As someone who is always on the go, I was stopped in my busy busy tracks this morning, transfixed by the sight of one of my dogs in deepest slumber on the sofa.
Zsa Zsa the Labrador is, it has to be said, a traitor to her breed, and at her happiest when horizontal rather than racing around retrieving game. She was lying stretched out with her head on a cushion (not spoilt, my dogs!) as her fat paws twitched and her closed eyes moved rapidly from side to side.
I wondered what she was dreaming about. Was I in her dreams? It seems probable, although I’ll never know. Her jerky movements accompanied by deep snoring and grunting suggested she was running or chasing something, which only goes to prove that dreams are often a world away from reality.
The contemplative mood continued as we had our morning walk. I decided today was going to be a ‘go with the flow’ day and in poetic mode, stopped to admire and smell the golden broom and the wild pink roses whose heady perfume fills the woods. There were lots of butterflies too, a couple of red admiral-type ones and a few cool-looking black and white spotty ones that could have come straight from the pages of Italian Vogue.
I enjoyed it. I felt like I had really paid attention instead of mulling things over in my mind like I usually do, oblivious to what’s around me until I realise we’re back at the house. Walking on automatic pilot is not helpful.
Sometimes it’s good to slow down a bit. To take the time to stand and stare. It reminds me why we moved to Italy in the first place, reminds me that the countryside and animals can often offer more than a computer screen or a busy brain.
Animals have no agenda, no list to get through, no places they have to be or people they have to see. They are just themselves and move at their own pace. I could learn a lot from them if I only stopped more often to notice.
So today take the time to stroke a furry head, study a hairy paw with its shiny nails and stare into amber eyes. Watch a dog deeply and happily lost in sleep and remind yourself that rushing around chasing your tail is not a real or essential activity.