Wednesday, January 4, 2012

2012 Lessons from A Dog's Life (or Clark Kent's Secrets for Better Living)

This is Clark Kent. Really. He's resting here on a pillow on our couch. In fact, he pretty much rests most of the time, in between of course, hunting and catching the ball, eating, and going for walks. It's a great life he has at the Daily Planet, and I'm glad he shares it with us.

Of the many things Clark is good at, he's probably best at sniffing. Shoes, laps, garbage cans, sidewalks, you name it, he's a really good sniffer. Yes, he's also probably the smartest dog in the universe, but sniffing? He surpasses all.

Which got me thinking: Imagine how good it'd be to sniff out stories—or moments in 2012—with equal verve to Clark's abilities. Or to take steps away from life's busyness to rest on pillows. Or to play with so much vigor and focus, and then to relax with such whimsical trust, that the year's responsibilities suddenly took on new meaning. Who knows? New identities might emerge from every phone booth we encounter, and new perspectives might be won. The sidewalk, I'm sure, would never look the same.