really? the science of self.

i read on the internet recently that a group of scientists are signing a declaration that animals do in fact have a consciousness...they are self aware..they are in fact, in this regard...like us.

wow...who would have thought that another species with a functioning brain..could even possibly be the same?

and it has taken us how many millions of years to figure this out??

honestly the stupidity of the earths supposedly most intelligent species is nothing short of mind boggling at times.

let me tell you something that i have learned...when life has a body and a brain, at our most basic, we are ALL physically and emotionally on an equal playing field.

the reason i can spend my life working with BOTH humans and animals is i recognize certain things. like....

there can be goodness, kindness, intelligence and even wisdom in all living things.

and there can be selfishness, stupidity, childishness and mean-ness also in every thinking living thing.

and most times it is a matter of genetics, experience, opportunity, and of choice that blends together to decide the mix we are individually made of.

i honestly do not get the whole posting of "selfy" thing...why would anyone busy living life need to stop and take self photos of what they look like? but whether i get it or not, the whole selfy thing is not just a human thing. if phoebe had a camera and a thumb. the internet would be flooded with a certain red whirling wonder. luckily minus the camera and thumb, she does not have that opportunity to indulge.

the greatest example of ingrained and natural wisdom that i ever witnessed was that of an ancient horse...gideon just "got it"...he KNEW about life and living it well.

my mother told me years ago that you cannot expect a drunk person to act sober. at least not until he or she chooses to become sober. so how do any of us make better choices if the opportunity is never there?

that's why i give these animals (and sometimes people) a chance here. what they end up doing with it...how far forward they can go, is not really up to me...they have to decide where they want to go and what direction they will take to get there.

i love these animals and i love the people of the human species too...but that love is born of respect that their lives and choices are their own. i can be here to help..i can provide the opportunity for change but it is not my job to take them apart and try to remake them. my job is to accept them the best that i can while keeping everyone here safe and if i can't do this, then i send them away. for people this is not the last stop hotel...i can send them onwards to other places while wishing them well. but for the animals, this is the last official stop on their roads...every one of them came here because they had no where else to go. so with them i can't afford to be too quick to judge, i can't be too lazy or selfish in what i am willing to share or provide....animals can only come here if i am willing and able to extend to them the very most that we can possibly provide...the opportunity to settle within themselves and learn to positively grow.

every living thing has potential...in caring for them, it becomes a balancing act of risk against potential while not subjugating them and completely taking over. i have a job to do for them...but they have their own jobs to do too. we each have a responsibility to move foraward..not just me, and not just the humans here...but the animals as well.
life has never been and will never be a free ride for any of us..at least not a life that has true self value.

selfy's should not be about snapping photos of ourselves looking good or doing something fun or exciting just to impress others...what's the point? selfy's should be us living our lives the best that we can while we learn to live life better than we did yesterday so our tomorrows are brighter. selfy's are really only of value if we use them as markers of positive growth and change.

when we understand this...that self is not selfishness... we learn to respect not only others of every species out there...but we ultimately learn to respect ourselves on this journey of life that all living, self aware beings share.

now that would be a selfy photo worthy enough to share.