The Dog Tribe
"You're a member of his tribe" he said, definitively.
He was answering the question I'd asked about why I felt so inexplicably close to a person he'd introduced to me the week before. He is my friend Larry, who, like myself, is a professional in the IT world, but who is actually a creative soul, constantly reaching out to find other creative souls and activities. Once he said the word, 'tribe', I instantly identified with the word, feeling as if I'd found the link in a chain of thought that had eluded me until that moment. Tribe. My thought had finally taken shape, pulling together individual experiences and observations like physical particles, to manifest a complete idea; The Dog Tribe.
Webster's Dictionary defines the word, "tribe" as: a distinctive close-knit group. I say on my Instagram profile, "Dogs will save the world". I've had passing commends from social media trolls that only religion will save the world, or financial status, or education or politics or beauty...believe me, I'm summarizing here. The overarching objection from the trolls is, "How can you say that a non-human species, that is not capable of speech, or accepting a prophet, or capable of the written word...and a DOG? Really?" Yes. Because humans who have Dogs have created a Tribe, through which we see only uniting characteristics, and not dividing characteristics.
Let me illustrate; great writers and motivational speakers and others who ruminate on how to live a peaceful, purposeful life talk about things that dogs do naturally, like living in the moment. Dogs are capable of finding a sun spot and turning their bodies perfectly to take advantage of the sun and the earth and the breeze to rest and breathe. Dogs can make the appreciation of the moment an actual activity that humans pay therapists and energy healers to help us achieve. Dogs can watch a spider descend on a whisper-web, drop on their nose...watch it for a while, and let it move away...as it's decided the dog's nose won't be the best location for their insect catching industries. The Dog doesn't have a scheme to smash the spider, as they're tapped into Mother Nature's Radio, and they understand that the spider is no threat. The Dog doesn't separate himself from Mother Nature, and so can live in the moment, can eat when it's time to eat, can play when it's time to play, can care for family when it's time to feed their babies, and can receive joy from the spider... The Dog Tribe sees that.
Non-Dog Tribe humans would look at the sun spot and check the soil to see if it would perk properly for a waste field, if the property value was high enough to bother with the purchase of the soil and the sun spot...and if the City Setback rules would allow a separate structure like a shed or garage; and should we build a fence or plant a hedge? If we saw the spider's descent from the tree above the sun spot, we'd make a note to make an appointment with the exterminator...and can they come on Monday at 4PM? Most humans don't yet know, in spite of their constant searching, how to find the peace of the sun spot. The Dog Tribe knows... The reassurance of being able to hear from God in the stillness of the silence of the sun spot. Dogs can hear God's voice naturally; humans who live with and who love Dogs learn and absorb these amazing natural traits that Dogs possess; such as their ability to live in the moment and to love completely, without influences or barriers. Those humans that live with Dogs go out in the world and share those Dog experiences with other humans, naturally, through their energy and body language. It is something which unites all humans no matter their ethnicity, gender, or religion. No matter their choice of piercing, tattoos, short hair, long hair, height, or weigh or choice of political parties. The Dog Tribe recognizes something which unites humans regardless of whether they're vegans or meat eaters, whether they're football fans or fashion mavens...whether they're hunters or not, gun owners or anti-gun lobbyists, whether they're young or old or prefer not to eat refined sugar or prefer to only eat Twinkies. The Dog Tribe is not exclusive; anyone can join and everyone is welcome. The Dog Tribe loves family or loners, loves children and seniors; welcomes new life into the world, and says good-bye to life which is leaving the physical world, recognizing the soul is everlasting.
The common, uniting thread is The Dog. The Dog Tribe instantly recognizes other members of The Tribe, and reaches out for them. Friday night, while Rin and I were volunteering at WakeMed, we met "CJ" who is a member of The Dog Tribe...whose dog, Bogey, is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who loves the shore. That happens to us every time we're out together...but it happens to me every day; so much so that when people ask if I want to see their new baby pictures, I gently say, "Eh...I'm really more of a Dog pictures person..." To my delight, most say, "Fabulous! This is Princess...my 4 year old Lab!"
That's The Dog Tribe.
