Dog 🗞️ Slow News Day #2

Hey. I’m not really at work or on my laptop this week, but I scheduled this in advance. If you’re kind enough to reply, I apologise if you end up waiting a while for a response.

“They crack me up, you know.”

I’d just watched one of the dogs waddle over to their water bowl and start taking a long, loud drink.

“Like, they’re hanging out on the floor and suddenly think: ‘I’m thirsty now and I’m going to have a drink’.”

“Yeah… I mean, I’m not sure they have that thought process. It’s more like… impulse.”

“So they’d just have the word ‘water’ come into their head”, I asked, “and respond to it?”

“I guess so. Maybe not the word ‘water’. They’re dogs. But an impulse about thirst.”

Besides showing my absolute ignorance of biology and species, this conversation with Bex felt pretty amazing to me.

Almost all the time, my brain is a mess of complications, questions, and confusions. Even if I can identify an impulse for thirst; I’ll start to debate what kind of drink I want, when the perfect time is to stop what I’m doing to get it, and even what kind of glass I want it in. It’s exhausting. I’m a fleshy blob of electrical impulses, why can’t I be more like a dog?

So I tried it. I was flopped on the floor with the dogs, babying them and goofing around, when I noticed the familiar pulse of a headache forming.

“What would happen if I was a dog? What’s the impulse? What’s my body’s call and response?”

Air.

I can’t tell you why, but the word “air” formed pretty clearly in my head.

So, out I went. I tried not to think too much more about it and took the dogs out. Unsurprisingly, it helped! It didn’t cure my headache completely, but it offered respite and a positive feeling.

It was an amazing moment of slowing my brain down, tuning into my body, and hearing what it had to say. I don’t know if it’ll always have the answers, but I’m going to try slowing my brain down to dog speed a little more often.

Slow down guide

Need a little help moving slower?

Ease your way out of Friday afternoon with this newsletter, a nice cup of something, and a little background music. Steal my setup if you aren't sure where to start.

After I press send, I’ll be sipping on a freshly brewed cup of Full Court Press’ Raimutin Timor-Leste.

Soft, floral, and definitely with a touch of chamomile to it. A beauty. As a bonus, the product page I linked to is an excellent example of transparent pricing and an effective direct trade model.

Drinks taste that bit nicer when the whole supply chain is fair and kind. Hopefully our little supply chain here - from keyboard to inbox to brain - is feeling good for you. I know I’m enjoying it and I’m grateful that you give me this slice of your day.

Once I've got my brew, I'll tune in to Spotify's finely curated Jazz in the Background, because my head hurts a bit and I don't want to overdo it.

I'll lie back on the sofa and, who knows, maybe there's a nap in me. Let’s take a chance on it, at least.

Take it easy,

Joe