Reflections of Affection

"Love’s greatest gift is its ability to make

everything it touches sacred."

--Barbara DeAngelis

Thanksgiving Day - Purrrrfect in Every Way

Today my 91 year old Mom and I were supposed to go to a nice restaurant for our Thanskgiving Day meal.  Except she called me, last night, saying she wasn't feeling up to it and couldn't go.  Alone, on a holiday---again.

Pouring rain outside.  Both of my sisters, in LA and Philadelphia respectively, with their families, children, grandchildren and plentiful tables aglow with all the sweets and treats of the season.

This morning as I started thinking about writing my blog, I came up with all sorts of titles:
"Another Mac 'n Cheese Thanksgiving,"  "Holiday Blues."  Then, the humor started bubbling up, "Thanks. For What?" and, "Another Turkey Day--For Sure!"  When all else fails:  laugh. 

Then, I looked around, took a deep breath and saw the true meaning of Thanksgiving this year:  Honey, Sunny, Sweetie Pie, Syndi, Simba, Sweetie Pooh, Tiggy and Sweetie Sue!  All lying about me calmly, reassuringly, lovingly and loyally.  What more is there?  The newest member of our clan is working out nicely. After all, I only adopted her a week and a half ago.  And, so far so good.

She's delightful in every way.  So spunky, funny, lively and adorable.  Even the kits have taken to her.  She brightens our world and makes me realize the meaning of gratitude--for her, the kits, my home, heath, heart, and the happiness I feel when we're all together.

Indeed, a time of blessings and bountiful love.

Thanks-Living

The world is so full of wonderful things we should all, if were taught how to appreciate it, be far richer than kings.

Ashley Montagu, 1905-1999

British-American Anthropologist and Humanist

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nature Makes People Nicer

Want to be a better person? Commune with nature.

Paying attention to the natural world not only makes you feel better, it makes you behave better, finds a new study to be published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

"Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits," says Richard Ryan, coauthor and professor of psychology, psychiatry and education at the University of Rochester. While the salubrious effects of nature are well documented, from increasing happiness and physical health to lowering stress, this study shows that the benefits extend to a person's values and actions. Exposure to natural as opposed to man-made environments leads people to value community and close relationships and to be more generous with money, find Ryan and his team of researchers at the University of Rochester.

The paper includes four experiments in which 370 participants were exposed to either natural or man-made settings. Participants were encouraged to attend to their environments by noticing colors and textures and imagining sounds and smells. In three of the studies, participants were shown a selection of four images on a 19 inch computer screen for two minutes each. Half of the subject viewed buildings, roads, and other cityscapes; the other half observed landscapes, lakes, and deserts. The urban and nature images were matched for color, complexity, layout, and lighting. In a fourth study, participants were simply assigned at random to work in a lab with or without plants. Participants then answered a questionnaire assessing the importance of four life aspirations: wealth and fame ("to be financially successful" and "to be admired by many people") and connectedness and community ("to have deep enduring relationships" and "to work toward the betterment of society").

Across all four studies, people exposed to natural elements rated close relationships and community higher than they had previously. The questionnaire also measured how immersed viewers were in their environments and found that the more deeply engaged subjects were with natural settings, the more they valued community and closeness. By contrast, the more intensely participants focused on artificial elements, the higher they rated wealth and fame.

To test generosity, two of the studies gave participants a $5 prize with the instructions that the money could be kept or given to a second anonymous participant, who would then be given an additional $5. The second participant could choose to return the prize money or keep it. Thus, subjects had nothing to gain if they chose to trust the other participant, and risked losing their money.

The result? People who were in contact with nature were more willing to open their wallets and share. As with aspirations, the higher the immersion in nature, the more likely subjects were to be generous with their winnings.

Why should nature make us more charitable and concerned about others? One answer, says coauthor Andrew Przybylski, is that nature helps to connect people to their authentic selves. For example, study participants who focused on landscapes and plants reported a greater sense of personal autonomy ("Right now, I feel like I can be myself"). For humans, says Przybylski, our authentic selves are inherently communal because humans evolved in hunter and gatherer societies that depended on mutuality for survival.

In addition, write the authors, the richness and complexity of natural environments may encourage introspection and the lack of man-made structures provide a safe haven from the man-made pressures of society. "Nature in a way strips away the artifices of society that alienate us from one another," says Przybylski.

Lead author Netta Weinstein says that the findings highlight the importance of creating green spaces in cities and have implication for planners and architects. Incorporating parks and other representations of nature into urban environments may help build a stronger sense of community among residents, she explains. By contrast, "to the extent that our links with nature are disrupted, we may also lose some connection with each other," the authors warn. This alienation may help explain other research showing that urban as compared to rural dwellers show more reservation, indifference, and estrangement from others.

On a personal level, Weinstein says the take home message from the research is clear: "We are influenced by our environment in ways that we are not aware of," she says. Because of the hidden benefits of connecting with nature, people should take advantage of opportunities to get away from built environments and, when inside, they should surround themselves with plants, natural objects, and images of the natural world. "The more you appreciate nature, the more you can benefit," she says.

MEET: SWEETIE SUE!

Three months after losing my beloved Sheltie, Suzy, I visited our animal shelter and met a pup who stole my heart. Named after two of my kits, Sweetie Pie and Sweetie Pooh, and my darling Suzy, I now have a Skye Terrier/Wheaton cross named Sweetie Sue!  She's as cute as she looks and as loving, too.  Full of vim and vigor at the ripe old age of 8, she jumped out at me as I walked past her kennel, took one look, and couldn't resist.

She'd been picked up as a stray, kept in quarantine for a week to allow her owners to come get her, and then placed up for adoption on the 14th--the day I found her.  Even so, I decided to sleep on it as adopting a dog is a big decision.  Couldn't stop thinking about her,especially those ears, and went back on Monday to welcome my new best friend.

A nice young lady interviewed me for about 45 minutes, asked me if I had children at home, a fenced yard, any other pets, how long the dog would be left alone and many other detailed questions.  Good! Glad they were so thorough.  Then, she gave me a hefty packet of information, bag of Science Diet Dog Food, voucher for a free vet check and 2 DVD's about welcoming my new pup.  This, in addition to her rabies and distemper shots, micro-chipping and reduced fee since she was a senior citizen.  Excellent care and interview.

Then, she brought "Sally" (her kennel name) out, all wiggles and wags, thrilled to be getting out of confinement, and we jumped into the car and took off as if we'd known each other all our lives. It was truly magical. Only one faux paux, or shall I say, faux paw, was when I let her out in my fenced backyard and, suddenly, she was gone.  I looked down the block, and there she was jogging down the middle of the street! I hopped in my car, pulled up next to her, opened the door, and she jumped right in! It was amazing.

So, I guess fate brought us together, as I feel it did with all of my animals. It's been three months since Suzy and I said our final farewell, and I didn't feel like getting another dog right away. But, time marches on, and so must we.  I was getting that lonely feeling, again, restless and ungrounded without a furry friend by my side.  So when I found this pup, with those adorable ears, my heart said, "this is the one." And, judging by the love and affection I alrready feel from Sweetie Sue, I think Suzy would approve.

More tails to come. . . . woof!