17 Jul July 17, 2025
July 17, 2025
I have become a dog person. I have always loved dogs but I haven’t interacted with them like I see some people do. I had an arms length relationship. I think it was mostly a protective measure on my part, my heart wasn’t quite big enough yet. OR because I didn’t want to fall in love and have the dog die and have to experience all of that grief. OR I was really busy and I just didn’t have time. We have always had a dog, but I didn’t, until I had to reorient my life because of stress, body pain, and depression, fall in love with our dog. The cats too came to aid in my healing. I would find myself covered with dog and cats – two cats and the dog and often the cat, Pucky, would climb up and lay on my injury, with no coaxing.
Anyway, Amanda arrived to work just now and the two dogs (Jack and Jenny) run in ahead of her looking at me, alerting me….as if saying ‘hey, there is someone coming’. No barking just staring at me. ANYWAY. [BTW, the mill can spin dog hair. As long as it is between 2 and 6 inches, we can. You can literally collect the brushing and clipping from your dog and when you have a big bag full, at least 5lbs we can spin it for you at the spinning mill.] Just saying.
On my mind today is life and worth. Who decides? What is worth? Is only my life, or the life of those closest to me the most valuable, because of my need for self preservation and my love for those closest to me? From a population on earth perspective we have hit our max long ago. From a population perspective, a resource perspective we need fewer people. Yet we avoid death at all costs. At least here we do. Here, where I live, Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Canada, I get sick and I go to the hospital and think nothing of the cost. Actually, I do think about the cost, but I don’t think about it from a personal affordability perspective. If I acquire a deadly illness, I get specialists, treatment, care. Behind the scenes is there someone keeping track of how much I am costing? Is there a quiet discussion happening saying okay, we have reached a million dollars of care so we need to back off now?
For me, part of life is that I will die. The hope is that I will die after I have lived a good life. But of course, what constituents a good life? That changes over time. It changes as we age, as life circumstance change, as our perspective changes, doesn’t it? How long does it need to be of living a good life before it is okay to die? 60, 70, 80? Definitely not 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or even 50. Where do we learn all of this, who influences it?
I have the privilege to live here. My life, to me, isn’t worth more or less than any other human. If I got sick with the funds in my bank account and I needed to pay for life saving, life preserving services, all of them, I would not survive it because I do not have enough money. It is this way for many around the world. All they are left with is prayer. They live a good life and no matter what your age, if you get really sick, there is no life saving. Life and death are always right there. The wealthy live. The poor die.
No wonder people are overcome with greed and consumption.
Clearly this has nothing to do with fibre.
Or maybe it does, because maybe, part of me living a good life is that I am here today, listening now to the spinner running while I type.
May you be living well. Sincerely,
Patricia