I was just thinking about the term “pet owner” – do you think of yourself as the “owner” of a pet? If you are anything like me, you probably think of yourself more as a relative, friend, companion, and caretaker of your pet or animal companion.
Pets are family members we choose, or in some cases, who choose us – or sometimes it is the universe choosing for us. The bond between us and our pets can often go deeper than the bond we have with humans or our human family.
A heart connection
The connection we have with our pet goes beyond words, beyond the mental, beyond judgment and conditions. We connect with our pet especially from and through the heart. Just look at the bond you have or had with your pet. I bet you are not in doubt that it was or is a heart to heart or soul to soul connection.
That is also why the grief following the death of your pet is so deep.
The deeper the love, the deeper the grief – those two go hand in hand.
Letting go of resistance
What happens if we try to stop looking at those two – grief and love – as separate? Can we let the love and the grief touch our soul without labeling or resisting?
A lot of the pain of the grief comes from our resistance – resistance to accept what happened, resistance to feeling the grief.
Try this
Try to take a little time – maybe while listening to relaxing music or a guided meditation – and watch and experience the feelings you are having. You are not the grief, or any other feeling. You are so much more than that. You are the one experiencing the thoughts and feelings. They are not you.
Through allowing and not resisting the grief, you can experience how the feelings of grief, loss, and pain are connected to a deeper love and can be transformed.
Grief and love are not really separate – just like you and your pet are not really separate. The deep bond you had or have with your pet is not limited to the body or the physical – this connection and bond of love goes beyond death, beyond the physical realm.
As my cat Rumi communicated to me after his death: “Remember the love”.
Hi Marianne my much loved dog badger crossed over in April this year we had a soul connection that was and is so deep we had a beautiful jack russell called scamp too who crossed over a year and a half ago they were brothers but a year apart they both were taken by cancer and when badger crossed over scamp came through with badger and said he is with me now mummy so I knew badger had gone 15 minutes before vet phoned me we have another puppy now and he is beautiful but the grief I have for badger is still strong and sometimes I feel guilty about loving this pup as I feel so sad about badger I know that scamp and badger are still here with us as they let us know they are here and I also” feel” and”see” them too which is great but then I cry again