Feeling Wiggly.

"Wanting to be other than where you are - who cursed you like that? Break that spell." - quote from A Year With Hafiz.

"Human woman, what are you thinking about?"
"Well, something unexpected happened today."
"What?"
"A new friend told me that she hated her cushy job and envied me the career path I have chosen."
"Wouldn't most humans secretly love to be envied?"
She smiled down at her pup. His honesty made for the best possible conversations.
"Yes. I think there would be some people who would like to be envied. It would make them feel justified and, frankly, a little important."
"But you didn't have that reaction?"
"No. I thought I should...but instead I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her that I would help her escape those golden handcuffs and go after her dream life."
Finnegan sat at her feet. "But you didn't tell her that, did you?"
"No. I hesitated. I won't make a promise I cannot keep."
"Good. A promise not kept is just as bad as an outright lie. Well, to a dog anyway."
"And to a human." 
Sighing, she reached into her pocket and found a piece of peanut butter cookie. She gave it to Finnegan, smiling as she watched happiness make him wiggly. Why couldn't all people be wiggly? She wondered. And how could she help her friend be brave enough to stop dreaming and start doing? There were so many people with talent and enthusiasm who found themselves in great paying jobs. But the jobs were paying for lives they didn't actually want to be living. No wiggling. No happiness. Just jobs that felt like jail cells, padded with dollar signs. And here she was at rock bottom, and another human, living comfortably, envied her for the pieces of the ladder she was hammering together. A ladder she was going to use to climb into the life she was determined to live. It was an unexpected moment, seeing herself through the lens of someone else's perspective. She had never considered that the view might be so positive. It was a gift she knew she would carry about with her for a very long time. Maybe forever. It was a gift she knew that someday, she would be able to share with another. 
"You're smiling, " Finnegan observed, hoping for  another cookie.
"Yes. I'm feeling wiggly."

Finding Hidden Sunshine.

More rain. Cotton candy clouds spilling down the mountainsides for days kept bringing a pervasive, wet chill into the world. Finnegan was decidedly displeased. Walking in the rain was not to his liking. Neither, he discovered, was walking during a snowfall. Snow, he informed his Human Woman, was still rain, no matter if Mother Nature tried to dress it up in soft, white, fluffy camouflage. Snow melted in his eyes and on his head leaving wet spots, ergo, it was rain.
But a Corgi has gotta pee when a Corgi has gotta pee, so rain and snow cannot matter when the "business" end of things gets urgent. What did matter was the location of the bush nearest the front door. THAT mattered.
"When will the sun come out to play?" he asked plaintively, staring through the slats of the patio railing after their wet morning jaunt.
"Soon, little Olympian, soon. It went on vacation for the holidays, but it should be home sometime this week. The weatherman said so."
"Where does the sun go for vacation?" his limpid coffee eyes gazed up at her.
"Tahiti," she said decisively.
"Ta-hee-tee. Maybe we should go there with the sun next time it takes a vacation." Finnegan sounded wistful.
"That's a very good idea. Here's another one: let's get inside out of this chill and I'll make you some bacon. A warm little treat, sort of like sunshine for your tummy."
He scampered through the open door, chortling with happiness. "Sunshine for my tummy? You're so silly, Human Woman! Baconbaconbacon...."
The refrain continued until much later when, after some yummy bacon, he nestled down in his Scooby Doo bed with his soft fleece blanket and prepared for his 11am nap. He looked up at her quickly before dipping his nose down into the blanket.
"Thank you for the sunshine," his eyes glowed with happiness.
She smiled. The soggy outside world faded to nothing. Her boy, warm and sturdy in his little nest, his tummy full of bacon, had brought the sun inside with his contentment.