Today’s full blog, “Play That Funky Music, Fruity,” and the audio version are waiting for you only on Patreon. Come be part of the little community keeping us going—because Fruitycake has music to play, things to say, and apparently no intention whatsoever of turning down the volume.
www.patreon.com/2travelingdogsrescue
Play That Funky Music, Fruity
This is Fruitycake. Girl Person says she is in a funk. I did not immediately understand why this was a problem because funk sounds like music, and funky music is excellent walking music. If we are going to have a funk around here, I would prefer one with a bass line. Perhaps a little Wild Cherry reminding us to “play that funky music,” because if we are going to be stuck in a funk, I believe we should at least have a soundtrack.
For the last few days, Girl Person and I have walked miles and miles on this mountain. Up hills, down hills, around bends, over old stone paths and through places where I continue to believe pizza delivery should be legally required. We have walked trying to chase away sadness. We have walked trying to outrun doubt. We have walked because sometimes when your thoughts are too loud, moving your feet gives them somewhere else to go. There have been a lot of loud thoughts lately, and unfortunately none of them have been singing backup.
We want this rustico sale to go through so badly. We have worked toward it, prayed about it, talked about it and imagined what life could look like on the other side. We want to get back to the States and keep building This Is…Me. We want to help more shelter animals be seen, believed and rescued. We want to take everything we have learned here and use it for something good. We want a life that feels a little less like surviving each day and a little more like being able to build something again.
But here is the strange part. Girl Person is scared if the sale DOES go through too. Because then this chapter really ends. All of the complaining about carrying groceries up this mountain, the generator, the storms, the mud, the repairs and the approximately fourteen million steps suddenly become things we are leaving behind. This rustico has challenged us in ways we never expected, but it has also been our home. Brickle was here. Brickle is here.
Leaving something can hurt even when you know you need to leave it. Sometimes the very thing you have begged to change becomes frightening when it finally might.
That is where we are right now. Stuck between wanting something to happen and being afraid that it will. We cannot completely plan what comes next because we do not know what is happening here yet. We cannot completely settle into staying because we are trying to leave. We cannot celebrate because nothing is final, but we do not want to give up either. It feels like every direction has a question mark attached to it.
So we walk. I sniff. Girl Person thinks. I ring my bell. Girl Person thinks some more. I attempt to locate unauthorized snacks. Girl Person tells me we are supposed to be clearing our heads. Personally, I think she is making this much more complicated than necessary. Kool & the Gang had a useful suggestion with “get down, get down,” although I would add GET OUTSIDE, because sometimes the best thing you can do when you cannot figure out your whole life is stop trying to figure out your whole life for an hour.
Maybe you do not get out of a funk by solving everything. Maybe you get out of it by doing one small thing and then another. Put on funky music. Walk another mile. Make something good to eat. Call someone. Help someone. Laugh at something ridiculous. Notice the fall air. Let yourself miss someone. Let yourself be scared. Let yourself be excited too. Stop demanding that you know exactly how the next chapter is going to turn out before you are willing to turn the page.
Earth, Wind & Fire asked, “Do you remember?” and lately we certainly do. September gave us memories we would rather have avoided and others we never want to forget. Losing Aunt Lin has made Girl Person think about other losses and about time in a completely different way. Maybe that is part of this funk too. Grief, uncertainty and exhaustion do not always arrive separately. Sometimes they pile into the same little car and drive straight up your mountain.
But today is September 30, the last day of a month that has held more emotions than we expected. There has been sadness and loss. There has been uncertainty about this house and our future. There have been days when continuing 2 Traveling Dogs has felt harder than we ever imagined. But there have also been new ideas, people who cared, shelter dogs who still need someone to notice them, and reminders that there is work left for us to do. That is why today’s affirmation feels especially important.
September 30 | A New Month Means A New Opportunity To Help Others In A New Way
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION
A new month means a new opportunity to help others in a new way. I will carry September’s lessons forward instead of leaving them on these pages. One thoughtful action can matter more than I know. I will begin the next month looking for where my kindness is needed.
Maybe that is how we get unstuck. Not by knowing exactly where we are going, but by remembering why we want to keep going. October does not require us to arrive with everything figured out. We do not need a perfect plan, a guaranteed rustico sale or complete confidence about what happens afterward. We can carry September’s lessons forward and leave behind a little of what weighed us down. We can look around and ask who needs us today instead of demanding an answer about where we will be tomorrow.
And if we wake up tomorrow still in a funk, fine. I am requesting funky music. We will put something on with a bass line, strap on my bell and walk another few miles. We will keep looking for something good. We will keep telling the stories of real shelter animals. We will keep helping when we can. We will keep believing there is another chapter even though we cannot read it yet.
Maybe being stuck does not mean nothing is happening. Maybe sometimes it simply means you are standing between what was and what is about to be.
Eventually, you move.
Preferably to the beat.
Fruitycake.
P.S. We are still waiting to be able to get groceries, and now that the colder weather is arriving here on the mountain, we also need fuel for the heater and the everyday necessities that keep our little family and 2 Traveling Dogs going. Support has been extremely low, and every purchase, Patreon membership and bit of help truly matters right now while we wait to find out what happens with the rustico sale.
Fruitycake’s October Affirmations Book is also available now. It gives us a way to start October together with a new affirmation every day, while helping us continue our work and This Is…Me. The October book is available here: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/7A5N42ZZVZWWEhttps://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/7A5N42ZZVZWWE
If you would simply like to help us with groceries, heater fuel and necessities:
www.tinyurl.com/2tdnecessities
You can also join Fruitycake on Patreon for $5 a month for the full weekday blogs, audio blogs and special content:
www.patreon.com/2travelingdogsrescue
And please remember This Is…Me. We are working to verify real shelter and rescue dogs so that they can be seen, believed and rescued. Sponsoring a dog helps us continue the research and verification behind each story, and shelters can submit dogs to rachael@2travelingdogs.com.
September has reminded us how quickly life can change. If you believe there should be an October, a November and another year of 2 Traveling Dogs, thank you for helping us get there. Every purchase, membership, share, prayer and encouraging word is helping us keep walking—even when we are in a funk.
And now I really do think we need some funky music.
Fruitycake.
