I'm Adeli Mone and this is the slowdown.

I know it's easy to be let down by humanity.

You might be feeling let down by humanity right now.

Oh, who needs it?

And yet amazingly, people can overcome loss or grief or great tragedy and just keep

living.

That perseverance can overwhelm me, can shred me into tiny pieces of emotional ash.

It can flatten me.

So I want to praise those little things that allow us to continue the garden, the birds

at the feeder, the friend who texts out of the blue to see if you're doing okay.

My dog is one of those bright spots in my life, a reason to wake up or be kind to myself

or walk or nap or laugh.

Right now, my dog is sitting on the back porch watching the birds come and go from the feeder.

Still so upset that I dared to feed the flying beast that flit in and out of our Kentucky

backyard, watching her makes me watch them.

And for a while, we are both just peacefully noticing the world.

It's something I had forgotten to do.

She brings me back to myself, yes, but she also brings me back into the world.

Today's poem explores how the love of an animal can help us process grief and even remember

the precious value of touch.

This is a poem by Sana Wani.

Lately, I am trying to teach my dog how to be alive.

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