Canine Gravity for Stressful Times

Pressures of modern life — be they related to work, families, political climate, or global catastrophes — make a girl wish she could simply float away for a while and get a break from the grind. Yet, whether you face short, intense challenges or the death-by-a-million-cuts reality of lingering problems, the trick (as far as I can tell) is to stay put.

Now, I’m not going to try and fool you. My own emotional survival does require a certain amount of protection and distancing because, honestly, if I actually felt all the things I should be feeling about life right now, I’d never get out of bed.

I often take my cues on getting through daily life from the dogs:

• Ginko faithfully pilots the sofa, serving as both witness and touchstone
• Lilly moves when I move, reacts when I react, providing a mirror for my own condition

Dogs: Our Anchor to What Matters

Like a small, furry source of gravity, force of nature, the dogs ground me with their presence, through their humor, by the sheer force of needing to provide for them and take care of them.

Sometimes they do this by just being nearby.

Other times, especially at night, Lilly chooses instead to curl up right on my chest or my tummy and hold me in place.

“Rest now, Mama,” I pretend she tells me. “I’ll hold you down so that you don’t float away.”

So, if you ever call me in the evening and I do not answer, it’s because I have 35-pounds of love holding me in place.