Category Archives for "Blog"

0 A Certain Kind of Imagination …the nature of prejudice…

A Certain Kind of Imagination …the nature of prejudice…

I heard an interesting story a few days ago. A young man owned a really cool old car, a 1955 Thunderbird if I remember right. And one day, the car was stolen. The owner called the police, and filed a report. But after a few weeks, the police told him they hadn’t been able to find it, and were closing the case. He had the car insured, and the insurance company, seeing the police report, issued him a check for the cost of the car.

Then, one night, he got a strange phone call. The voice said it was a police officer, who wanted to tell him that his car had been found. In fact, the police had had the car for over a week, in a lot for found cars. And that, if he didn’t claim the car by the next day, it would be put up for auction.

And why hadn’t he been notified? Well, the voice explained, one of the police officers who had recovered the car had decided that he really liked it, and wanted to buy it for himself. So he rubbed off part of the car’s registration number, and left it in that lot till he could bid on it at the auction!

So the owner, because of the honest cop who’d phoned him, was able to get his car back, the insurance company got their money back, the crooked cop didn’t get the car, and all worked out okay.

Now here’s the question I want to pose to you: Based on this story, are police honest and good? Yes or No.

Hmmm… you might think… well there’s certainly that one bad one, who was doing something so underhanded and wrong. But then, there’s that other one, who went way out of his way (even possibly endangering himself if the bad cop found out) to help out the car owner by calling him.

So are police honest and good? The answer is… Police Actually Exist.

And like everything else that actually exists, they are capable of good things and not so good things. And while, as a general rule, I recommend that you treat police officers with respect, and optimism that they’re there to help people out (because I’ve never met one who wasn’t), it is true that there can be some who aren’t as good as they should be.

The point I’m getting at is that there is no “type” that is all good or all bad. We dogs are the most loyal, loving animal there is – overall. But some dogs are frightened of people, and some are angry, and some have been trained to attack; so you can’t just assume that all dogs will be as friendly and loving as I!

(Or have as good grammar!)

In fact, I would argue that to believe that all dogs are friendly, or all dogs are mean, or all police are corrupt, or all police are honest… is simply stupid. Stupid Prejudice.

Prejudice means just what it looks like. It means making a Pre-Judgment about something. And we all do it, all the time. When you go to school, you prejudge that teachers will be people who are there to help you, but maybe a bit rule-based. So if a teacher walks up and kicks you in the ankle, or offers you a cigarette, you’re going to be surprised!

But that’s not what I mean by stupid prejudice. No, stupid prejudice is when you hold to a belief about people, even though there is perfectly good evidence against it. For example, if you think, as someone in the news here in the United States said recently, that African Americans were happier as slaves than they are in freedom. That was really dumb. Not only did he come off as an idiot, but it made a lot of politicians who were supporting him pull away, as he made them look bad!

Or when you say someone else is less than you, because of their race or their nationality or their religion. We even see this sometimes, horrifically, where one group will kill all the members of another group they can, from the idea that that other group should be eliminated from the Earth. This is the most horrific extreme of stupid prejudice, and why it has to be noted and dealt with, in all of us.

Us? Did I say “Us?!” I sure did.

We dogs can easily be bigoted. In fact, pretty much all of us are. I know a Shepherd Mix who was once hurt by a tall white man, and after that he never trusted a tall white man again. And once, I had the experience, after I’d always found that cats run from me, of chasing one, only to find it turning around and slashing me right in the nose!

But I have an even better story:

When I was a little puppy, Handsome introduced me to a dog owned by some friends of his. He’d always found this dog to be friendly and sweet… to him. But she didn’t like puppies, and as I ran up to play with her, she dived on me and started beating me up and biting me! Handsome pulled us apart, but not before I’d gotten really scared!

A year or two later, full-grown, I was walking down a sidewalk with Handsome when a Newfoundland and his owner showed up. Now if you don’t know Newfoundlands, they are HUGE dogs, with long black fur. And to my eyes, this giant dog looked just like that other dog (who was much smaller in reality) had looked to me when I was little. So instead of walking up to sniff and play with it, as I did with all other dogs, I rolled right over on my back, showed this giant my belly, and did everything to show surrender but wave a white flag!

Why? Because I had learned a stupid prejudice! That dog was perfectly friendly. He could have been really fun to play with. But no, I had developed a bigotry that made my life just that little bit worse.

It makes me think of a conversation between two characters in a great old movie called The Philadelphia Story. One person is explaining why they had thought badly of someone, and says, “Well, it didn’t take much imagination.” And the other responds, “Not much, perhaps, but just of a certain kind.”

A kind that is predisposed to make unfair and wrong pre-judgments about others.

So I’m not going to ask you to never suspect people, or have predispositions to others. That’s impossible.

But I will say, when you notice yourself having a moment of pre-judgment, that you’ll find your world a lot better if you just take a breath and ask yourself, “How sure am I about this?” And if you aren’t too sure… use that great human brain of yours and find out.

Because, maybe, that dog you’re scared of would actually be fun to play with. And maybe that cat you want to chase is actually tough and brave. And maybe that police officer you think you know everything about is completely different than you would guess.

Because, you see, my dear friends – prejudice, when it’s not a correct judgment of someone, is nothing more than just an especially stupid way of being Wrong!

Take it from one who’s been there, and knows!

8 How to Catch a Squirrel …the importance of optimism…

How to Catch a Squirrel …the importance of optimism…

As you know, I spend most of my time sleeping, sniffing around, cuddling up with Handsome, and hunting.  It’s a good life.

But sometimes I like to pay attention to new research.  For example, an interesting study just came out from University College London.  They had some people guess the likelihood that something good would happen to them.  Maybe they’d say “a one-out-of-five chance.”  Then they told them that the odds of that thing happening to someone was twice that.  And when they did, most of those people would change their minds, and figure that now their chances were better, say “a two-out-of-five chance.”  But when they told those people that the odds were worse, say “a one-out-of-ten chance,” they found that the people did not adjust their beliefs about that good thing happening to them.  They kept it at, say, one-out-of five.

This says a lot about you folks!

To put it in less confusing terms, what they found is that people are naturally optimistic.  You humans will take good news as proof that things are getting better, but take bad news as not so bad.  Some people will say this means people are stupid, or can’t learn.  But I disagree.  In fact, I think it’s necessary for you to be this way.  You see, it all comes down to Squirrel-Chasing…

We pups are programmed deep in our brain to chase animals.  And those of us who live with suburban humans usually don’t see a lot of antelope or monkeys to chase… but we see a lot of squirrels.  And where I reside, these sassy, chattery, rude little beasties like to run over my roof and make all sorts of noise.  And so, just like any other dog, I just live to chase them every chance I get.

