The Souls of Animals

January 30, 2016 by JoAnna 25 Comments

Today’s stream of consciousness Saturday prompt is “-an.” I appreciate that Linda lets us use it however we want. I had to look back at it a couple times to make sure it was just “-an,” And nothing else.

The first thing that popped into my mind was – animals. That’s probably because I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember. Another thing I remembered, in relation to animals, is that guy in my English class in 12th grade, saying, “Animals don’t have souls.”

I was rather shy in high school, subdued verbally, but I sure did think a lot. And I’ve always had a good imagination. I imagined all kinds of things to say or do to that guy who so blatantly said that animals don’t have souls, like he knows, or knew.

What is the soul? And  where does the word “animal” come from? How does it relate to the word animate? So many questions in this stream of consciousness.

Animate means alive. We are all alive, to varying degrees. We are members of the animal kingdom. Do some people have stronger souls than others? We talk about “old souls,” perhaps having depth and wisdom.

When you look into an old dog’s eyes, or when I look into an old dog’s eyes, I see depth and love and wisdom that is different from our own human type of wisdom. One of the dogs my husband brought to live with us is now 15 years old. She is probably the most animated dog I’ve ever known. Even though her hind legs are not working very well, so she falls down a lot, she is still full of life. She still tries to prance around at dinner time, and when she wants something, she will look at us and bark like we should know what she’s talking about. She has started barking at my husband in the evenings when he’s on the computer and it’s time for her nightly cuddling on the couch.

When you look into an old dog’s eyes, or a horse’s eyes, or a cat’s eyes, or a whale’s eyes (don’t I wish), if you know what to look for, you will see their soul.

The photos of our old girl,”Beep,” are by Ayla Likens

If you’d like to join in the Saturday Stream of Consciousness, visit Linda Hill at:

http://lindaghill.com/2016/01/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-jan-3016/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!