passing stuff along

I’m in a cafe [as usual]. And I see a woman with two dogs sitting just outside the window I’m next to. One dog is fairly thin for an American dog. Though not sickly… just thinner than normal. And the other dog… well, the other dog looks terrible.

This dog’s face reminds me of a very adorable stuffed doggy I had as a kid. Like that of a baby-husky… very cute, medium length fur, terrific dog smile.

But it seems like this dog just made it out of Europe during the bubonic plague era. His fur is all mangled, uneven; there are huge patches of skin with no fur, where it seems like it’s rashy and sensitive. Half of his tail is missing fur. And there are still obvious remnants around his anal region. His predominantly white fur makes it rather obvious.

I feel sad for him. He’s still wagging his tail though. And as his owner eats her breakfast, he’s waiting for a morsel of mercy to be passed his way. She just now passes a large piece of jammed toast.

And then I look at her. And you know how they say that dogs resemble their owners? Well… she doesn’t quite look as sickly as her dog and being clothed I’m not aware of any patchy, rashy skin [and I’m not working hard to look either]. But from a cursory overview, she doesn’t look like she’s in the best shape. Hair all over the place [like she decided a few days ago that she wanted dreadlocks], borderline obese [choice of breakfast doesn’t help her] and it’s not hard to see that she could afford to wash her clothes more. To say more would be looking too hard and I probably crossed the line of being mean already.

I think it would be unfair to make a ton of snap judgments and over-spiritualized conclusions. I’d just be another of the judgmental masses. But I think it’s safe to say that the people [dogs] that spend the most time around us are the products of our very selves. Who we are will be passed on to those around us whether we like it or not. Which makes our own journey towards health, wholeness and spiritual attune-ness the most important piece in the puzzle. We can never give what we don’t have. And we will undoubtedly give away what we do have… even if it is toxic and life-sucking.