Furry Love and Why It Makes Us Smile

Meet Blue! He is my three month old blue Holland Lop bunny. This is just a quick post to give a high five to all our furry friends – whether they live with us or just make us laugh via YouTube – as there is something truly special about animals. There are reasons why animal videos are so popular but for me animals do these three things to make is joyful:

1. Animals are always fully present and in the moment. They aren’t worrying about the past or the future. They are just in the here and now which forces us to be in the here and now. I think we recognize the value of this and see them modeling the behavior that we know would be healthy for us to adopt. I know that petting Blue or watching him run around like a race car driver is very Zen for me. I’m fully there and fully with him. It’s like a living meditation! 

2. Animals love unconditionally. They don’t worry about what kind of mood we’re in and whether we’re having a good day or a bad day. They know us and they love us just as we are. That is invaluable and extremely rare here on earth so I think it makes our souls sing a little inside when we get to experience unabashed in-your-face love from an animal. 

3. We get to see our more playful goofy sides. I volunteer for an animal rescue organization and last week I had to sit in the puppy pens trying to find homes for nine adorable hound puppies. It was obviously a joyful and joy-filled “job” for the day but what cracked me up was how goofy these puppies made our visitors. Big huge burly manly-men would get down on their hands and knees and say in their most babyish voices “Who is a good boy? Who is a silly puppywuppy? Why yes you’re a silly puppy. That’s sweet boy!” Pets completely disarm us of our egos for a moment and allow us to play and smile and give freely of our love to something that doesn’t ask for anything but that. 

So, go give your pet a pat or Google some funny animal videos today. You will smile both inside and out.