Now that means I might chase five or ten squirrels a day.  So how often do you think I catch one?  Once a day?  Not on your life.  Once a week?  Nope.  Once a month?!  Uh uh.  Try maybe once a year.  Mathematically (and no, I couldn’t figure this out, but Handsome is good with numbers), that means my odds of catching a little seed-nabber are somewhere between eighteen hundred and three thousand six hundred… to one!!!

Now those are some pretty awful odds.  But does that keep me from chasing them?  No Way!

Because I know that every time I chase one of those little guys, there’s a chance I’ll get him.  And even though the chances aren’t very good, I know that the more I try, the faster I get, the more tricks I’ll learn (like guessing which tree the varmint will run to), and the better those chances get.

Meanwhile, this also gives me some added benefits:  my life stays fun, I don’t get so bored when Handsome’s not around, and I stay beautifully fit from the exercise!  While, if my brain concentrated on the probability of my failing to catch one of these little monsters, I’d sit around home lazy all day, depressed, lonely, and fat.

In fact, do you know what the definition of “depression” is?  It’s having the exact opposite of that natural optimism you guys and I tend to have.  It’s lacking hope, lacking the belief that things will go your way, and seeing no reason to do anything because things are just going to stay lousy, or even get worse.  It’s just as unrealistic as the optimism, but without the fun (and without the occasional triumph of a squirrel in your clutches!!!).

So here’s my theory about all this: Some people, and some dogs, have always been more or less optimistic.  But over time, the people (and the dogs) who weren’t optimistic enough to believe in possibilities better than the reality they faced didn’t survive!   They had to believe things were a lot better than they were, in order to make things a little better than they were, throughout history.  Really, it was the only way to make their lives any good at all.  So that optimism, to my mind, isn’t a weakness; it’s a strength!

However, meanwhile, there’s another side to all this.  Some people, using this same optimism, will say that nothing bad will ever happen to them.  They’ll drive drunk, or take dangerous drugs, or get into relationships with bad types, thinking they’re safe, when they’re really not.  So that that same optimism that makes some lives better can make their lives worse – or even end them!

So here’s my request for you, my dear friends.  Let your optimism make you try way harder.  Let that optimism get you to take daring risks.  Let it make you brave and romantic and impetuous.

But don’t let it make you stupid.  Don’t let it make you forget how valuable you are, to everyone who loves you today, and everyone who might meet you in the future.

You see, if I chase a squirrel in my yard, Handsome has no trouble with it (though I often sense he’s cheering the squirrel on to get away from me!).  But if I chase a squirrel across a street, it makes his heart stop.  He’s terrified.  He knows I could get hit by a car anytime, and it scares the daylights out of him.  And I know he’s right – but I also forget, because that squirrel (or cat, or whatever) is right there, running, in my sight.

So my request to you is the same as his to me:  Run like crazy and live your life to the fullest.  But don’t take risks that are too foolhardy.  Use your brains.

And live to be optimistic another day!

0 Leashes! …the odd nature of love…

Leashes! …the odd nature of love…

How often do I hear humans – humans who aren’t dog-lovers I should add – talk trash about how stupid we dogs are when we get wildly excited at the sight of a leash.  “You see?  Dogs are so dumb, they’re happy to see that thing that’s going to tie them up and hold them back.  They don’t have real self-respect at all.”

What a bunch of hooey!

Now sure, when we’re young, and first getting trained on leashes, we fight them like crazy.  We’ll pull on them till we nearly collapse from choking, we’ll bite and paw at them.  And, embarrassing as it is to admit, we’ll have tantrums as bad as any two-year-old human, where we roll around on our backs, screaming as though that leash were torturing and killing us.

Sure we do that.  It’s part of growing up.  We have to rebel, just like human kids, to test our limits – to see if there’s anything we can get away with.  (And just as with human kids, we usually find that there’s a lot we can!)

But once we’ve gotten through that, and especially once we’ve gotten trained well enough that being walked doesn’t mean we’re constantly being yelled at or jerked…  leashes become something we absolutely love!  Leashes mean walks around the neighborhood, so we can smell all the things we’ve been curious about since we were last there.  Or they mean trips to other places, for nature hikes or fun restaurants where we can sit under the table and catch food when you guys clumsily (or kindly on purpose) drop it onto the ground.  Or they could mean any other number of things – going to friends’ houses for play dates, going on a real vacation where we drive for days (or fly, though I’ve never done that).  Really, they mean two things – Getting Outside of Where We’re Locked In – and Being There With Someone!

Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with Handsome in our home.  And I love sniffing around by myself.  But how much more fun it is if he takes me on a trip – whether to the mountains or the beach, or just a hamburger stand.  We pups spend so much time alone at home (and that’s if we’re the lucky kind who live with nice owners, instead of at a shelter or in a lab), so it’s always a treat to get to be out with others.  Even a trip to the veterinarian (which makes me shudder) is more interesting than just hanging out next to the couch.

Now this much is absolutely true.  But I’m really writing this because of something else those stupid comments from people make me think about.  Which is: you aren’t all that different from us!  Humans have lots of leashes, and absolutely love them.  How many of you wake up in the morning and instantly check your email, or your mobile phone?  Sure, you could have a more relaxed, pleasant morning.  But you are tied to other people, and want to connect to them – and be at least mentally out from your comfortable home – at once.  What happens if you leave the house without that phone?  Do you feel “oh good, I’m free,” or do you feel disconnected, nervous, almost naked?  “What if someone called and I wasn’t there to answer?  What if someone needed me?  What if that person I’m really into texted to ask me out for tonight?!  AUUGGH!!”

And then there’s that other really obvious kind of leash.  The kind that humans put on each other’s finger.  The kind that says “I am pledged to this one other person, for the rest of my life.”  That’s a huge leash!  And one that we dogs, with our innate loyalty, relate to fully!

And this is precisely my point.  Why do we get excited about leashes?  Because we associate leashes with love.  Just the way you get excited when your phone buzzes to tell you a text has come in, or your heart skips when someone you really like walks up and asks you for a favor.  And just the way you all get all soppy and teary-eyed when you watch two people exchange rings and promise to be each others’ forever.

We’re not stupid, you see.  Leashes are just the visible version of the much stronger ties that bind our hearts to yours, every minute of our lives, and beyond.

2 It’s In The Kiss! …the individuality of love …

It’s In The Kiss! …the individuality of love …

You know that thing you do when something gets stuck in your mouth?  Like if you’re eating popcorn, and a bit goes in between your back teeth?  What do you usually do?  Well, before you go for a toothpick or dental floss, I’ll bet you do what most humans do, without even thinking.  You try to work it out of there, using the tip of your tongue.  Your tongue is full of muscles that make it work like a dentist’s tool, which is delightfully useful.

