"Human Woman," he whispered. "Tell me what you learned."
"Oh, Finnie," she sighed, reaching an index finger down to his right ear, curling it around the velvety edge the way he liked. "So very much. She wasn't even my dog! But she charged into my heart and knocked me over with her joy."
"And?" He pushed a little harder, wanting her to speak the lesson out loud.
"She taught me to own my joy."
"Yes? Do you get it now?"
He backed up, giving her his full attention. He knew her love for Molly, the little gold and white corgi she had been walking for a friend, had never detracted from her love for him. Molly simply arrived to hammer home the lesson he had been trying to teach his human all year long. Her hands shook as she petted him. Her eyes filled with the shine of tears but something more, the shine of certainty. She nodded and scritched at his white ruff. He wiggled into her fingers, loving the feel of it. They both chuckled. Then she told him what he wanted to hear.
"Molly showed me her best. Every. Single. Second. She lived her joy because she owned it. When I was with her, it was the most incredible, kinetic energy between us. She truly lived in the moment. And being in the moment with Molly felt like sunshine. It dawned on me that I had that same sunshine in me. But I cover it up. To protect it from unhappy people in my life. And that was my 'Get'. The moment I understood it's time to own my joy out loud. Time to start walking away from snipers, the way Molly turns her back on unfriendly dogs and just keeps going. So each day I ask myself, 'What would Molly do?' and I know the answer at once!"
"Own your joy!" Finnegan woofed.
She nodded and her smile lit up his world. "Exactly. Be a Molly. Fluff your tail."
"Well...um," he glanced over his shoulder at his nub. "If you have one."
"Each of us has a tail, Finnie, it just takes some of us a little longer to wag it."
He sat and smiled up at her. Finally, she understood what corgis already know. You are you. Get out there and get going. Walk forward. Hold your head up and fluff your tail or your nub or your ass. If someone takes a swipe at you, just keep walking. Because there's a Molly right around the next corner, wanting to meet you, greet you, play with you, and share your sunshine.
