Siin on Nostr: Meditations | 08-15 The dog park recently has been an interesting microcosm of ...
Meditations | 08-15
The dog park recently has been an interesting microcosm of society. In evaluating the strange relationships that these humans have with their animals, in watching their anxiety at work: their fear of being embarrassed, their fear of something happening to their dog, their fear of being called out for their dog's bad behavior, and so on; I have really had some interesting thoughts about the way that we treat animals and the way that we treat each other.
There is one girl in particular with two dogs that have subtle but severe behavioral issues. This girl is blonde and cute and it's quite likely that her behavior has never been criticized. As such, she seems to have very little self-awareness, and she is an extraordinarily anxious and angry person.
An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive one.
When our dogs cannot trust that we will not put them in bad situations they will take matters into their own hands. This happened today: there is a husky at the park who picks on one of the blonde girl's dogs. Not in an aggressive way, although he certainly has his own behavioral issues, but in a way where her dog often gets pinned.
Instead of allowing her dog to set a boundary, she always grabs his collar and forceably removes him from the situation. She yells at the other dog's owner. She panics.
Today her dog saw that the husky was there and immediately went for its throat. A legitimate fight ensued. Thankfully it was broken up without severe injury to either dog.
Both the husky's owner and the blonde girl kept their dogs at the dog park after this incident.
Ego is a really interesting thing. We cannot survive without it. It tells us to eat, to care for ourselves, to bathe which in turn helps us avoid parasites or infection, to expect certain treatment from other human beings which is beneficial for our survival (or, which is at least not detrimental to it).
Both women yelled at one another, and then retreated to separate benches, as though the dogs wouldn't interact again. As though the dogs could somehow exist on the same level of passive-aggression as humans.
An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive human.
People walk around, animals their accessories, unintentionally forcing these four-legged and highly conscious beings to mirror their own anxieties, their own ego trips, their own fear and panic and completely adrift sense of self.
They assume that all conflict is terrifying, force their dogs to flee from it as they themselves do.
And the result? Maladaptive defensiveness. The blonde girl has another dog who follows mine around barking. She responds by yelling at it to stop. In other words, the dog barks because he's apprehensive about the size of my dog and he's anxious. She barks back and feeds its anxiety.
There is a lack of willingness to accept responsibility on behalf of both parties. We so often retreat and tell our friends how wrong the other was.
But how often in conflict do we actually sit back and ask ourselves what subtle but severe issues do we have that caused this conflict in the first place? What role we play?
In my experience watching others, the answer seems to be never. It's a curious thing, ego.
#Meditations #Siin #Ego #Psychology #Sociology
The dog park recently has been an interesting microcosm of society. In evaluating the strange relationships that these humans have with their animals, in watching their anxiety at work: their fear of being embarrassed, their fear of something happening to their dog, their fear of being called out for their dog's bad behavior, and so on; I have really had some interesting thoughts about the way that we treat animals and the way that we treat each other.
There is one girl in particular with two dogs that have subtle but severe behavioral issues. This girl is blonde and cute and it's quite likely that her behavior has never been criticized. As such, she seems to have very little self-awareness, and she is an extraordinarily anxious and angry person.
An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive one.
When our dogs cannot trust that we will not put them in bad situations they will take matters into their own hands. This happened today: there is a husky at the park who picks on one of the blonde girl's dogs. Not in an aggressive way, although he certainly has his own behavioral issues, but in a way where her dog often gets pinned.
Instead of allowing her dog to set a boundary, she always grabs his collar and forceably removes him from the situation. She yells at the other dog's owner. She panics.
Today her dog saw that the husky was there and immediately went for its throat. A legitimate fight ensued. Thankfully it was broken up without severe injury to either dog.
Both the husky's owner and the blonde girl kept their dogs at the dog park after this incident.
Ego is a really interesting thing. We cannot survive without it. It tells us to eat, to care for ourselves, to bathe which in turn helps us avoid parasites or infection, to expect certain treatment from other human beings which is beneficial for our survival (or, which is at least not detrimental to it).
Both women yelled at one another, and then retreated to separate benches, as though the dogs wouldn't interact again. As though the dogs could somehow exist on the same level of passive-aggression as humans.
An aggressive dog is quite often a defensive one. An aggressive human is quite often a defensive human.
People walk around, animals their accessories, unintentionally forcing these four-legged and highly conscious beings to mirror their own anxieties, their own ego trips, their own fear and panic and completely adrift sense of self.
They assume that all conflict is terrifying, force their dogs to flee from it as they themselves do.
And the result? Maladaptive defensiveness. The blonde girl has another dog who follows mine around barking. She responds by yelling at it to stop. In other words, the dog barks because he's apprehensive about the size of my dog and he's anxious. She barks back and feeds its anxiety.
There is a lack of willingness to accept responsibility on behalf of both parties. We so often retreat and tell our friends how wrong the other was.
But how often in conflict do we actually sit back and ask ourselves what subtle but severe issues do we have that caused this conflict in the first place? What role we play?
In my experience watching others, the answer seems to be never. It's a curious thing, ego.
#Meditations #Siin #Ego #Psychology #Sociology