Puppies and problem sets

by betsyoneducation

The example in Full Catastrophe Living of being engaged in looking at a sunset really spoke to me. I have been helping friends in San Francisco for the last week and a half by petsitting. Their incorrigible corgi has growled at me, and I have sworn back at her; one morning she literally drive me to tears with her unwillingness to let me catch her to put her in the pen.

But surprisingly the puppy has induced a mindfulness in me. For one thing, I have to put aside other worries (like problem sets) as I deal with her. Even more, she makes me more receptive to the beauty around me; just yesterday, as she tugged me up a hill as I walked her, my mind was clear, and at a switchback I was able to fully appreciate being there and watching the moon rise across the bay.