Learning To Become a Child in a Grown Ups World

Dear Dog,

I hope us humans could learn more from you. I wish we could learn to be happy.

Even though we know that happiness lies in the little things—keeping it simple can be so complicated in our world.

You do it by chasing a ball, while we keep chasing one ball after another.

I know I do.

I go through so many struggles. I do so much work. I try so hard to inch closer to my dreams. Yet none of that matches to the joy I feel when I come home to you every day.

When I see your face from the streets, looking out the apartment window, waiting patiently for me to return—my heart melts.

When I hear your paws before the keys enter the lock, running toward the door to greet me, each time with as much love—I find happiness.

There is so much I learn from you dear dog. It’s a privilege to be your mother. You teach me to live in the moment, to rejoice in becoming a child in a grown-ups world.

Through the many games we play during the day, I start doing things that always brought me joy. Like laughing without posing for social media, spending time in the real world away from smartphones that make me so stupid, and stepping outside for quiet, meditative walks.

My favorite moments with you are in the evenings when we play hide and seek. I hide in a new corner of my tiny Brooklyn apartment, waiting eagerly for your tail to wag as soon as you’ll find me.

And it does—each time with as much enthusiasm as when you found me first.

xoxo
Mommy