i think sometimes about this blog, about why i like it so much. at first, i thought it was just because i needed to share some of the stuff, good and bad that consumes my life. the burdens somehow seem lighter when they aren't lived alone. and i like reading the other peoples perspectives as they join in or experience the saints life too.
but there is another aspect of this that i like. it is the walking along side of all of us, be you right here or far, far away. i like that it is inclusive. that is why i try really hard to keep this blog real, the day to day mundane, the sadness, the frustration, the joyfulness, those "real' "real" days when i am in a pissy, self centered mood. and yes, even those times when we all drift off into soft soapy fairy tale land, we seem to need "la la" sometimes to get thru.
i think there is alot of misconceptions about rescue simply because who would know the "real" except those who live it? but it is the "real" that offers opportunites to consider a broader "real" which includes the happy, the sad, the nice, and not so nice, the dirty and the out and out boring.(i am well aware that i am one of the few people in the world who find so much time to talk about mops and bleach...but i really do relish that smell!)
the reality is that the animals are only saints because we say they are. but we all know they argue, they pee in the house, they bugger off and steal my food and some of them even bite the biggest blogger of all ( i have not forgotten the butt bite swinger!).
and the people that care for them? well, we are as human and real as they come. we struggle, we fall, we climb to soaring hieghts, and we sometimes sink pretty low into the mud. we can get lost in a closet when the way out is right in front of our face and we can find a safe exit from a seemingly locked and closed maze. but i think that anyone who has read this alot has learned as much as we have along the way cuz it is all here, in black and white to read.
but the "real" purpose of this blog? it is to help make these animals "real", they aren't just a sad face, or another statistic, they aren't even just one part of another sad or funny story, and they are NOT just some kind of warm and fuzzy...they are real, they are full and over flowing of many things that make them who they are, their lives are complex and meaningful. they are like a million animals across this world and they are unique in their "real" selves too. and when one passes away, like norton did today, their loss is noted and marked by many.
and my greatest hope for this blog is that somewhere, someone who has read or participated in this blog, will see an animal who is not one of our saints and still see a saint right there before them. then this blog is "real"