We dogs can’t do this at all!

Seriously, if something gets stuck in our teeth, we have absolutely no way to deal with it.  Our paws don’t have fingers that can work around the gums (or even hold floss!), and our tongues simply don’t work that way.  It’s so frustrating!

On the other hand, imagine if you were really thirsty, and had to drink out of a bowl of water, and didn’t have hands to pull it up to your mouth.  How would you do it?  You’d have to stick your face into the water, and kind of inhale it.  It’d be uncomfortable and difficult.  While for us, that’s super-easy.  We just lap it up with our long tongues, which work almost like spoons, bringing just as much water into our mouths as we want.  It’s perfect.

Funny, isn’t it, how our mouths work so differently?  But there’s another area where these differences come into play, that often means even more to us than our ability to drink.

Of course, I’m talking about KISSING!

Oh we love to kiss!  Humans and Pooches, it’s one of our favorite things in life!  We kiss our parents, we kiss our babies, we kiss to say hello, we kiss to say goodbye, we kiss to nurture, we kiss to tease and tickle… and of course, most importantly, we kiss to say “I love you” – the best statement any being ever gets to make.

(And yes, before someone out there tries to disagree with me, a kiss can also be an insult, as when one gives a “kiss off” to someone, and it can be a statement of threat in some cultures too.  But we dogs never kiss that way, so I’ll just stick to the nicer meanings here.)

You see, humans and dogs kiss completely differently!  For you folks, it’s all about the lips (at least at first).  You either pucker up and create suction, making a smacking sound, or you just gently rub your lips, on the object of your kissing.  While for us dogs, it’s all about the tongue.  We can offer tiny little licks, just barely sticking our tongue out to show a shy, submissive, affection, or we can give a wild, passionate slurp to show that we’re absolutely crazy about whoever it is we’re kissing.

Isn’t this funny?  That both of us kiss for the same reason, but we do it in completely different ways?  I know that there are human cultures that kiss in slightly different manners than others (such as some Eskimo tribes that use noses), but I’ve never heard of any humans who show affection to their friends or family with a big lick!  It’s just not done!  (“Hi Grandma, nice to see you, sluuurrrp!”  Right?!)

But when you think about it, it’s not just humans and dogs who show love in different ways.  Everybody does, really.  For example, you might be someone who wants to hug those you love as hard as you can.  But someone else might be more sensitive, and show love with a very light, soft touch.  You might like to cover the one you love with lots of big kisses, while someone else finds that overwhelming, and wants little pecks.  This can create a bit of a problem, where one person might not feel loved if someone isn’t showing them love in the way they like to receive it.  And then if they say so, that might make the person who’s showing them love feel rejected or hurt, as if their love isn’t good enough.

There’s a beautiful passage in The Call of the Wild, probably the greatest book ever written about a dog, where Buck the main character, and his human owner, are showing each other affection: the owner pets Buck, but Buck’s fur coat is so thick that Buck can’t feel the petting enough to have a pleasurable sensation from it.  And Buck shows his love to the man by chewing on his hand, to a degree that hurts a little.  So neither is actually making the other feel good at all, but both can tell that the other is showing them affection, so they’re made deeply happy by the acts anyway.

In some countries, a holiday called Valentine’s Day is being celebrated around now.  And I know, all sorts of miscommunication and mistakes are happening, in showings of affection.  One man is giving his beloved a huge bouquet of flowers, which she sees as beautiful but overwhelming, and she can’t tolerate how it makes her feel pressured.  He’d have done better with a little box of candy.  Somewhere else a boy is showing his affection by offering to take his girlfriend to the new movie of Robocop, and she’ll break up with him for having been so insensitive to her need for flowers.  A girl will slip a card to a guy she has a crush on, signing it “A Secret Admirer,” and he’ll think it’s from another girl and ask her out.  Other people will receive statements of love and desire from people they’re not interested in, even from people whose gender they’re not attracted to, and all sorts of sadness and hurt feelings will transpire.  And of course, then there are all those people who simply don’t receive any Valentine greetings or gifts at all, who feel completely unloved on this day (even though they may be very loved indeed).

How silly, and how sad, that love – the most wonderful thing in life – should create such confusion, such fear, and such sadness.  What can anyone do about it?

Well, there are lots of answers.  But here’s mine:  TAKE THE KISSES!

If a dog licks you, absorb it fully, and enjoy that that pup thinks you’re great.  If a person kisses you in a way you find nerdy or sloppy or uncoordinated, take it – the meaning behind it is as true as if it were artfully bequeathed by Casanova.  If someone gives you flowers, or candy, or a ticket to a movie you have no interest in seeing, accept the love.

And if you get a “Secret Admirer” note, be happy, and see if you can encourage that admirer to reveal themselves!

And if you’re one of the hundreds of millions who gets nothing, not a single statement of romance, from anyone this year, know that there are all sorts of other kinds of love out there, and appreciate the ones you do get.  Did your dad give you a hug before you went off to school?  Did a friend smile when they first saw you this morning because you always brighten up their day?  Did a dog or a cat walk up to you asking to be petted?

Love comes in all sorts of ways.  Oh sure, don’t get me wrong – it’s just glorious when it comes in exactly the way you want, from exactly who you want it from.  That’s the best!

But if you’re only accepting that kind of love, if you’re only appreciating that kind of love, you’re missing out on so much of the joy of life.

Every day, when Handsome comes home, I run to him and jump up on him.  He can’t do that to me – he weighs over three times what I do, and would just flatten me!  Then he puts his arms around me and massages my neck with his fingers.  I can’t do that to him – if I tried, I’d rip his skin with my claws!  Then I lick his face.  He doesn’t do that to me – if he did he’d get a mouthful of my shedding hair, and I wouldn’t feel it anyway.  Then he puckers up and kisses my forehead and my nose.  I can’t do that – because… well my lips just simply can’t!

This crazy unequal ritual is one of the favorite moments of the day for each of us.  We’re both getting to feel how much this other being – so different, in so many ways – loves and appreciates us.

If we can all do that a bit more, with everyone who we share feelings for, maybe life can get a whole lot sweeter.

And maybe the day will come when we’re so close, we’ll be able to help the other drink water, or pick a popcorn kernel out of their teeth.

All my love,

Shirelle

0 This Goofy Life …the search for sense in silliness

This Goofy Life …the search for sense in silliness

A few weeks ago, Handsome and I were hanging out with a friend of his.  The friend was telling a funny story about his life.

