The Puppy Parable

Recently, our neighborhood had a yard sale. During a short break, I ducked back into the house to give our new puppy, Roxie, some fresh air and a little walk in the cul de sac.

Then she saw Corbin, our neighbors’ puppy, and their interaction was a delight.

The raucous playfulness between 10-month-old Roxie and Corbin, who’s 5 months, helped me recognize a simple truth: pups don’t have any preconceived notions about each other.

Roxie and Corbin had met just days earlier when we brought Roxie home from the Humane Society shelter. There was sniffing. And then there was friendship.

My wife, Terrie, tells me that every time Roxie sees Corbin going for a walk from inside our house, she goes ballistic, whining and charging the door or window, wanting to get out there. For the 15 minutes the dogs played together outside the yard sale, you couldn’t ask for more amusement in their rollicking joie de vivre.

It made me wonder what this world might be like if it were that simple for humans. Unfortunately, human friendships come with all the baggage of socioeconomic class, ethnicity, environment, etc. Too often, we live in fear and create backstories about other people that become impossible to overcome.

But what if it weren’t that way? What if we could simply “be?” What if we could sniff around our fellow humans and, instead of tucking tail and turning away or acting like a bully, we drop into downward dog and then jump forward playfully?

I feel I need to chew on this concept some more, just as Roxie and Corbin have so much fun chewing on each other in the grass. I know it will take a lot of intentionality and a lot of practice. I think I’m game, though.

What are your thoughts about breaking down barriers, dumping the back stories and simply accepting folks as they are? Is this even possible during a time when our country is so polarized and belief systems so prone to confirmation bias?