Social Entrepreneurship finds its Home with Dog Lovers

Reboundog. Exactly, what is it?

That’s the question on which I’ve been spending much of my time and life energy as of late. Ever since I was invited to join, I’ve been meeting people and listening to like minds where the plight of homeless animals, mostly dogs and cats, are concerned. Like any creative effort I get involved in, I often approach it as a crowded room in which I step into quietly, listen, and look around, for what’s being said and who is there. So far what I see there is that it’s an amalgamation of dog (and cat) lovers, yes, from varied professional backgrounds collaborating together to disrupt existing systems for the benefit of animals.

Which systems? Shelters, mainly.

Why? Because homeless animals need advocates. Many are still dying for human-related reasons — capacity/population, behavioral, or economic — all of which have nothing whatsoever to do with the animals doing anything to deserve such fate. These are human-created systems, for which exist human-created solutions. (Gratitude to Joanna Macy for her lifelong work here).

The question arises, then, how are people collaborating, and to what benefit? Can we give solid examples of an existing system in need of change, and how we are collaborating to change it? What are its goals? Are they achievable?

Welcome to the enigmatic world of social entrepreneurship (influencer). Some might find such amalgamations to be nebulous, but in the world of creative thinkers, I find it open to possibilities at the starting line, and threatening to disrupt the status quo, at the finish. It makes me question my own personal goals in rescue dog advocacy, a passion which gripped my heart somewhere between the plight of wolves in the West and adopting my first Southern rescue from a high-kill shelter.

For those of us loving on animals, I ask the question: What are you interested in offering to help animals?

Here is what I offer in advocacy, what I share in my Reboundog amalgamation of dog lovers, and what I offer to the greater human community:

• Cultivating awareness for the lives of homeless dogs
• Speaking in a heart-conscious, authentic voice, to help them feel seen and heard in an overcrowded, overwhelmed, distracted and divided world
• Caring for the beleaguered and aching hearts of animal-lovers trying to help homeless animals, with wisdom teachings, ecopsychology-informed practices or therapeutic deep listening
• Honoring the light I see shining in others aligned in the heart with the same want to help homeless dogs (and cats) to live healthy, loving and joyful lives, and do all that I am able to keep that light shining brightly, so that others may recognize and feel it for themselves.
• In the end, my own life is about loving animals and caring for those coming across my path. In whatever form it takes, from sharing of their lives to say:
• I’m here, and I need you, to
• I deserve to live, or
• Look to the joy and resilience found in paths of forgiveness I bring for all of you to see

All of it is intended to raise consciousness in our human society, for the more room we make in our minds, hearts and homes for homeless dogs (and cats) in need, the more room we make for each other.

Together, we create a more enlightened and compassionate society that simply feels better for us all to live in.

Namaste, (I honor the light within all of you).

Originally published here