Passion

What's your passion? What do you do, that when you are engaged, the rest of the world falls away?


About 5 years ago I discovered by accident I enjoyed cooking. I enjoyed the creation. I loved being a apart of something beautiful and sensual. My fantasies began with paging through gourmet magazine and creating the dishes, with family and friends there. What they said, how it nourished them. Did they say anything or just roll their eyes back in their head? Having loved ones over for a meal, I blessed the food in my hands, blessed the recipients and discovered the lineage of women in my family that had done the same thing. When I cook, I am surrounded by the women in my family. My great-grandmother Ethel is around me with a smile and the smell of flour. My great-aunt Mickey chides me for not rolling the noodles or pie dough thin enough. Margie stands over me making caramel and fudge. My great-grandmother Jeanne is a quiet presence, representing my mother's side of the family. They all contribute and all are a part of the meals I make. This might be creepy for some but is comforting to me. Sometimes I ask for help or guidance, sometimes I just feel their presence and smile.

I'm an introvert, off the scales each time I take Myers Briggs. I'm terrible at small talk, it seems a waste of time. Instead I smile and nod a lot, people tell me I'm a great listener. I become overstimulated quickly, again shutting down, smiling and nodding a lot. But with food, and particularly baking the world is quiet. The rest of the world fades away, it is me, my ancestors and the dough. For those minutes or hours, all is right with the world.

Remember the brother from “A Christmas Story”? All bundled up for the cold, he gets finished with hats and mittens and then has to pee? Once he gets outside he falls down and is so bundled up he can't get up? That's me today, and everyone I've seen.

I'm sitting inside and have a sweater, cardigan and v neck on. 2 pairs of socks, Ear bra. Quilt on my lap. I check the thermostat and even though it says 63 I am chilly. When I take the dogs out- who are crazy with cabin fever, I put on a few more layers. To answer a call I put my headset on over my ear bra and turn up the volume.

NOAA says it is only -6 with a windchill of -24. I know I've been through worse. I know that living up on the mountain there were nights where the windchill was -50. I think about meditating on Hawaii, or a Denver July day but decide against it, being present is better and I end up relaxing into the cold. I think my Minnesota accent is coming back stronger in the cold. I stubbed my toe this morning climbing over dogs in front of the fire, and what came out of my mouth? "Oh Jeez"!

Pet Psychics a new trend?

Lately I've been reading stories online or in the paper about lost pets and psychics. Oprah had a pet psychic on her show who found a Pomeranian that had blown away in the wind. Two weeks ago, the Vancouver, BC newspaper had an article about a couple who had hired 2 psychics to find their very expensive pet. Today, an article about a family that had lost their doberman, offering a $10,000 reward

I wonder, why is this a new item of news? Before I realized that the connection I had with animals was something that most people did not have, I hired pet psychics or communicators for somewhere around 10-15 years. Then again I talk to the deceased for a living, maybe my hiring pet communicators since I was a teenager is not the best gauge of normal.

Is the idea that our connection with our animals is more than dominionism that woo woo? As a nation we spend hundreds of millions of dollars on our pets, and very little of this are vet bills and dog food. We train them, buy beds, clothes, toys, brush their teeth, buy cat trees, $50 brushes that help with shedding, we take them to day care, pay for airplane seats and support an airline devoted to transporting only dogs. We throw birthday parties, buy bigger beds because the animals are sleeping on our beds, and make celebrities out of “dog whisperers”. When they're young they eat our shoes, carpet, door jams, coffee tables and break through screens. When they're old we help them up the stairs, buy glucosamine or rimadyl for their hips and put up with deafness, blindness and loose “business”. We spend our days between joy and exasperation, wanting to provide the life we would want to have. After they are gone we examine their lives through our eyes often with regret.

We grieve our pets as strongly or stronger than our family members. Our facebook pages have more pictures of our animals than our family, and not only because of e-predators. We have dog parks, churches that allow dogs, and filter our dog water. Animals are providing something for us, couldn't this be something spiritual?

Have you ever been on a trip and thought of your animal? Have you ever been drifting off to sleep and thought of the cat outside? One thing I've encountered is that we all really can do this, and have. Those of us who do this for a living have just practiced it longer. We have learned what certain images mean, and do not have the emotional connection to the animal you have. When our emotions are involved we are less effective.

In the process of packing a house and moving a few months ago, my Golden Retriever Sean took off. He was usually back within 10-20 minutes, and hours had gone by, I was getting lots of wrong information because I was too close. I called a friend who is very intuitive (but would never admit it) and asked what he thought, he re-assured me Sean was around and fine. Later I asked Sean's sister from a different litter who also told me he was fine and where to look. I went to that area and he came bounding out of the local wildlife refuge, quite pleased with himself after 5 hours.

I have the honor of speaking with the animals both here and deceased, and yes all dogs go to heaven. Cats, rabbits, mice, gerbils, llamas and pot bellied pigs do too. Often, pets are the ones that meet us when it's our turn. The question I most often get is, “Are/were they happy?”

I can locate missing animals, using remote viewing and the animal's perspective as well as google maps. There has been enough evidence lately that finding animals via one of these gifts, that have been taken, run away or lost is real.  Being able to communicate with our animals is not that out there. Sometimes we need validation that we are doing the right thing. Sometimes there is a behavioral issue, sometimes a physical issue. Sometimes the animal is missing or deceased. We are with our animals every day, they are a large part of our lives. Whatever the issue, having the issue resolved will make a difference for us, our peace of mind and for them.