I don't know about you, but so much of what I read and study, and so much of my spiritual training and engagement, advises me to stay focused on the present moment. It tells me that thinking about the future is a construct termed "projecting" and that "projecting" is not a positive use of one's mental faculties. However, I do think that imagining the future, anticipating changes, and acquiring a habit of enthusiasm toward forward movement is a wonderful skill.

 

Last Saturday night, a friend and I were having dinner outside at my favorite neighborhood restaurant. When I went inside to powder my nose, I walked past two young women in hospital scrubs who were finishing their meal. I live in the Syracuse University neighborhood, within walking distance to a Crouse Hospital and Upstate Medical Center and Hospital. It is customary to see medical professionals in my neighborhood. It was a Saturday night of a Labor Day Weekend Holiday, getting on toward 10pm in the evening. As I sat back down at my own table, the two young women came out and walked past me. They stopped to pet my friend's large dogs that were with us, and we struck up a brief conversation. I asked them if they were doctors and they said yes, they were residents at Upstate. One was an Urologist and one was an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. Both of these women were bright, friendly, and had an energy around them that was palpable. I cannot imagine being that fresh and alive after a residency shift. I looked at each of them, and said "Thank you. Thank you for the investment of your time, resources, and talents to prepare yourselves to be healers. I am counting on you." They knew that I meant them, and they also were wise enough to get it that what I meant was that I was counting on them, and on their generation, to carry us forward into the next decades of health, restoration and healing. They graciously thanked me, wished my friend and me a nice night, and walked away. I left the conversation feeling excited about the future, and curiously excited about my own process of, let's say, "maturing."

 

What does a conversation with two young doctors at a Mexican restaurant have to do with Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue?, you might be wondering. I'm getting there.

 

This past weekend, we had our annual Board of Directors' meeting over videoconference. There were a few glitches, but our dedicated leader and President, Mary Elizabeth, persevered and got us and kept us connected. We were able to see each other and hear each other and connect in real time, across three time zones. It was fabulous. A few years ago, I could not have imagined that technology would enable this kind of connection. In my lifetime, a telephone conversation was had through a handset attached by a long (twisted, in our case) cord connected to a phone on the wall. I remember when message-recording machines were innovative. And then voicemail, and then car phones, and then cell phones, and then...well, I think you get the point. Technology keeps moving forward. It continues to connect us. Note that I am aware that technology has its limitations and problems, too; I do not want to present the impression that I am single-minded, and unreflectively enthusiastic about technology. I use this as but one example, of how the future is exciting. I am excited about my own future. I am excited about YTNR's future.

 

Ideally, we at YTNR would like to "work ourselves out of a job" and have a world in which there were no abandoned or neglected Yorkies. Unfortunately, I think we are in a "growth business." I think that our future includes a continued strong national presence among rescue organizations and veterinarians and Yorkie enthusiasts. I think our future includes deeper friendships and a broader network of love.  Our future includes our taking leadership in national rescue work by our presenting and publishing in some areas that we are presently researching and developing, including a taxonomy (called "acuity") of health conditions that allows us to quantify the restorative work that we do with Yorkies who come to us with medical issues. Thank you to our Board Treasurer Linda Connor, and to Corrine Ellison, a longstanding Board member and leader in our organization, who has assumed the newly created position of Vice President of Operations, for developing this model.

 

Our organization has a close-knit look and feel, and yet we are certainly "prime time." We have deep knowledge of the breed, and we are innovative in our approach to the work of rescue, using a combination of high tech (web resources such as our rich and robust multimedia website, our Facebook page, and our email lists) and high touch (friendships that have lasted a test of time).  We are part of the solution in this world, just as those young doctors who were still smiling after their long shift on a holiday weekend.

 

I am so very excited about the future. I am excited to work with my current students, and I look forward to working with students whom I have not met yet. I am excited to write about my emerging research on career development in an era in which people are increasingly on their own when it comes to careers. I have learned that it is ok to cry and laugh at the same time. Yesterday, I called Leiko "Buzzy" at least three times (Buzzy is my beloved Yorkie who passed away last year). I miss him all the time. And I cherish the memories with him. I know there are dogs in my future who I will love enormously, and I look forward to them. Just when I think I cannot love any bigger, guys like Nicholas and Leiko come along who remind me that the heart has an extraordinary ability to hold a rich reservoir of love.

 

This is my birthday month and it puts me squarely in the radio button category choice on polls "50-55" while I concurrently shred the AARP solicitations that mercilessly show up on my mailbox. And I have never been happier and more grateful and excited about what's next.

 

Until next time.

 

Love,
Julie, Nicholas and Leiko