Fringe Benefits

Last year I made the decision to change career paths and do something that I really enjoyed. I was fortunate to find a great job working at a neighbourhood doggie day care. I have always loved animals, especially dogs (and donkeys, but that is another story). There was quite a bit of a learning curve for me, but I think I have settled in and found my groove.  There has been an unexpected fringe benefit to this job, something that is becoming one of my favourite aspects of my job.


I spend a lot of time by myself when I am at work. I have some great co-workers, but the majority of my time I am on my own, except for the dogs, lots of dogs - some days there may be 25 or 30 that I look after. I play with the dogs, sing to them, dance with them and, of course, I talk to them. There is ample time during the endless rounds of fetch to go deep inside my head and mull over ideas or work out anything that may be bothering me. 


When I first moved to Winnipeg I found myself alone quite a bit. Jim was working and I was visa-less and unable to work in Canada. I tried to keep busy as best I could, but it was hard to stay upbeat. I had moved to a new city, in a new country, and didn't know many people. I had always enjoyed my alone time - but this was different, this was depressing. We had some hard times when we were newlyweds, I don't think either of us imagined how difficult it would be in the beginning. 


But things got better for us and the dark days lifted. Now I am able enjoy having time to myself, time to think and process and reflect. Sometimes the answers come to us easily and sometimes they need to be forcibly extracted from the detritus in our mind.  Either way, you have to be able to be alone in your own head to find out what is in there.

Whatcha thinking about?