You see, when he was young, he was a good student, but didn’t really know what he wanted to do in his life, except that he liked riding horses, and wanted to try playing polo.  So when he applied to go to a university, he picked a school that had a polo team.  He went there, played polo, had fun, did well, got married and developed a great career (and never played polo again).  All terrific, right?

Then, over time, he developed a hobby, which became a gigantic passion for him – painting.  By the time Handsome met him, this guy would spend every free moment he had creating one picture after another, and getting really great at it.  And as he developed as a painter, he naturally found what sort of style he liked best, and what established painters he most wanted to be like.

And then he learned something shocking: The painter he most wanted to imitate, to learn from, had been teaching at his college when he was there.  He hadn’t even heard of the guy then!  Here, he had had the opportunity of his dreams right at hand, and hadn’t even known it.  And now that opportunity was long-gone.

Life is like that.  Have you ever found out that your now-favorite singer was performing in your town right before you got interested in them?  Or that someone you now have a huge crush on was walking around your school all alone, trying to make friends, just before you got attracted to them?  Or that your owner was pulling a roasted chicken out of the oven and dropped it onto the floor while you were out of the room, and was able to pick up all but a bit of the grease before you wandered in?!  (That one’s happened to me a few times!!)

And did finding these things out drive you up the WALL?!!

I find that there are two ways to look at incidents like this.  Both make sense.

The first is to really feel bad for yourself!  “Man, when am I gonna get a break?!”  “I would’ve appreciated that painting teacher way more than those other clods did, and I’d be a famous artist today!”  “That would have been my favorite concert ever!”  “I would’ve treated that gorgeous person so much better than anyone else at my school, the unappreciative jerks!”  “That chicken would’ve been SOOOOOO YUMMY!”

And it’s really hard to not feel that way.  Because it’s one thing to simply be unable to get what you want, but way more painful to find out that you almost had it, and just missed out by a tiny bit of bad timing!

But then there’s another way of seeing it:  As that it’s just proof that you are sooo close to getting your dream!

Handsome’s friend could take that crazy coincidence as proof that his next perfect painting mentor can be right nearby now.  You could think that tomorrow you might get to see your new favorite band, in a small intimate place where no one else knows about them.  You could learn from this that the chance of meeting that special person is a great possibility at every second of every day.  And I could learn that someone might accidentally might drop the best thing I’ve ever eaten… right NOW!

As I said before, both ‘lessons’ are correct.  But one version leaves you feeling really rotten about your life.  And the other gives you excitement, confidence, and a reason to greet each day with joy and curiosity.

So it’s your choice.  Life is goofy, there’s no question about it.  And it works in strange ways that have absolutely nothing to do with what we want or wish for or plan.  But how one lives with that fact is up to every individual.  Including you.

And also including a friendly pooch who no longer takes a chance on being outside the kitchen when a chicken is being roasted!

Cheers,
Shirelle

0 All About Happiness… how to get more of it!

All About Happiness… how to get more of it!

0 My Friend Rob … the importance of asking for help

My Friend Rob … the importance of asking for help

Dear Pack Members –

This is the hardest letter I’ve ever had to write.

But I’m writing it out of love.  I’m writing it because my heart is breaking.  And I’m writing it because I want every one of you who reads this to understand your own value.

Everybody in the world gets illnesses.  It’s a normal thing.  Most, like colds and flus, go away after a while.  But some of us have what’s called a Chronic illness.  That’s a problem that one can’t get rid of.  Diabetes is a Chronic illness, for example.  So are Parkinson’s, and Herpes, and some forms of Cancer.

This is also true with the mind.  Some mental conditions one has for a while and then moves on from.  A very depressed mood, for example.  Or Grief – like I’m feeling now.

But there are also mental illnesses that are Chronic.  Some illnesses with big names like Schizophrenia, where people hear and believe things that aren’t really there.  While other people have a mood problem that will always be with them.  There are new amazing medications that can help them, and therapy and other activities help a lot – but there is no cure.

One of the types of incurable mood illness is called Bipolar Disorder.  In this condition, the person is usually Depressed, but then at times gets a crazy kind of excitement, called Mania.  It sounds fun, and it might even look it from the outside, but it’s not – it’s horrible.  Especially because the higher the Manic time is, the deeper the Depression that follows it.

Now as I said, there are medications that can really help with these sorts of problems.  But often the people who need them don’t like to take them.  (You know, just like how all of us – me included – hate taking our medicine?)  But these people will often avoid taking their medications because they start to believe they don’t need them.  At first, they might actually feel better without the medicine, because nothing is controlling their mood.  But then, when their mood shifts into Depression, and there’s no medicine helping them, they feel as low as low can get.  And nothing makes them feel better, and they feel like nothing ever will feel all right again.

I’m writing this essay because one of my best friends, one of the people who helped create the AskShirelle.com website, died this month.  And he died because he had Bipolar Disorder, and because he stopped taking his medications.  And because, when he got fully depressed, he took his own life.

Rob was a wonderful man, with a great sense of humor, a beautiful wife, dogs he loved, and an enormous pride in what he had achieved with our site.  He knew all about computer programming, and had everything to live for.  Today, though, he has left a gaping hole in the hearts of everyone who loved him.  He’s not there to hold or kiss his wife, or to scratch his dogs’ chins, or to tell a joke, or to enjoy the success of his work.  For his whole life, Rob was someone who you were happy to see when he walked into the room.  But that’s not going to happen anymore.

I’m writing this to all of you, because recently I’ve gotten a lot of letters from Pack Members who say they’re so miserable they’re thinking of ending their life.  They feel like they’re alone, like no one cares about them.  Well, that’s what Rob was telling himself too.  And it wasn’t true for him, and it’s not true for any of you either.  If a voice inside you is telling you that you don’t matter, or that you’d be better off not alive, or that others would be better off without you, that voice is a Liar!

Handsome and I have a plant that Rob and his wife gave us a few years ago.  It has flowers that only bloom for about a month every year.  And I love to lie on the doorstep by it and watch them struggle every spring to grow and open.  And when they do, they have gorgeous deep magenta petals that shoot out of the buds, and reach for air, reach for the sun, reach for moisture, reach out to attract bees to pass on pollen, reach out to hummingbirds to pass on seeds, or maybe they reach just to leave me awestruck at their beauty.  They know they don’t have as much time as they want, so they give it their all and live as bright and full and long as they can.  That plant – its leaves, its shoots, its buds, its petals – that is life!  That’s desire and love and passion and yearning.  That’s every song and singer, that’s every painting and artist, every kiss and bite, every laugh, every cry.

And that’s you.  That’s the volume level you have the right to live – Big and Full.  Because you matter.

