New Perspectives for Life Lessons
Several years ago I made a decision that changed the direction of my life. I had been chasing the
goal that was set for me by an eight year old me. It had all been spelled out for me in a book about an art dealer in 19th century France. The life of an art dealer promised romance, intrigue, and wealth. So, with my goal ever in sight, I did whatever I could, learned whatever I needed, to get there. It took several years and it was a wonderfully fulfilling journey. Eventually I assumed the mantle of the artist/art gallery director/owner/dealer I had imagined.
My chosen career was not meeting my expectations. So, I decided I would learn to do something else. I’d return to school. My friends intoned that I was too old and too established to “cut and run.” I had spent my life focused on the pursuit of this dream. Was it possible to reinvent myself?
And, how could I compete intellectually with the fresh, nimble, barely used minds of 20 year olds. Forty? Too old to change? I don’t think so.
I did the math. If I lived into my 80’s, I had more than half of my life yet to experience! For the rest of my life to be happier I needed to make changes now. What do we hear? “If you keep on doing the same thing, you get the same results.”
Every breath is a new opportunity to change the direction of your life.
My whole life and work experience had been as a creative. I decided to take some community college courses to see if I had the left brain aptitude for medical work.
My ability to focus on the coursework was profoundly better than I expected; better than it had been when I was 20. I was especially pleased at how well I was able to grasp the sciences: organic
chemistry, microbiology, human anatomy, pharmacology. Here, in my early forties, I could see practical applications for everything that was taught. I had the life experiences of travel, parenting, social relationships, and business management; and I was learning about blood circulation, immune systems, hormones, pheromones, skin integrity, nutrition, and even whether or
not you should starve or feed a fever.
I was even more surprised at the left brain approach to human interactions. I was intrigued with the functions of body language and manipulation (in a good way) of personal space for interpersonal comfort and communications. My training included documenting my perceptions of my interactions with patients. I learned to observe and control body language. I described how my posture and spatial relationship affected communication.
I immediately realized that my ability to communicate was also influenced by my patients’ attentiveness and focus. If either of us put up any blocks, consciously or unconsciously,
physically or emotionally, the opportunity for open communication was diminished. For example, when I held a clipboard in front of me, there was a physical block between our two energies and patients were not as open. When I held the board down at my side, exposing my heart, patients would share their stories freely.
So my take-aways were that I was (1) responsible for my part of the discussion and (2) could open the others’ blockages with my body language. Powerful and useful lessons.
Another part of my training opened me to a whole new realm of awareness. This was Healing Touch, the work of the Holistic Nurses Association. Healing Touch is a form of energy work that
enables me to identify and influence variations and movements of energy, life force, in and around the body, without actually touching it. Using the techniques of Healing Touch, I can sense the strengths and movements of chakras, polarity, and layers of personal space.
My belief systems were evolving. There is a whole lot more happening in the world around us than what we can observe with our 5 senses.
Around me, I felt cultural reinforcement for the shifts I was feeling. I was introduced to the works of Dr. Deepak Chopra. I was moving from Chicago to Toledo, a four hour trip each way. The cassette recordings of one of Deepak’s first books “Ageless Body Timeless Mind,” lasted for exactly four hours. So, traveling back and forth I kept playing the cassettes. I wasn’t sure what it was all about, but it seemed right. After numerous repetitions, anticipating the ensuing logic and assumptions of the foreign-to-my-ears Ayurveda concepts, I found myself comprehending and
integrating more and more of what Deepak was saying.
Shortly thereafter another book, James Redfield’s “The Celestine Prophecy” entered my sphere. Redfield described energy in different terms. This was the energy of intention and the energy of allowing, flowing with the rhythms and inertias of the life forces of living and inanimate objects.
The take away here was when we are open and observant, Deepak’s energy could be applied to ADLs, Activities of Daily Living.
If I were going to tap into the energies Deepak Chopra and James Redfield described, I needed to learn to be absolutely present, attentive and aware of my surrounding; but first I had to learn to
track my own energies. It was an extension of the personal observation work I had done in nursing training. I began playing Tai Chi. With practice, awareness expanded.
Enter the dogs. Dogs live in a world of being in the moment. They watch and respond to everything that is happening in their environments. They use the 5 senses that we know about and more. My decision to shift from the art gallery field opened me to the training that I would need to work with dogs. I could see, though, that I was only marginally aware of what they were sensing.
I am tapping into my experiences with physiology, body language, Healing Touch (and Reiki), energy work, and the powerful action of presence. I am sure there are many sensory options that are there, but I am clueless as to what they are.
In my readings, I came across a passage in Roger Caras’ book, “A Dog is Listening,” in which he suggests that dogs may have as many as 20 senses. Twenty!?! What was he thinking? What might they be?
Well, there is the power of presence, as we said. So, there is its antithesis, too, the power of
absence. Masaro Emoto, in his book, “The Hidden Messages in Water” describes how the shapes of his water crystals were affected by the intentions on love and hate; and they had the most distortion with ignoring, or not given any energy.
There is an organ in the dog’s palate, the vomeronasal / Jacobson’s organ, that allows dogs to taste smell. That could be one. Dogs could also have a visceral response to barometric pressure, to
the moon (Alice), and to sun spots.
Take the rest of the day and think about what they might be. When you have some ideas of what these other senses that dogs use might be, please send them to me.
By the way, check out Roger Caras’ book,. It’s a hoot.
3overrun