Yesterday I blogged about my Golden Retriever, Alfie, because it was his birthday. We went for a lovely birthday walk, made extra special because it was high tide which gave him lots of opportunities to paddle in the marshes. Rather him than me on a blowy October day! I often find long walks inspiring, and that’s just what happened yesterday. I started to think about lessons I learn from Alfie.
Alfie is good at lots of things, but the one he really excels at is being a dog. He loves sniffing, running, paddling, eating and sleeping. If he has an itch he will scratch it, wherever he is, and if he finds something truly disgusting he will either roll in it or eat it…or both! He has no problem with his body – inquisitive wet nose, flappy ears, furry coat and waggy tail. In fact he seems to enjoy it to the max. You could say that he lives in a very natural, instinctive way.
What about us…do we enjoy being human? Do we think our bodies are fun places to live and enjoy using our instincts and impulses? Hmmm, thought perhaps not. Over hundreds of thousands of years we seem to have thought ourselves into a state where we find our bodies embarrassing or even shameful a lot of the time, and we spend time, money and effort trying to convince ourselves and others that we are not actually living, breathing mammals but something resembling a mannequin or image in a magazine. Think of the hair removal, the makeup, the cosmetic surgery, the pills and potions to control our bodies’ behaviour and all that embarrassment about natural functions.
Now, don’t panic, I’m not advocating ignoring manners and social conventions, or allowing unacceptable bodily functions to take place in public. I just want to put a few questions out there. Watch a dog, a bird or even a toddler, and see how they live in joy. They look for what they want to do, and then they try and do it. When they are tired they rest, when they are hungry they eat, and if something feels wrong they avoid it. As adult human beings, we do need to take responsibility and to live in harmony with the rest of society. But do we need to be as detached from our bodies, our instincts and our innate joy as we can sometimes be?
Right now, society seems to be particularly unable to accept the fact that when we are tired we should rest. I addressed this in a blog post some time ago about anti fatigue moisturiser. When Alfie is tired, he lies on the floor and goes to sleep. He doesn’t get over- tired because he knows when to rest. We educate this innate knowing out of our children and, by the time we are grown up, we are more interested in covering up the signs of tiredness than in dealing with the tiredness itself. When you start to pull it apart like this, doesn’t it seem crazy?
I’d like to be really good at being a human being. In addition to having good relationships, intellect, character and all those attributes we know to be important, I think that this also means being in tune with my body, my intuition and my spirit. Behaving in a way that supports my body rather than punishing it, listening to that inner knowing, those feelings and ideas that seem to come from “nowhere”. It’s not actually nowhere, it’s just that we have largely forgotten how to listen to our intuition, and we only trust logic. Having spent years believing that intellect is everything, and having been trained to analyse evidence, I’ve now finally started to realise there’s a whole lot more to be known than can be explained rationally.
As Hamlet said, “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy”.
And I think that we should also stop listening (and caring about) what other people think about us. I know that I really need to take my own advice on that one! But other creatures simply do not care. They act the way they do regardless of judgment.
Very true, that applies to me too! Thank you.
I’m so glad I was drawn to your blog. What an inspiring post! I, too, have a little dog (a Westie) that I love so much — and you’re right in that we should strive to be more like our pets or toddlers. This was thought-provoking! I also agree with Angie who commented above — we certainly do need to stop worrying about what others think of us. I’ve always heard it put this way — “What you think of me is none of my business.” Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this terrific post!
Nice blog encouraging us to simply be our authentic selves. Anyway, who else can we be. Would love you to check out my blog today. It happens to be the story of a human being authentically himself.
Thanks will have a look.
What a great post! I was severely chastised years ago for making a decision that flew in the face of “society’s opinion” and I still suffer aftershock from that.
I’m learning now, though, not to listen to those who need me to conform to the opinion of what is socially acceptable, and do what I need to do for my own well-being.
Kudos!
Brilliant, it takes courage to do that. You set a good example, thanks for sharing.
So very true, Harriet, and I often look at toddlers who explore with such joy, anticipation and wonder. I try to recapture this myself and sometimes succeed!
I went back to bed today!! I am very aware of when i need to take a day away – especially when I wake up with tears but have a gig in the evening… time to get more sleep and hit restart! :D x Good old Alfie!
Hope it worked well and the gig goes brilliantly!
This is a great post! I agree with a lot of what you said. I love to observe how my dogs enjoy living inside their fur, and yet show such unique personalities… I, too, wish it was easier to live in my skin. And agree that the saddest thing is we do it to ourselves!
This is one of the reasons why I love working for myself. I can sleep or eat etc when I want to or need to. Society has a lot of demands on our time yet no consideration of our natural rhythms. I love Spain and France where people are more attuned to their need for rest and play. I believe this is an important subject as we are losing touch with what is natural to us. Something needs to change so we can tune back in.