Anathema–something that one absolutely and positively cannot stand
Not going for walks daily is an anathema to me. Certainly 1 walk daily if not 3. The formula is simple:
Walk = Physical Health + Mental Health
Ooh, I like this. Hang on…
Lots of Walks = Lots of Physical Health + Lots of Mental Health
Add the word dog to the formula and you’re onto something:
Dog Walk = Love + Physical Health + Mental Health
ergo:
Lots of Dog Walks = Lots of Love + Lots of Physical Health + Lots of Mental Health
Esme my beloved Labrador entered my life in 2012. Esme arrived after the gruelling rounds of IVF had repeatedly failed. I had to accept—and it would take years—that I wasn’t going to have the family life I’d imagined. The loss of that future was a challenge.
I became hyper-aware of how different I was to others living the mainstream life. How different I was and am. Of how I would be viewed and judged. And I needed to find another future for myself.
I fell in love with Esme immediately and love her more each day. She died in Nov. 2020 and her daughter Georgia and I have clung to one another ever since. I don’t really mind that people don’t understand my dedication to Esme and Georgia. That I experienced and experience maternal love through a species different to my own. My beloved girls have shown me that inside me is a Fiercely Dedicated and Protective Warrior Mother. Thank you girls. I’ve looked after them better than I’ve looked after myself which isn’t the best but I can’t seem to stop myself putting them first.
Being childless and at the moment, without a partner, is certainly contributing to my current loneliness. I don’t really belong anywhere. I think about what a sense of belonging is, and at first I suppose it might be safety. Safety in numbers.
These are the things I think about and clarify in my mind when dog walking. We dog walkers live longer. It’s a known fact. Regardless of whether I feel like sliding around in the wet mud many times each week, I never return from a walk regretting it. Accompanying a dog or dogs through life has put thousands of miles through my legs.
So it comes to this: The Golden Polar Bears walk. We just start. It’s as easy as that.
Bear Hugs, Big Licks and Sniffs,
Julia and Georgia the Wonder Dog