Island Med Student

What a wonderful Sunday today has been!

I woke up early this morning so that I could take my doggies to the off-leash dog run area in Prospect Park. It turns out that my usual dog run area was closed because of a concert, so Micah and I went to a new, even bigger dog run! There were literally hundreds of dogs + owners running around and having entirely too much fun!

I then ran some errands and replied to a bunch of emails. (My next post will include all about how thankful I am to all of my readers.)

I just received the following comment from my mother (Bob) on my blog:

“Such cute, entertaning and smart kids…who have grown up to be beautiful, talented and brilliant women. Makes me cry and smile at the same time! Always keep in touch with your inner child…and you’ll always enjoy the wonder each day can bring!”

Want to know why I have such an awesome perspective on life? Want to know why I’ve grown up to be such a loud-mouthed, creative, crazy woman? It’s entirely due to my mother. She is so similar to me. I owe so much to her. Her comment above really sums it up!

Then I also got to thinking about how I came to become such an animal lover. I mean, it’s fairly obscene. I love ALL animals. I am one of those very annoying people you see on the street who runs up to other people’s dogs and starts kissing and hugging them and saying (in a really cheesy, child-like voice) “who’s the cuuuutest doggy in the world? huh? who’s the cutest? who wants to give me luvins?” Really, it’s rather ridiculous. If I could have it my way, I’d have hundreds of pet doggies, a herd of goats, and a whole slew of other animals living in my apartment. But, it turns out that the New York City housing authority frowns upon this kind of thing.

So, why am I a crazy animal freak? Again, I have my mom to thank for this. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by hundreds of animals. It’s all I know, really. And this whole “fear of dogs” thing? I don’t get it. You give me the meanest, scariest, mangiest dog, and I will have him/her licking my face in a matter of minutes. ‘Nuff said.

So, then I got to thinking, I saw all these kids playing in the dog run this morning. They also had no fear. They had the hugest grins on their faces, playing with any and every doggy who came up to them (Scope is a major kid lover). And maybe, just maybe, it’s a good thing for kids to learn not to fear animals. And maybe, just maybe, this lack of fear can cross over into the rest of their lives. Maybe they learn not to fear themselves, and also learn to love another creature so much that it brings them to tears. I think it’s certainly worked for me.

And then I got to thinking about how doggies are kind of “slaves” to what Freud would call their “id.” They don’t so much worry about the future, or paying taxes, or what their butt looks like, or whether or not they should have another bite of dog food because it might make their hips become fat. They are stuck in the here and now. And they are passionate. They love deeply.

And then I got to thinking about how it’s not such a bad thing to let your “id” out every once in a while. No, we can’t all go around having sex with anyone who sniffs our butt, and sleeping for 20+ hours a day. But maybe there are some of us that should let our “id” out at least a little more than we usually do.

Our inner child IS our inner dog in many ways. And maybe just maybe we should all unleash our inner dogs more than we tend to do.

I challenge you to all go to the dog park in the morning, and frolic in the grass with all of the doggies and try and be pissed off at the same time. I bet you an oyster you can’t!

I hope you enjoy the video below, which I just made from iPhone photos and FlipHD videos that I took at the dog park. Try and watch it without smiling. I bet you can’t!

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