Truth

Not everyone is comfortable in the darkness and all the emotions and feelings that are usually associated with it. However I am very comfortable there. I actually find peace there. Pain, anger, rage….these aren’t things that are foreign to me. I’ve lived so much of my life with them hanging around me, that I no longer fear them. Instead, I consider them my friends.

Death came to my doorstep early in life, and though he did not come for me, he took a piece of me when he left. And though I feared my initial encounter with him, and did not want to look him in the face, he did not leave me empty handed, because he brought with him an old friend, and her name was Darkness.

It didn’t take long for me to become very comfortable and intimate with this friend. She became my constant companion while I navigated this world lost and alone. She took my hand and led me through the valley of my heart, and there waiting for me, were anger and rage. They welcomed me with open arms, and I embraced them. These new friends gave me access to a hidden, inner world that had no boundaries. And while in this world, I discovered a secret, a hidden truth. That all wisdom, everything we need to know, we already do. We are the owners of infinite wisdom and understanding, if we choose to visit those places hidden deep inside us….and listen. Rage gave me the power to open that door. It allowed me to step into that unknown without fear. And by walking through the doorway that rage opened for me, I found truth and I found myself.

Dogs are our mirrors and they reflect back at us who we really are. They tap into our deepest, most hidden emotions. There’s no denying it. That’s just what they do. We can get into all kinds of theories of why that is, and there are many, but few can argue this fact. So if you have a dog that is expressing his fear, his anger, his rage….is it really his feelings he’s expressing or yours?

When you look at your dog, and you look through his eyes and look into his soul, you’re really looking at yourself. Because this being that sits before you, is not “merely” a dog. He is all your hopes and fears. All your anger and rage. All your unfulfilled wants and desires. All your joy. He is your heart and your truth, and he holds the key to unlocking that door to self discovery, just as Darkness helped me unlock mine. He is the ultimate guide on this journey we call life, because through him, you can find your truth, and ultimately find yourself.

E.E. Cummings said it so beautifully, and if your dog could speak, I believe this is what he would tell you:

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

The next time your dog shows you his heart, remember that what he’s really showing you is your own.