I wish each of you could see how I brighten up when I get an email from you.  How your questions make me sad, make me thoughtful, or sometimes make me laugh.  I wish you could see the faces of the thousands of people who then read your questions when they’re posted.  Who agree or disagree with what I say, but either way, are feeling some of what you felt when you asked it.  Who are letting you matter to them.

Just think – all these people you’ve never met, and you’re affecting them.  Just imagine how much you must mean to the people you live with.

Rob’s decision will hurt a lot of us for a very long time.  But if I can convince just one of you to do one thing, his loss will not be in vain.  Please, for me, for Rob, and for everyone who’s ever cared about you – when you need it, ASK FOR HELP!  If you’re feeling depressed about something, feeling hopeless, feeling terrified – ASK FOR HELP!  And especially if there’s something actually wrong inside you, a chemical problem in your brain – ASK FOR HELP!  Ask a relative, ask a friend, ask a teacher, ask a religious leader, ask a police officer, or make a phone call to a Suicide Prevention number, or ask a Therapist (this is what their whole job is about).

Or if you can’t find words to say what you’re feeling, of course you can always ask a friendly dog.  We will look into your eyes and see your sadness, and feel it.  We will like it when you hold us tight.  We will play with you to take your sadness away.  We will run with you to get you away from it.  And you know, we will try to lick it right off your face!

Remember, there’s always someone.

You know, it’s an odd thing about that plant.  This spring, for the first time in years, its flowers didn’t bloom.  I think now I know why.  I only wish I’d realized in time.

Love to all of you,

Shirelle

1 Honk! …lessons from the back seat

Honk! …lessons from the back seat

I live in the United States, in the southern part of the California, near Los Angeles.  For those of you who don’t know about this area, it’s famous for sun, moviemaking, smog, celebrities, and lots of the best music ever.  But when you live here, what sticks out most is something else… TRAFFIC!

This is a lovely place to live, so people move here from all over the world.  And since we don’t have enough public transportation, most of those people drive.  A lot.  All the time.  And because of that, we have lots and lots and LOTS of traffic.

When I’m home, my powerful ears can hear honking, accelerating, braking, and, yes, accidents, but it’s all distant.  However, when Handsome takes me somewhere, particularly if he uses one of the big freeways, I get a look at the human race that… well… isn’t always pretty.  (And that includes watching my favorite human acting in ways that sometimes aren’t the best.)

And over the last few weeks, as the traffic has gotten even worse, with holiday shopping and extra tourism, I’ve realized that there’s a lot to learn about life from the back seat on these crazy streets and freeways.  So, for your pleasure, here goes:

1)   Tailgaters

Few things in life are more frightening than tailgaters.  These are the drivers who think it’s smart to pull right up next to the car in front of them, even if both are driving very fast.  Maybe they think this will inspire the car in front to move faster, or let them get by.  Or maybe they think it makes them look tough and intense.  Or maybe they’re just not paying attention.  Regardless, they’re simply putting their money and their cars’ front ends, and maybe some bones or lives, at risk.  The question, though, is how to deal with them when they’re right on your tail.

This is a lot like a lot of situations in life.  Everyone has a sense of comfortable space, the distance they like others to stand from them.  When someone invades that area, especially if they’re purposely harassing you, it causes a surge in fear and anger (If you want to find out what teeth feel like in your nose, try crowding too close to the face of a dog you don’t know!).

Many drivers get angry and yell at tailgaters, while glaring at them in their rear-view mirror.  This doesn’t do a whole lot of good, since the offending dope can’t see or hear them.  Some get aggressive, and hit their brakes, in order to frighten the idiots.  This can work (and can get pretty funny results), unless the tailgater is not paying attention (meaning your car gets crashed into), or has anger issues – in which case you might get forced off the road and beaten up.

My suggestion, both on the road and off, is simply to move aside and let these morons get past you.  If they have a legitimate reason to be driving or acting this way (let’s say they have someone in the car who needs to get to the hospital right away), you’re letting them do the job they need.  And if they’re just stupid drivers, you’re saving yourself from their idiocy.

And if, in regular life, you just step aside and let a crowding fool know that you want them to move on, you’ll find the air around you becomes a lot easier to breathe!

2)   Drinkers and Texters

While tailgaters deserve to be given a reasonable doubt, that they might have a good reason to drive that way, drinkers and texters don’t share this at all.  When a car is driving very erratically, swerving across lanes, not noticing when lights change, etc., Handsome gets very frightened, and I do too.  These people seem to forget a simple fact: Cars are giant powerful machines.  You can’t run one correctly when you’re not giving it your full attention – and doing that can hurt or even kill someone.

And people do this all the time.

Similarly, off the roads, we see people everywhere irresponsibly waving their power around.  Throwing out insults without thinking of their effects, grabbing at others with no concern about how that feels… even handling weapons casually.  This is inexcusable.

This is one case where Handsome sometimes handles himself well: he calls the police.

Yep, that’s the best thing to do.  If you see someone who’s clearly driving erratically, call the cops on your cell phone (using a safe method – like headphones or a speaker), and give them the license plate number and your location.  And let them take care of it.  To not do this is giving up your responsibility as a member of your community.  Just imagine: how would you feel to find out the next day that that drunk ran over a child or a dog?  Do your best to keep that from happening.  And actually, you’ll improve that driver’s life too, by waking them up to what they’re doing.

And, similarly, if you see a friend acting in a very irresponsible way, be the best friend you can, and have the guts to tell them so.  And if they can’t handle it, maybe tell a grownup, or, if necessary, a police officer.

Remember, this world is yours as much as it’s anyone else’s.  You have the right, and the responsibility, to make it safe.

3)   Speeding

I love running.  I loooooove it!  The faster the better.  And I love riding fast in Handsome’s car – and I know he loves driving it fast too!  And just as I don’t like having a leash on, no person likes having rules about how fast they can drive.

But those rules are there for reasons.  And when you catch yourself speeding (as Handsome often does), it’s really important to remember to slow down.  Even if the rules feel too severe.  And save that feeling for somewhere where it’s safe.

For example, while I have to wear the leash around our neighborhood, I know that Handsome will eventually take me to a dog park or a beach where he can let me run, and love it as much as I do.  And if he really wants to drive his car fast, there are racetracks that will allow him to go as fast as he likes.

But on the roads, he’s got to respect the “leash” of the speed limits.  Because, again, they are there for a reason.  And if he can’t see what the reason is – for example, let’s say there’s a road that looks like it should allow him to go twice as fast as the speed limit – then that probably means he can’t see the reason (maybe a dip up ahead, or a railroad crossing), which is exactly why he needs that limit right there.

Just as I need my leash, because I might not be aware of a car speeding down the street – who’s not obeying the speed limit!

