To Blossom

Through the years of working with my doggie patients and getting to know their owners, I find myself truly blessed in the relationships I have formed with many of them. I enjoy my time treating my doggie patients as well as conversing with their owners. The more I know about the owners the better I can assist their dogs in their recovery as the owners are a big component in that process. And, I believe it is also therapeutic for some clients as we talk about life in general. But there are some owners and their beloved dogs with whom I have formed close attachments making it so difficult for me when one passes on and departs our material world as we know it.

Almost a week ago, one of my doggie patients, Blossom, unexpectedly died. Blossom and her human mom, who I will call "T", are one of those clients with whom I have formed a close bond during the many times I have treated Blossom. Blossom, who was fourteen and a half years old, had her set of health issues. However, the last time I gave her an acupuncture treatment, a few days before her passing, Blossom was doing great. She was alert, affectionate and frisky. So, I was shocked to have "T" tell me that she had passed away. It left a heaviness in my heart the whole day. "T" suspected that Blossom had a stroke that took her life quickly. Fortunately for Blossom, it was sudden. Unfortunately for "T", the suddenness of her death was so devastating since she didn't anticipate it, and it didn't help that "T" was unable to say good-bye properly.

As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, dogs come to us for a reason. They could be teaching us aspects of ourselves via their displayed behavior or by helping us to learn patience or find strength within us. Years prior when "T" was at the pound hoping to find another dog to help her get over the loss of another, Blossom came along. Blossom had chosen "T" to be her human mom even though there was another family interested in Blossom. It was as if Blossom had the foresight to know that "T" needed her, and therefore behaved so adorably cute making it difficult for "T" to resist her.

Knowing "T"'s history, there was a lot of hardship that she endured since childhood through her adult life. Her experience toughened her up and probably caused her to guard not only her heart but her whole being. Blossom's history paralleled "T"'s in that she also came from struggle and tribulation. Both she and "T" wanted a better, happier life. So, they were well matched. I suspect that having Blossom in her life, helped "T" slowly tear down the wall she had built around herself and rediscover living fully once again. Only a dog, who has a pure heart and loves unconditionally, has the power to draw us humans out from our darkness.

Oddly, "T" informed me that minutes before Blossom's death, she had said to Blossom, "How could I manage without you?" Blossom had reminded her mom that it was time for dinner. After eating her meal with much vigor, she went to the another room whereby the sound of a thud was soon heard. "T" and her husband found Blossom collapsed on the floor with her legs contorted. They couldn't help her because the life within her was already gone.

I am certain that Blossom's mom did not expect her rhetorical question to be answered with Blossom's death. However, because it was, it led me to believe that perhaps Blossom wanted her human mom to know that indeed she was strong enough to manage without her. It was time for "T" to claim the person she had "blossomed" to be and Blossom knew it. She was, of course, a very smart girl. And, because she knew it, she was ready to depart from her physical body. Blossom had accomplished her task in teaching her human mom what she needed to learn. "T" had told me a number of times how much she depended on Blossom. Sometimes, when we depend on someone, we forget that we can depend on ourselves to do what the other person had taken on to do for us. I admit that I have a tendency to do the same sometimes. For example, in the past, Augustine would normally take out the trash bins onto the street for trash day. I relied on him to do that. But now that Augustine is never home during the morning of trash day, I have to be the one to do it. Poor analogy, I know. It was the only one I can think of at this moment. But I hope it got my point across.

Because of Blossom's death, I could not help but think about the idea of death. I had a conversation with a friend of mine a couple of months ago about this topic. My friend was afraid of death because he saw it as the end of life as he knew it. He was surprised to find out that I had no fear of dying. I did not have the same belief as he did. I believe that dying is only the end of our physical body. But our non-physical self which is our consciousness, spirit, soul, energy or whatever you want to call it, continues to exist.

"Will I recognize you in your non-physical self?" my friend asked me.

"Yes, you will," I replied.

"How will I know it's you?," he asked.

"You'll know just from my energy," I said.

"How do you know these things? I've never read that anywhere," he said. (Clearly, we read different books.)

"I just know," I simply said.

My friend is not alone in his thinking. How WILL my friend know it's me? Okay, obviously I've never been dead before or least do not have the memory of being non-physical energy. But I have felt the presence of people who have died without actually seeing them. I knew who they were because individuals emanate a unique vibration or energy about them, and if you allow yourself to be aware of your feelings and trust them, you will recognize the energy of the person. So, if I were to die and my spirit decided to visit my friend, I know he will feel my vibration and recognize it to be me. When "T" came to my human office for an acupuncture treatment for herself the day after Blossom had passed, I felt Blossom's presence in the treatment room. I knew Blossom was there to comfort her grieving mom.

