I wrote All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Goats after "my Honey Goat" Patches passed over. I dedicated the book to him. I just reread the book this morning after being in a funk from absorbing someone's heavy energy. (I was like a sponge without my protection and "picked up" a friend's seriousness). I was guided to reread this book and, miraculously, my bad mood vanished. I learned something from my own written words.
This book contains part of what I learned from being with goats all of these years. I needed to be reminded of something extremely important: The Need for FUN. My friend had heavy energy. His sense of fun was buried under years of muck and disappointments. His energy hit me like a 18 wheeler truck: NOT FUN. I was able to explain what had happened to him and why he was pushing me to Timbuktu. He did not have his Fun on.
One of the things that Goats teach is to have Fun. They are very playful. When you play with them on their level, everything goes from black and white to spectacular color. The adult world forgot fun in many ways. They try to put that onto human children by creating schools that teach seriousness and dredge the fun out of the students.
My friend had forgotten to have fun. His sense of play had been condensed to seeing movies and eating tasty food as a temporary and short-lived distraction. His life became dry and brittle and his laughter was distilled down to the sound of a hiss, similar to a snake giving warning. There was no heart and soul of Joy. Instead there was only the seriousness of a life that had not yet met its desires.
In come the goats. We went to see the goats at Lolypop Farm animal rescue. I transformed as soon as I saw the herd. When I put my hands on their playful serenity, I was instantly restored even though we were not actually "playing" in the moment. It is enough to be with them, to feel the love that they are. Goats are powerful. They make people change. They sing, "forget your troubles c'mon get happy."
My own book reminded me of this need for play and fun. I was guided to reread it and I am glad I listened to my inner guidance. Balance is really important. Everything is dependent on balance. Don't forget to be like the goats and take time to play, to have fun, to find the absurdity in the environment around you and laugh at it.