4)   Help

Through my windows, I often see cars stuck on the road.  Maybe they’ve stalled out, maybe they had a flat tire or an accident.  I don’t know.  What I do know is that they might need help.  And most drivers don’t care to check to see.

Now sure, if the car’s just there because its owner is taking a nap after driving too long, there’s nothing to do about that.  But what if they’re stuck in snow, or changing a tire?  Could you get out and give them a hand?  Do you have the time or the chance to?  Or what if they’re just waiting for a repair truck, but are stuck in a dangerous place?  Could you phone the police to come and wait with them, so their flashing lights can warn other drivers to change lanes?

This is real life!  Around you, right now, most people are probably doing just fine, but there are others who could really use a hand.  If you have the chance, if you have the opportunity, why not help them out?

Why not hold the door open for someone carrying a package?  Why not give your seat on the train up for someone older, or who just looks tired?  Why not give that begging woman a little bit of change?  Why not even just give that sad-eyed kid at school a friendly smile?

Doing nice things for others is the best feeling we ever get.  I’ve given so many kisses in my life, but the ones where I lick someone’s tears are the tastiest of all.

5)   Intersections

Some people are just scared.  They’re scared all the time.  And their being scared can make them more dangerous to others – though I’m sure they don’t intend that to happen.

One kind of driver who makes Handsome scream is the one who enters an intersection to make a turn, but doesn’t pull forward enough to let another car in – apparently because they think it’s dangerous to do so.  Then they don’t turn until after the light has changed, so the car behind them has to wait for another light.  In fact, every car behind them has been slowed down, just because of this driver’s imagining that some other driver is going to run a light and plow into them – even though that’s usually impossible.

But the ones who drive him even angrier are the ones who slow down – or stop – at intersections with green lights.  They can see that all the oncoming traffic is stopped, but they still slow down or stop, thinking that one of those cars is going to suddenly accelerate, run a red light that they’re stopped at, and hit them.  This also slows down everyone behind them, and can even cause accidents.  It drives him NUTS!

And in regular life…  It’s simply no fun to live scared all the time.  If you do, you’ll not only miss out on chances for yourself, but keep others from living their own lives too, just because you exist in a state of fear.

I know I’m always saying this, my dear friends, but the solution is to LIVE!  And if you really LIVE, that’ll enable you to actually do more GOOD THINGS!  People with more friends are able to get their friends to help others.  People who make more money are able to give more money away.  And people who pull all the way into intersections, or move through quickly, are enabling the drivers behind them to get off the road – to meeting their friends, or getting to their job, or just putting less pollution in the air – all the sooner!

6)   Enjoying Misery

Crazy, clueless, irresponsible drivers are everywhere.  But unless you live in a city, you probably don’t know how bad traffic jams can get.  Now if you’re on your way to a World Cup match or a One Direction concert, you expect a lot of waiting, because so many people are trying to get to the same place at the same time.  And because of that, you’re probably going to be pretty okay about it.  But what about when you’re on your way to school, or to see the new Thor movie, and you’re stuck in traffic for an hour because… well, likely because some dumbhead was speeding and tailgating while texting and didn’t notice the stalled car in front of them, and caused a big accident that’s held everything up?  What do you do then?

I can tell you what too many people do – they freak out!  They honk and yell and try to wind around the other cars by illegally driving on the shoulder and…

And they don’t get anywhere any faster at all.

I know this feeling very well.  I’ve always disliked being cooped up, and when I was a puppy, Handsome would put me into a crate at nights, and I hated it!  Hardly anything in life is as frustrating as being kept from moving when you feel like moving (and a puppy wants to move all the time!).

But you know what I did?  I would whine, paw at the door, yowl a bit… and then take a deep breath, and go to sleep.  I knew there was nothing to be done about this little prison.  So I might as well get something pleasant out of it.

And when a person’s stuck in traffic?  Well, they can check out different radio stations.  They can phone a friend.  Maybe even read a book.  There’s lots they can do – and any of them are better than honking or acting stupid.

Same thing in the rest of life.  I’m all for struggling against ridiculous situations, but once you realize there’s no way around it… accept it, for as long as you have to, and make the best of it.  Eventually, the traffic always moves, and eventually, you reach your destination.  One way or another.

7)   Vocabulary!

Okay, there’s one further thing I’ve learned from Handsome, through our adventures in traffic.  And this is lots of fun, but I can’t go into much detail about it here. And that is… Vocabulary!

Why, if it weren’t for traffic, I wouldn’t have known a lot of the words I used here today – like moron, idiot, nincompoop…  and I definitely wouldn’t have known many many MANY other words that I am not comfortable using here!  Words like #$@%!  And @*#+!  And of course %@^#&*(!!!!

Each of these words has a specific meaning and is a Synonym (do you know that word?  It’s a word that means a word that means the same as another word!  Try saying that three times – even with a human mouth!).

One of those words is a synonym for tailgater.  One is a synonym for driving-texter.  And one is a symptom for person-who-won’t-pull-forward-in-an-intersection.

All of them are extremely entertaining to hear, from the back seat.  And I know that all of them are reasons why I’m glad the windows to our car are usually closed, as they might prove quite offensive to other people’s ears.

But for me, they’re just the same as the barks I yell out at cats, at squirrels, at passing dogs, at skateboarders… except that they’re even funnier.

Education experts tell us that the secret to a fulfilling life is to never stop learning, to keep ingesting new facts and ideas forever.  Well, this has been a list of things I’ve learned while being strapped into the back seat of a car – the most boring, cramped place I know….  and I still learned them all.

May 2014 bring you hundreds of thousands of new wonders and concepts and inspirations… so that your lives may be open, free, and joyously safe roads – with no limits at all.

And no tailgaters!!!

Cheers!

Shirelle

3 What the Hell (Part Two) … views on the present and the future

What the Hell (Part Two) …views on the present and the future

I really appreciate the letters I got in response to my question about the “end of the world” movies and TV shows out there.  No two were alike, which seems to say that there’s a lot behind the popularity of this theme.

Jazzbo writes:  It’s funny that you ask this Shirelle, because my friends and me were just talking about how much our junior high school feels just like The Walking Dead.  We’re the “humans” in it, and we’re surrounded by these mindless jocks, dorks who spend all day in video games, and yes the druggies – all of them are “walkers” (or zombies) to us.  Maybe to you that show seems strange and off, but to us, for one hour a week, it feels like we’re understood by the world, and we can understand the world.

Wow, I can relate to that.  I’m so often the outsider, especially when I’m surrounded by humans (like if Handsome has people over), and I often wonder why they’re so weird – why they’re not doing the things I’d do if I were them, like sniffing each other’s butts or jumping on each other, or eating all the food at once.  And I know that teenagers often feel just that way about the other kids at their schools.  I hope this doesn’t mean that you’re going to adopt a policy of shooting them in the brains, but I do understand!

