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National Dog Day 2023
Today is National Dog Day and I’m grateful to have a sweet doggie like Rose in my life.
Dogged 🐶 Gratitude
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. ~Henry David Thoreau
August hit me like a sack of bricks. I’ve been running on empty in several ways, but I’m still grateful for so many aspects of my life.
| When I’m feeling particularly beat, I find the best way to recharge is not only to get a long stretch of deep, rejuvenating sleep but to reflect on all the things I have to be grateful about when I wake up.
In fact, simply waking up is something to be grateful for. |
 |
When I wake up, I often have the joyous company of Rose to share. She helps me get out of bed by licking my face incessantly. Truth is, she just wants the whole bed to herself.
I’m grateful to have a cozy little house to share with my wife, my kids and my fuzzies. It goes a long way to recharging my critically depleted batteries when I take a moment to reflect on how blessed I truly am.
🐕 Dog Days of Summer ⛱️
What (And When) Are The Dog Days Of Summer? | The Curiosity Desk
So, it would seem that the Dog Days of Summer are behind us and we’re another step closer to 🍂my favorite season🍂. So much the better.
I’ve got my sugar-free Pumpkin 🎃 Spice coffee syrups ready for the equinoctial shift into joy. Coincidentally, pumpkin is good for settling sad dog bellies.
Since today is National Dog Day, if you’re feeling that something is missing in your life, a dog is a great way to add joy. Dogs are joy personified and there are so many in our shelters waiting for a forever home.
National Dog Day with Best Friends Animal Society
🐕🦺 Seeing For Others
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. ~Edgar Degas
The thing about the creative urge is to share what only you can see in a format that makes it visible to others.
Whether in prose, music or a visual medium, getting what’s in your head into a form that can be appreciated by others is the heart of creative expression.
Some of us do it for ourselves. A doodle, a journal or a personal mixtape can be a reminder of an interesting thought or feeling we’d like to recapture at a later time.
Some of us do it for others. Graphic design, copywriting, corporate jingles are all ways to make an honest buck doing what we’re inspired to do. Adding personal craft to what might otherwise be a dry, utilitarian thing makes life better all around.
Some of us just can’t keep it in our heads. Depending on the scope of the vision, the product might become commercially viable. A short story might fit into someone’s anthology, but a novel is a salable product of its own. Fortunately, we’re a point in time when this sort of thing can be done with varying degrees of assistance.
Not too long ago, you needed a publishing house, a record label or a patron of the arts to have your works propagated. Now, we can simply put them online for ubiquitous consumption.
That can be a mixed blessing.
Going through the gatekeepers and in-house editors helped to polish one’s work for general consumption. Doing it yourself puts a lot of that pressure on the individual creator. Some are more willing and able to shoulder that.
There are a lot of scammers out there shoveling out dreck and ruining the prospects for those of us who are willing to take the time. The more garbage is shoveled onto Amazon, the harder it will be for self-starters to keep their works published when the platform enacts rules to block the kitchen-sinkers.
Well, there’s always a work-around. Setting up a store on your site puts the focus squarely on you. You have to handle the returns and refunds. You have to handle the haters. You have to be able to cope with sharing your vision. It’s tough, but at least there’s still a way.
I’m grateful for that, too.
That’s all for today. I’ve got some running around to do. The sooner that’s done, the sooner we can get home and keep Rose company.