Bring Brightness into Your Day

There’s a lot of bad stuff happening in the world right now. As dogs, we don’t have to deal much with the negativity, and we lead pretty great lives. We’re fortunate to live in a place with abundant wildlife—in the past week alone, we’ve seen foxes, deer, and elk in our yard. However, living where we do comes with the risk of wildfires, which is only getting worse with climate change.

People can fall into extremes: getting caught up in endless doom-scrolling or not paying attention at all and hoping other people will fix the problems. Mom tries to land somewhere in the middle. She reads the daily email that she gets from the New York Times but gets another newsletter called “Nice News.” She doesn’t watch the news on TV but does watch the monologues from “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on YouTube, so she knows what’s going on but in a way that allows her to laugh rather than cry. She’s involved in our community and volunteers her time to help others.

You might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with dogs? We’re just here to remind you to bring some brightness into your day–every day. A four-legged companion can help you to find more joy. We get our parents out in nature where they can enjoy a bit of peace and feel more connected to the Earth. The next time you find yourself feeling down, grab the leash and head out with your dog. It will brighten your day, and your dog will be happy, too.