Lucan writes: Shirelle I always thought you were a smart dog, but I think you’re naive about this.  The world IS coming to an end!  The movies about the end of times are here because we all know it’s just about to happen.  Global warming’s going to destroy our farms (it’s already happening); overpopulation’s going to lead to starvation and horrible wars; we’ve put chemicals in our air, our water, and our bodies that we don’t know what they’re gonna do; and all these wars in the Middle East – it’s just exactly what was predicted would happen.  Tell your friend Handsome to start praying for his soul, because this is world is about to explode.

This is the letter I most expected.  And Lucan, I would love to tell you that I know you’re wrong, but of course I can’t.  All those problems that you list are real, and could make things far worse than they are.  But I do have one argument to offer, which is that humans have predicted the end of the world countless times over the years, and have always been wrong.  The Black Plague didn’t do it.  Assorted events where religions predicted it haven’t happened.  World War II and the invention of the Atomic Bomb didn’t do it.  So while it’s always possible that it still could happen, I want to impress on you – the odds are very very high that the world might just continue, no matter how many ways humans conspire to make it more difficult to live in.  Similarly, although governments and political systems may change over time, fundamentally, people, and the way certain cultures like to run themselves, tend to stay pretty much the same.  So while we’ll see big shifts (like, most clearly today, the many changes in Egypt over the last few years), but nothing like the world of “The Hunger Games.”

Speaking of which…

LaVaM writes:  Thanks for asking about “The Hunger Games.”  I have an answer for you: it is my life.  I feel just like Katniss.  I also have a little sister who I want to take care of, and would be happy if the world would just leave us alone so we could hunt and find food, but being a teenage girl today is horrible, Shirelle.  Be glad you’re a dog.  Just like Katniss, I’m expected to dress to shine (even when I just want to hide and be invisible), I’m supposed to smile and pretend to love all the people who control my world, and now, when I get out of school, I’m supposed to go join the rat race and compete against all my friends and try to destroy them.  These are the best books ever written, as far as I can tell.  They tell my story anyway.

I find this so distressing!  And I’ll bet lots and lots of girls feel just this way.  Their problem isn’t that they’re scared the world might turn into the “Hunger Games” setting; they feel like it’s already there.  And for all the giant leaps that women have made in the last 50 years, it’s so sad that the pressure of “Be pretty, smile, and don’t have an opinion” still survives.  I hope you, my beloved readers, are ready to do what you can to change this nonsense.

And last, but by no means least, Ellie writes:

I am sadly one of those people who actually want something like what’s happening in The Hunger Games to happen and never have really thought about why. And finally I have come up with reasons.
Firstly, the children of this generation want to do something with their lives instead of playing computer games and having programs tell you you’re a hero (even after failing many times) and put their name out there. You only live once after all.
Secondly, we want something different and interesting happen to the world, just so we can do something interesting that the world can know about, feel glory, save the world, have people talking about you in legends for thousands of years.
Next, nowadays i think we all have a lack of hope and if something disastrous happens we have a chance to spread our hope and be the person that kept on believing.
Finally, us who stay hunched over our computer everyday playing video games, those shy kids, want their chance to come out of their shells and act like a total badass without anybody making fun of them or freaking out because they are wearing armour and a crossbow slung over our shoulders.

I hope this helped you understand. Games I play give people creative minds to write inspiring paragraphs like I just tried to do when Im half awake.

There is so much here.  If there’s anything sadder than someone thinking they live in the “Hunger Games” world, it must be someone who wishes she did.  But your points make sense, Ellie.

But I’m going to try to talk you out of them anyway – and you can probably guess just how:

Ellie, and all of you: you DO live in a world where you can be heroic.  The problems Lucan lists are all things you can devote yourself to helping.  Maybe you won’t become world-famous (though you might), but if you can do even a small part to help the world get better, you have achieved greatness.  Now if you want to be talked about in a thousand years, that’s a higher task, and it really requires you to work incredibly hard (Just think – how many people can you name who were around in 1013?!).  You’d have to do something no one had ever done before.  Even Katniss probably isn’t achieving anything that big (though I don’t know what happens in the second or third book!).  Be the first person on Mars, write the greatest story ever, or a song that will last for eternity.  I don’t know if you can do it, but I do know that no one has more chance than you – any of you – to be the one who can!

LaVaM, you probably can’t change the whole culture, and the way it treats teenage girls.  But maybe you can change something in your school, or even just in your family.  But if you just dress down or sulk, that won’t really change anything – people will just pay less attention to you, and notice the “shinier” girls more.  But what if you excel at something else?  What if you’re a great athlete, or write something amazing, or do something to save your sister?  People will take notice!  About fifty years ago an actress said a famous line in a movie:  Another character said to her she wasn’t beautiful enough to become a star and she answered, “You think beautiful girls are going to stay in style forever? I should say not! Any minute now they’re going to be out! Finished! Then it’ll be my turn!”  It’s a cute line in the movie – but the fact that it was said by the brand-new actress Barbra Streisand, who’s still a superstar half a century later, even with non-Hollywood looks… yeah it kind of rings true.

So what I really want to say to you all is – Don’t Give Up!  Yes, all the problems you talk about are real, but you can do something to help change them!  Back around the time Streisand was playing that role on Broadway, another not-classically-beautiful star-in-the-making sang these words: “There’s been rumors of war and wars that have been / The meaning of the life has been lost in the wind / And some people thinkin’ that the end is close by / ‘Stead of learnin’ to live they are learning to die.”

Well, I don’t want you learning to die!  I want you – my Pack, the coolest most fantastic incredible wonderful group of humans ever – to embrace this life, and to take the right lessons from all these stories out there.  If you’ve seen “This Is the End,” then great, do what it says: Refuse to Be a Jerk!  If you’ve seen “Pacific Rim,” work, like they do, with others to save the planet, by Refusing to be overcome by jealousies.  You’re a “Walking Dead” fan?  Then great – LIVE!  Use that glorious brain and body you’ve got: Run and laugh and get angry and fall in love and cry and learn and sing and kickbox and give too much money to someone who’s hungry and write an angry letter to a politician and kiss a stray dog (Kiss lots of dogs, and rub our tummies too).  There is such a thing as contagious zombiedom – but it doesn’t come from being bitten by a zombie; it comes from letting yourself live like one!  Refuse!  Refuse!  Be an animal instead!