In studying Chinese Medicine, I learned that everything was energy or vibration, and energy is synonymous to consciousness in my opinion. In death, our corporal self (our physical body) dies while our ethereal self (our non-physical self or soul) flits onto the non-physical world until it is ready to enter another physical body. Therefore, nothing really dies. It just gets transformed into another form whether we can see it or not. This concept is not exclusive to the study of Chinese Medicine because I've read it in other books. And, really, if you think about nature itself, it is always transforming into something else. We understand this with water as it evaporates and becomes part of the air, i.e. humidity (yuck!) or a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. In physics, the concept that energy is never lost but transformed is accepted.

Dogs are not so different from humans. They too have their ethereal self which travels into the non-physical realm until they decide to enter another body or their previous owners strongly call for them emotionally that they come back to visit temporarily. Have you ever sensed the presence of a beloved dead dog? The reason you can feel that dog's presence is because she is really there with you but in a non-physical form. Just because you cannot see the energy of the dog doesn't mean it doesn't exist. But you can feel it. It may be difficult for some of you to grasp this idea or believe it, and it makes no difference to me because everyone has the right to their own belief. However, if you can wrap this idea around your head that everything is just energy so that nothing or nobody living can really die but is transformed into a different state of being, then doesn't that give you some ease and comfort when you do lose a loved one? Maybe then, it would be easier for us to let go.

I loved Blossom also and was therefore saddened with the news of her death and felt the weight of grief in my heart. However, I refuse to look at Blossom's death as something final or negative. I would rather celebrate the love and lessons she had given to her mom and those who loved her and be grateful of the fact that now she is pain free from all the physical ailments that she had. But focusing on the good memories and finding relief from their ailments is a difficult behavior for many people when it comes to the death of their beloved dog. People tend to focus on their loss and feelings of emptiness which is a normal reaction to death.

One reason some of us cannot focus on the relief that our dog has gotten from death is sometimes our attachment to our dogs is stronger than the one we have with people we love, making the loss more severe. Also, we humans are selfish creatures by nature which means our needs supersede that of others. And, there is nothing wrong with being selfish because we need to be that way with regards to our health, happiness and overall well-being. I know that it's easier said than done. I would hope that when it's time for one of my sweet dogs to pass on, I will have the discipline and strength to focus on the relief that she/he has gotten from the transition. I told Ripley recently, since I was writing this blog, that if she were ready to go, I will be happy to let her go but that I would prefer it that she wasn't ready. Yes, that was somewhat conditional of me to say but as I said, we humans are selfish beings.

I know in my heart that Blossom is still with us as well as those other doggie patients of mine who are now in their non-physical form romping around "doggie heaven". It's not a figment of our imagination when we feel their presence especially if there was no intention of conjuring a memory of them. I've heard of people who have lost their beloved dog and then later on find a dog who behaved exactly like their old dog. And, they would swear it was the same dog reincarnated. It happens. As I said previously, energy and consciousness are the same to me. So, these dogs, in their non-physical form, who return to the material world in another body, had the consciousness to find their former owner. Amazing, isn't it? I find it so. I was told by an animal communicator that Elektra had come back to find me. Perhaps, in a past life (if you believe in that), she was my dog. It made me happy to hear that because it confirmed my belief that our spirit or energy lives on after death.

Love your dog. If you don't have one, adopt or save one. Then, think about those documented accounts of people who have died temporarily and come back into their bodies to tell about their experiences from beyond. Most of them described after death as a peaceful and happy sensation. Sounds good to me. Since dogs are like us, I am sure they have similar experiences. I know that most of you who read my blog love, LOVE your dog as I do. I tell my dogs often, "I'm so in-love with you guys. Do you know that?" And, they do. I'm sure that's how "T" felt about Blossom. Blossom was appropriately named as she helped "T" to blossom just as all of our dogs have helped us to do. We become better human beings because of them. We peel the layers of ourselves to find patience, tolerance, strength, etc. because of the love we have for our dog. Consequently, we blossom much like a bud that unfolds its petals becoming a beautiful flower. Let us cherish and rejoice in their transition into non-physical when they are ready to do so. Let us replace our feelings of loss, sadness and loneliness to gratitude, happiness and fullness. Gratitude for the flower they helped us become. Happiness in knowing that they are relieved from their physical pain or discomfort and are completely healthy again. Fullness because they had enriched our lives with their presence. Let us not diminish what they have given us by focusing on the negative. It's the least we can do for our beloved dogs. Death is neither final nor dismal. We are part of nature, and like nature, we transform. Have comfort in that thought and know that our loving dog will always be with us.

Thank you so much for visiting my biweekly blog. I was in hiatus for the month of July. Any comment is welcomed.