"They" say that survivors of various types of abuse have found animal interaction to be of help. While I have been skeptical of this belief for most of my life, I have also found myself desiring to be with animals for most of my life. Coincidence? I think not! For some reason, I really enjoy being around something that is smelly, can’t talk back verbally, is less intelligent than I am, and has some sort of dependency on my care. However, I am by no stretch of the imagination an “animal lover.” The death of an animal, while being somewhat disturbing, does not have any massive bearing over my general state of emotion. I enjoy being around animals, but I can definitely live without them. This being said, I am actually beginning to think that the reason I enjoy them at all is that they are kinda soothing, but I am pretty picky about which kinds I will hang out with. I love sheep. I helped raise them while I was in pre-school and kindergarten and even though I was really young at the time, I still have very vivid and wonderful memories of playing with and feeding them. Lambing season is just the best! This being the case, and my dad already having several goats, (a vastly inferior specimen) J and, therefore, a good space to house a sheep, I bought a lamb this spring. She is soooooo cute and wonderful! I don’t spend an exorbitant amount of time with her, but I let her out to graze now and then, and walk her occasionally. The current plan is to have her bred in January and potentially try and milk her to make cheese.The picture above was just taken a couple days ago while I had her out in our back yard, and while it gave me a good chance to introduce her, I posted this picture for a couple reasons. The first has already been covered, but the second is a bit less obvious and very much a diversion from the topic of the therapy of animals. As I was looking at the picture, I began to notice just exactly what I was wearing. A couple people had commented on my outfit for the day, but it was just kinda one of those days where you don’t really get dressed, you more accumulate objects of clothing/any accessories that you wish to wear that day. So I ended up with running shorts, a pj tee, my Xtratuffs, and the cowboy hat from Courtney that I absolutely LOVE. It is admittedly an odd outfit, but I am an (not so admittedly) odd person. And that is way it was so perfect for me. A mixing and matching of several different areas of life… with a result that isn’t too pretty, but grabs the passer-by and makes one stop and stare with an inquisitive sort of look.
While I don’t feel that I have the benefit of saying I’ve had a good life, that the fruit of how I’ve lived is good, the picture that’s being painted is pretty, or the tapestry being sewn is full of right angles and even lines, I do have the consolation that the project isn’t complete. I may be wearing some funky clothes today, but tomorrow I get to wake up and get dressed all over again. Fruit can change. Paint dries and can be painted over. Patchwork quilts are some of the most beautiful quilts sold. But this is where I get stuck. How do I get to that place? How do I go from being someone filled with potential to a person who has reached that potential? How can shattered glass suddenly become a whole, usable vessel?
