Losing Lulu Changes You - A Hippo Essay

by Sue Alexander

 April 8, 2019

This week as I have been reading all the posts, I began to think about how Losing Lulu has changed me. I am finding that I am kinder because I have to model reading and writing kindly (if you don't know what I mean, reread some of the essays in the announcement section; I talk about that a lot). I don't have the luxury here of assuming anything bad from what people write; I have to read kindly in order to keep the list kind. And I have to write kindly because the people who post are hurting. Losing Lulu has made me more kind.

Losing Lulu has made me more compassionate too. I can get quite angry when I work with a dog from a rescue who should never have been placed, and meeting more shelter people who are not constantly telling me that I should rescue but who are instead telling me how it is for them has made me more open to rescues in general. In thinking about why I am not as angry about breeders selling puppies who should never have been bred, I can see that the reason for that is that I know many compassionate and caring breeders, and few people in rescue who are not just telling me I am wrong. Know people in this way has changed how I feel about rescue. Full disclosure; I am still very angry about the rescues who place dogs who should not be placed, or who keep dogs who cannot be placed for months and years!

These changes bleed over from Facebook into the real world. How has Losing Lulu changed you? Has it changed you? I am curious about this because one of the things that is important to me is to help to change the world, and I think we are doing that here. I hope we are. How have you changed?

Today's image is of my hammock. I have given up using a tent for camping. My hammock is much more comfortable, warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and altogether much more fun than a tent. I changed how I camp because of the hammock.