And if you are (and how could you not be) a fan of “The Hunger Games,” then do what Katniss does.  Look at the crazy world around you and REFUSE to obey its rules when they’re wrong.  Live by your heart, by your love, by your fury.  Be better than the world around you.  Do good when the world says to do nothing.  Be kind when the world says not to care.  Be loving when the world says to hate.

And if you can do this, my dear dear friends – if you can take all the fear and negativity and hopelessness that’s out there, and turn it into hope and love and action…  you will prove yourself the greatest bunch of humans ever.

And maybe, just maybe, that will be remembered a thousand years from now.

So…  LIVE!

2 What the Hell! – questions about all this apocalyptic stuff

What the Hell! – questions about all this apocalyptic stuff

A couple of months ago, I was peacefully lying on the living room floor, enjoying a lovely dream about the nearby barbecue restaurant having forgotten to shut its kitchen window one night, just enough for me to squeeze in and have my way with the refrigerator… when I was awakened by the television.  Handsome and his friends often watch it, and usually I don’t pay much attention to them.  But this program had such interesting sounds, I couldn’t turn away.

All these grotesque humans, with parts of their bodies eaten away, were clumsily clomping after other people, trying to eat them.  I thought this was the oddest thing I’d ever seen.  Then one of Handsome’s friends commented that this is the most popular series on television, at least in our country, for teens and young adults.  “Wow,” I thought, “this must be a particularly strange episode.  The teens I know are always writing me about love and family and school and the pains and joys these things bring.  Not about flesh-eating zombies.”  But no, this show, which most of you’ve probably seen, is always about these monsters, and a few people who are trying to survive the world being taken over by them.

I wouldn’t have thought much about that (after all, Handsome’s always loved monster movies), except that then an ad came on for an upcoming movie.  A movie about the end of the world, and how people would survive after it.  And Handsome put the TV on mute, and started talking with his pals about what movies each were looking forward to seeing.  Was it the movie about Tom Cruise in a futuristic Hell, or Matt Damon in a futuristic Hell, or the American comedy about guys who smoke lots of pot facing the end of the world, or the British comedy about guys who drink a lot of alcohol facing the end of the world, or the more serious science fiction movie about the world being destroyed by dinosaurs who fight giant robots, or…

They all disagreed about which ones looked better or worse, but then they all said there was one movie they wanted to see, because they’d loved the book so much: the one about how, in a futuristic postwar world, the grownups make starving teenagers fight each other to the death.  Or rather, it’s the sequel to that movie – the original was one of the biggest hits of our time.

Which all brings to my little mind one big question:  What in the still-existing world is going on here?!

The entertainment industry is not stupid.  They spend billions of dollars to find out what people want to see – especially young people.  Sure they make mistakes (such as betting that millions would want to see their favorite pirate in the old West with a bird on his head), but for the most part, they know what they’re doing.  And what they’re finding – with movies, with TV, with books, with video games, with graphic novels, with EVERYTHING – is that the Apocalypse is huge  today.  Especially when it involves the world attacking teenagers!

And what I want to know is: Why?

A few years ago it was all about heroic heartthrob bloodsuckers; before that, it was young wizards.  Admittedly, all of these young characters were being attacked too, but there wasn’t the sense that the whole world was villainous.  Voldemort had his minions attacking Harry and his pals, but they were a small part of the world (most of whom were Muggles who had no idea what was going on); Bella’s dad might have been a potential threat to Edward and Jacob, but he was a good man protecting his daughter and community.  But Katniss Everdeen is suffering under a grotesque government, who consider her fight for her life entertainment.  Yucch!

Why this?  Why now?

Observant pup that I am, I have a few thoughts.  First, you teens have grown up in a very odd time, when it comes to entertainment.  Your parents grew up watching sitcoms and cop shows, and maybe some song-and-dance variety.  But you’ve been raised on “reality” television, especially shows where people battle each other to keep from being “voted off the island,” or where they try to become popular singers while daring cruel insults from scornful judges.  Is this what you’ve grown to expect real life to be?

Second, you’ve grown up in an unclearly-defined world war, where there are often no uniforms, and even nations don’t mean as much as they once did.  Instead the rules of combat are random attacks, hidden bombs, unmanned drones, or hijacked airliners.  One of the more popular TV shows in my country is about that war, where one of the two main characters is mentally ill, and it’s hard to determine which side the other is on.  War is always horrible, but other ones have seemed to make more sense, at least from the outside.

Third, I wonder if the idea of the world ending seems especially realistic to a generation who’s grown up in a time where we’re of drastic consequences to humans’ pollution of the planet.  Mountains of plastic bags and bottles show up in the oceans; animal species are dying off at a rate unlike anything since the dinosaurs; and the atmosphere is heating up at an ever-accelerating rate, resulting in ice melts, changing weather patterns, and countless other shifts we won’t know till they’ve happened.  And no matter how many adults try to pretend all this isn’t actually happening, you kids are facing very unsure futures, and it’s in your faces every day.

And last, I wonder if there’s a little bit of craving for the world of these stories.  So many kids today are trapped in worlds with hardly any Nature.  Their parents make them stay indoors, they watch TV or their computer all the time (when they’re not imprisoned in classrooms, which sometimes remind me of pounds) – they suffer from what some call “Nature Deprivation Disorder.”  So how natural then to fantasize about being Katniss with her bow and arrow, or one of those other heroes in a world after technology has failed – and get to feel part of Reality.  What I get to feel when I meet up with my friends and we have a big play fight and tear up a back yard!  I might get cut up or punctured a bit, but it feels so good to do!

But is this enough?  Does all this explain the attitudes of this generation?  And is there more to ask?  I love Taylor Swift and Adele, but has there ever been a time before when the two biggest stars in music focus so much about their bitterness about past boyfriends?!

My Pack, my favorite people in the world: Are you happy?  Do you feel safe?  Or are you, like Katniss, and Rick and Laurie and Daryl, kind of terrified of what’s out there?   Do you feel like this is your world, that you have the right to step into it and find love and happiness and meaning?  Or are you feeling like it’s all against you, and that you are Never Ever Ever going to get to Roll in the Deep of blissful connection?

(Handsome wants me to also ask what you all think about this “Blurred” something?  I don’t know what he means, though, and he refuses to tell me more.  But if you want to tell me about that, too, please do!)

I am a very optimistic pooch.  I continue to believe that humans are so smart that even if things get as bad as these movies and books and TV shows show, you’ll find a way out of it somehow.  But I have a tiny brain, I know.  So let me know what you think.

And in the meantime, don’t forget to step outside your homes, gaze at a sunset, listen to the birds’ songs, and acknowledge that no matter how bad the world might seem at times, you humans (and we dogs) haven’t completely ruined it just yet.

Thanks,

Shirelle