magic - an interlude

I have been working on my post about my journy over the course of the last year after losing my job last August. I am late in posting it because I am struggling with articulating some of the moments, some of the key turning points that lead me to the joyful place that I find myself in today. And here is why....

I have shared parts of this story with a wide audience and find myself questioned frequently about the weight of the role that Sophie played in this journey. Some people find it troublesome that a dog had such an impact on my life course rather than people. They have percieved, mistakenly, that I do not have good human relationships in my life and, therefore, needed to turn to a dog instead. I have also struggled, sometimes, to explain exactly how Sophie enabled me to see more clearly...how she showed me a path that fit with my true self. And I realized my struggle to explain stems from one simple fact: I don't know how she did it. But she did.

So as I was writing my post about our journey...and re-writing to try and explain it better....and re-writing to try and show those in doubt that I do not believe dog love replaces human love....I decided to just stop. Why does it need to be explained? I've tossed away my hours of analysis and decided to rely on my instinct (another lesson from Sophie) and summed it up to this: magic.

Not the kind of magic that makes rabbits disappear in hats or that levitates objects or that foresees the future. It was the kind of magic that happens around us everyday if we look hard enough for it: in a stranger's random act of kindness, in baby girl's wide eyes as she catches her first glimpse of the world around her, in the love of a good dog. It's the kind of magic that fills up your heart and that opens your eyes to what is good, to what is possible in this life. We shouldn't question ourselves or each other on where we find it.....whether it's in our children, in our travels to different countries, in our cameras, in our writing, in our churches or even in our dogs...we should just recognize it for the gift that it is and grab onto it with all our might.

Sophie brought that magic into my life at a time when I needed it most. So the story that I am going to post this week about our journey over the last year will not be about how and why....it will just be about us. About us...and the magic.

ten days

We are heading out tomorrow for our summer vacation at the cottage. Ten glorious days of northern bliss. I am so looking forward to it...to slowing down for an extended period of time. To hanging out with Sophie. To spending time with my family. To taking some new photos. To having no demands, no deadlines, no expectations for ten days. Even Elora makes this trip to cottage with us. We are there long enough to give her a chance to settle in...and a family vacation would simply not be complete without her.



The cottage is a place of reflection for me. A place where I think about my life and about where I want it to go next. I am feeling the need to simplify these days....I have found so much in the last year that I want to spend time on (writing, photography, two blogs, my new job, and so on), but I am feeling stretched a little thin trying to keep up with everything. I will spend some time at the cottage thinking about this concept of simplicity, about what the next chapter of my life story will be, about who I am.



When I return in August it will be almost one year to the day (August 12th, 2008) that I was laid off from my previous job. And this, without a doubt, has been the best year of my life so far. My August 12th post here on Finding Sirius will be in honour of that year long journey. A journey that I began at low point in my life when I was lost and unsure. A journey that I began by following a dog...and my heart.

missing them

I am travelling this week for work...flying out tomorrow to Kansas and arriving back home on Friday. I am looking forward to my trip but oh, how I will miss Sophie and Elora. This is the furthest (in terms of geography) that I have ever been from them....and for one of the longest stretches of time.

It's funny how once you learn to live with animals, how quiet and empty and awkward your world becomes without them...even if it's only for a few days. I know that I will be sitting in my hotel room in the evenings this week listening for content dog sighs that never come and watching for sleek feline movement at my feet that isn't there.

And I will lie in my hotel bed, on the pristine, crisp white sheets, enveloped in peaceful quiet and I will think of my sofas covered in fur, of 2am cat "crazies", of muddy paw prints on the hardwood floors, of down-filled duvets forever tainted with the smell of wet dog.....and I will ache to be home. To be surrounded by cat love. To be encompassed by dog love.

woman's world magazine

A few months back a research editor for Woman's World magazine emailed me regarding the article that I wrote for the Toronto Star newspaper about Sophie and I. She thought it was a story that their readers might be interested in and so: Sophie and I have a feature article about us in the issue that will be on sale this Monday, July 20th!

I have not seen the article (that will be very much based on the Star piece, although I did not author this one) nor have I seen the photos (of Sophie and I) selected from the shoot, but hopefully it turns out well and some of their readers connect with and enjoy the story.

The magazine is available in Canada and the US, but does not currently host an online presence. I will attempt to scan and post the article here for all of Sophie's international fans. :) The power of dog love....of how it touches people's lives, of how it makes this world a better place to live in...I will never get tired of being a part of that story, or of sharing that story, every chance I get.

sunday stills - texture

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was texture. This little flower popped up unexpectedly on the side of my lawn. I initially noticed it for the colour...but as I took a closer look I saw a variety of texture's and surfaces on the delicate flower. It continues to amaze me...the things that you can see in this world through the lens of camera.

sunday stills - wildflowers

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge was wildflowers. These wild daisies line the stone path down to the lake at our cottage.

lessons - seven

In everything that you do....



...be true to yourself. To your nature. To who you are.