I have always been deeply attracted to things with fur and blind people. I think because they have no preconceived notions, they don’t understand that meeting people soul first in a skin first society is unusual. They listen, they hear, and they know in the first minutes whether or not you will be a friend for life.

I once tried an experiment – I pretended to be blind for a day and simply met people soul first. It was amazing. I found myself hearing things I had never heard before; intonations in voice, warmth, character, the smile in a story. Even with my closest family, I suddenly heard more of who they were – it was eye-opening despite the fact that I had my eyes closed.

I believe this is where our attraction to animals lies – they never judge, they hear your inner soul calling, flaws and all, and love anyway. I want to be like that. I want to meet people – best friends and total strangers – as though I have no idea what they look like. I have no concerns about size, color of skin, beauty (or none), but yet, society does. We are taught to teach our daughters that the way they look will define their acceptance in the world. I refuse to teach that. I have taught my daughter that she is exactly who she is intended to be, and she is beautiful inside and out. I want to teach her to avoid the drama, to avoid the pain of pretending to know someone’s soul when you are really only looking at the external facade. I want her to know people inside/out not outside/in as is such the norm in our world. She is learning, but she is also feeling the pain of others. It’s a tough lesson to learn so young – that the world can be a cruel place, but you can make a difference in the life of another simply by viewing their soul – or at least what they’ll show you.

Just for today, I want you to think about your story. The real one, not the story you tell yourself or the world because it’s safe, but the story that makes your heart sing. The one; perhaps, you fear sharing because no one will understand. The one, truly unique story, that defines you. Tell it to yourself, than tell it to your best friend, and work up to telling the world. Can you imagine what life would be like if we all lived in this truth.

Dogs and other fur-covered lovers do. They know your story – silently, they accept who you are, who you are becoming and they gently reach a cold nose forward to nudge you along. Follow the nose. It’s the way to the truth. Tell me your story.