevice, every subtle scrap of the scene. I was never more alive than in those moments.

Wouldn't it be a grand thing if we could all take that instant, innocent interest in the life around us and not worry about things that aren't? I'm looking forward to seeing more of my new neighbor the positive, prodigious, poodle puppy.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
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