The Quality in Living … ( 03 / 14 / 2011 )
The Quality in Living … ( 03 / 14 / 2011 )
“ Just like each person has a unique personality – a unique essence , people who have pets will tell you that each pet has it ’ s own unique essence as well ; that each dog has its own dogality , that each cat has its own catality , and that each bird has its own birdality .
This truth makes me think of Long John , the redbird cardinal who came and dined with me almost every day for five years . As I fed him I would speak with him , and I often found myself telling him , ‘ If you die , don ’ t go off in the woods and make me wonder what happened to you . Die right here on my patio ’.
Well , one cold morning I went out and there he was , sure enough , dead at the foot of my patio …
When I think of him to this day , Long John still helps me to remember that we never lose the essence of anything we choose to Love ; that our own essence lives on & on in everyone & everything we have Loved long after we have gone the way of Long John Cardinal ; that taking care of something beautiful awakens something beautiful deep within us .
Indeed , Long john helps me to remember that the quality and the worth and even the enjoyment of each of our lives is directly dependent upon how many things we choose to deeply Care about and how many of our fellow beings we choose to deeply Love .”
( inspired by Dalton Roberts )
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