{"id":13179,"date":"2013-07-23T17:46:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T15:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/?p=13179"},"modified":"2017-09-14T15:49:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T13:49:14","slug":"milo-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/milo-me","title":{"rendered":"Milo & Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early May 2007 my dearest friend who was battling AML called me to her bedside. Lifting the blanket, out peeked a tiny brown eyed fur baby.\u00a0A gift of Grief for me from Ann! Dont you always find it\u2019s amazing, often times surprising\u00a0where we learn stuff about life and who the teacher is!\u00a0If we stay open and have a look around then nearly anything can be a life lesson.<\/p>\n

This short legged Jack Russell puppy arrived\u00a0 at a\u00a0 time in my life that I was wishing I could change the \u2018crazy sadness\u2019 going on,\u00a0struggling with humongous waves of grief around the loss of my son and my friend\u2019s terminal illness.\u00a0In her wisdom Anne knew that this little soul would create miracles and magic for me through my\u00a0grieving process and would\u00a0 provide comfort to me\u00a0 from the worlds unseen.\u00a0You know how sometimes something\/someone comes into your life for a reason\u2026 to help teach and heal you?\u00a0Well \u00a0Milo, the Magical\u00a0\u00a0has certainly been a reason, she taught me so much about myself and life in general\u2026 I\u2019d like to share some of the things I\u2019ve learnt from \u201cQueen Mielie\u201d as we sometimes refer to her!<\/p>\n

Now is really Now\u2013 Milo has very little sense of the past and no sense of the future. She is totally present in\u00a0Now\u00a0and watching her be\u00a0Now\u00a0relaxes me and I am more present.\u00a0It\u2019s OK to look silly\u00a0\u2013 Milo is a pretty doggie with permanent eye liner around her eyes but when she runs she looks like a happy hippo \u2026 and she couldn\u2019t care less. Note to Self don\u2019t worry what others think!\u00a0There\u2019s always time to Play\u00a0\u2013 when I\u2019m concentrating for hours on end writing or researching or just thinking\u2026 Milo will tug at my heels\u2026 sit down\u2026 and look at me as if to say\u00a0\u201cTime for a break Goddess of Wowess\u201d\u00a0And I stop and look around and come back to NOW\u2026 and then laugh and play with Milo.<\/div>\n
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You don\u2019t always need a huge vocabulary\u00a0\u2013 dogs need simple words to understand what we are asking them to do because they really don\u2019t understand Human. I think Milo is very smart\u00a0because she understands me when I string 2 or 3 words together\u2026\u00a0Come lets go driving!\u00a0Oh she just loves cruising. Little elbow hanging out the window looking out at the horizon.\u00a0Keep it Simple\u00a0\u2013 Milo doesn\u2019t need a lot to be happy. There are a few things that make up her happy bliss world\u2026 her Goddess of Wowess [that\u2019s me]\u2026 her food\u2026 treats\u2026 a blanket to crawl under\u2026 tummy rubs\u2026 and scratches and cupcakes!<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s OK to be mega excited about something and show it \u2013\u00a0When I wake up in the morning I\u2019m greeted by \u00a0happy brown eyes, shining\u00a0 at the fact that I am alive and in her world\u2026 she runs around in circles and growls with joy. Her exuberance makes me laugh out loud every day and feel real bursts of joy. She helps me see and feel more.<\/div>\n
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Everyone is unique\u00a0\u2013 this is one thing I love about dogs\u2026 no one\u2019s comparing themselves to anyone else because that would just be silly. Milo doesn\u2019t look at other dogs and think\u00a0\u2018Jeez\u2026 I wish I was taller and had longer hair\u2019.\u00a0Sometimes loving someone is easy\u00a0\u2013 Milo loves me without any conditions\u2026 it\u2019s just a wave of emotion that is an essential part of her. And she loves me when I\u2019m grumpy, irritable and feeling sad. I could really learn something about Love from her.<\/div>\n
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\"Milo2\"<\/a>Naps are essential\u00a0\u2013 Milo and I are in complete agreement on this one. We both love taking naps and just lolling\u2026 a lovely balance to all of life\u2019s action and movement.\u00a0Schlooping works sometimes\u00a0\u2013 Milo is a ninja expert at schloop to get what she wants or to get out of trouble. She rolls on her back \u2026 legs in the air, practicing cuteness or to the less obvious act of staring soulfully at me\u2026 and then there\u2019s the tail between her legs and sorrowful eyes.<\/div>\n
We all have our territories and boundaries\u00a0\u2013 Milo has very clear territory and she\u2019ll bark to let you know that she\u2019s protecting it. She also takes her time to warm to people and I\u2019ve seen her back away from people who have strange energy.<\/div>\n
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You don\u2019t always get what you wish for but you may get what you need\u00a0\u2013 remember back at the beginning of this post when I said I wished I could change things. Guess what turned up? A small bouncy happy healer dog \u2013 Milo! Not what I wanted but definitely what I needed\u2026 she has helped me change some old life patterns by just being who she is.\u00a0We all respond to kindness and praise\u00a0\u2013 Milo loves when I tell her she\u2019s the best fur baby in the world and so clever and beautiful. I thank her when she does what I ask\u2026 and I treat her with real kindness. When I have had to reprimand her all I need to use is my tone of voice.<\/div>\n
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Touch is vital\u00a0\u2013 Milo loves touch\u2026 to be patted and stroked and tummy rubs. When I massage her ears she goes very still and just relaxes. Touching and patting and hugging her, helps relax me as well.\u00a0There are days when we are beautiful and amazing and the world shines\u00a0\u2013 that\u2019s pretty much Milo\u2019s life every day.<\/div>\n
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\"Milo1\"Always Face Forward\u00a0\u2013 Milo tends to face forward and rarely looks behind her.\u00a0Feel the feelin\u2019 \u2013\u00a0dogs seem to be hardwired to sense feelings. I certainly learn lots from Milo about that one. She lets me know how she feels all the time, she also knows if someone is feeling sad or mad or glad. She helps me be more present and honest with myself.<\/div>\n
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Sometimes you just gotta stop and BE with what life presents you\u00a0\u2013 Milo teaches me that every day is a new day, that\u00a0New experiences can be scary, she dislikes getting wet and tends to stand back and watch for a while when something is new to her.Let Fear speak & sometimes you just need something bigger than fear to move you forward\u00a0\u2013 for me the fear of no longer having Ryan or Ann present\u00a0 in my life was big \u2026Milo taught me that love is bigger than fear.<\/div>\n
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Ann and Ryan continue on in my thoughts and hugs and cuddles with Milo as WE take more and more steps together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13211,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13179\/revisions\/13211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msla.co.za\/sharyn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}