Life in the Circle is my take on sharing our lives and our love with animals.

I think of the expanding circle of human moral concern where animals are increasingly being recognized for the sentient beings they are, deserving of certain inalienable rights, starting with the Five Freedoms.

I think of an evocative phrase from poet Irving Townsend describing how those of us who choose to live with animals, knowing that their lives are all too short, “live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached”.

And I think of  “the circle of life“, and how there is comfort there for anyone who has loved and lost a dear friend.

It is because animals bring so much to our lives that we feel such intense sadness when they die. The love we share is a prerequisite for the loss we feel -and often, the more intense the love, the more intense the loss. Yet it is a sad truth that love and loss will always go hand in hand. Every life is finite, every single one, and dying is as much a part of every life’s journey as being born. And since the richness of any life’s journey is in the connections and relationships fostered along the way, living fully means opening your heart to loving fully, even knowing there will be also be loss. The comfort is in the opportunity – when you are ready to choose a new friend, they will be there waiting to choose you.