I recently came across a poem that I’ve shared below. It really touched me and so I wanted to share it with you.
We’ve all been through so much in the past two years. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that we were created to experience joy?
This morning was the first day I was able to get outside for a walk since hurting my back in December. While I could have gone sooner it was the frigid temps and snow-covered roads that kept me inside longer.
But today was the day! With a set of hand warmers I recently bought tucked inside my mittens (I have poor circulation in my fingers), I was thrilled to step out into the light that was just beginning to rise out of the east.
As I walked down the roads and sidewalks I’ve traveled many times, I felt like a million bucks! Toward the end of my walk, I saw my neighbor from down the road, Beverly. At the end of her hand, she held onto a leash that was attached to… a new-to-her dog!
I recalled how in mid-summer I saw her out for a walk without her then dog, Lucy Lou. While I’d seen her walking from time to time without Lucy Lou, this time, I felt my heart sink. As she approached me, I just instinctively knew what she was going to say. Lucy Lou had moved on to a journey beyond this earthly plane.
I was surprised in a way that I cried when Beverly told me the news. But I had grown attached to seeing Lucy Lou on my walks most mornings. She was a cattle dog, twelve years old, and truly knew and embraced the art of sauntering. She always brought a smile to my face.
I recall one day seeing Beverly and Lucy Lou on a walk when we stopped to chat. Lucy Lou had on a bandana. That was the first time I’d seen her wearing one. Beverly shared with me that Lucy Lou had surgery a few weeks before for a torn ACL in her knee. Her fur where they’d shaved her still hadn’t grown back. So Lucy Lou had been to the groomer to have the rest of her fur shaved to disguise the missing patch. The pretty bandana was a gift from the groomer.
I remember saying something to the effect that Lucy Lou was still beautiful in my eyes even if some of her fur was missing. It then hit me that this encounter was mirroring some angst and sadness I was feeling about my own hair. As I’ve gotten older, my thin hair to begin with, has thinned out even more post-menopausal.
I could remain sad and frustrated or I could find joy in the here and now. I’ll never forget that lesson at that moment all because of Lucy Lou.
But back to now and experiencing joy on my morning walk that had been a while since I’d been able to enjoy a walk. Added to that joy was meeting Ellie, a three-year-old huskie and cattle dog mix. Who knows what lesson she may bring at some point? But today it was a reminder that joy is available in every moment. We just have to be open to it.
And alas, here is the poem that inspired all this reflection!
I sometimes forget
that I was created for Joy.
My mind is too busy.
My Heart is too heavy
for me to remember
that I have been
called to dance
the Sacred dance of life.
I was created to smile
To Love
To be lifted up
And to lift others up.
O’ Sacred One
Untangle my feet
from all that ensnares.
Free my soul.
That we might
Dance
and that our dancing
might be contagious.
~Hafiz
XO
Barb
