Pet the Dog/Human

When was the last time you went through your contacts? Your facebook friends? When was the last time that you used the technology at hand to actively remember and reach-out to folks that you haven't seen or heard from in forever??

Dogs need contact. Whether a human hand, or the embrace of another dog (even a cat will do in a pinch), dogs wear their heart on their sleeve, and they need love and attention. They are pack animals, innately social. And I believe we are to, but we forget sometimes, because we are all so good at masking our wants and needs, even to ourselves.

Something about it being undesirable to look needy...but isn't it true that most people try to appear content, even when feeling unfulfilled or lonely? A dog has no self-consciousness that says "I know I missed him, but when he comes home, I'm just gonna play it cool, not bark and howl and try to lick every part of his body", and we love them for it, because they love us, openly.

SO, what I came here to tell you, is that I sat down this morning, and just started going through my contacts and facebook friends and reaching out to the folks that gave me pause. Maybe you aren't like me, but if you are, you have got to be a little bit selective about who you reach out to, because over the years I have flippantly added people to my lists, and now have WAY TOO MANY people that I could, theoretically, send a quick message to. However, I suggest just starting with a few.

Maybe send some messages to a few friends from high school or college. Or maybe some names of past love interests will catch your eye. Life is long, and time heals all (at least most things), so even if you feel weird about it, or don't know what to say, I highly suggest just starting to write these people a message.

Don't have too much intention at the onset. Just imagine this is petting the dog. The theory being, that we are all social animals, and thus it feels good to randomly have someone from your past say a few words to you, ask you about your life, tell you about theirs, or just reminisce about the times y'all shared.

I think of myself as a social and well-connected fellow, but I still love it when people from my past reach-out. It brings me back, gives me some perspective on my own life and times. Voices from the past make me feel connected to who I was, where I came from, and ultimately, give me some perspective with which I can see a bit down the road.

Nothing is certain, and definitely not the future, but hearing from someone from 5, 10, 20+ years ago, that gives you an idea of the potential longevity of the human life and experience. A lot of people come and go. In and out of your life is intertwined a multitude of stories, each as vital and vibrant as your own.

Reaching out to folks and trying to relate to people that I haven't heard from in a while, don't know anymore - or didn't really even know to begin with - has made me recognize how much we all share. The human experience is like a snow flake: no two are exactly alike, but they all share some core structures - peaks and troughs, emotions and desires, and they are all connected - an endless branching, connecting, overlapping where each is distinct, yet part of a larger whole.

I challenge you to pet the dog and be happy. I challenge you to reach-out and feel that deep connection to others, as well as to your own past, present, and future. And because humans are more complex and fickle than dogs, make sure that the reaching out is an end in its self. Because if you put all the value of the act in the response...well you may not get a response, or it might be lack-luster. Remember, as much as this is about your audience, this is also about you.

You can only do so much to make someone else feel important and connected, but I really believe that you can wholly effect those feelings in yourself. And maybe I'm getting a little spiritual here, but that's enlightenment right? When you can find peace within, no matter what chaos exists without?

To bring it full circle - I believe finding inner peace (as self-serving as it seems) is essential to world peace, to philanthropy, to helping others find a peace of their own. You just aren't in a position to truly listen and empathize with the struggles of another human until you come to terms with your own warring. And once you do that, once you have reestablished that connection to one human (yourself) I feel like it becomes easier to establish a deep feeling connection with other humans. Hopefully feeling a connection to your past and future self breeds a connection to the past and present of others, to all of humanity, to all life, and maybe, even that which we term "inanimate". Maybe, hopefully, by reaching out to folks, you can really start to see and believe in the continuity of your own life, all life, the past, present, future of this wild world where SO MUCH has come to pass, SO MUCH has yet to come, and how they only thing that really seems to matter are the people that we find a connection to in the present...starting with ourselves.

Go in Peace