This is Ziggy, Moxie’s best friend. He was 10 weeks old when he met Moxie for the first time, and it was love at first sight! I tried to keep him separated for a while since he was so little, however, this did not last long. I put a baby gate between him and Moxie, but this proved to be useless since they were both pawing at each other through the bars, wanting to play.
After a while, I gave up. I removed the baby gate and decided it’s time for them to meet. Ziggy was about 2 lbs at that time and Moxie 68 lbs. Carefully, under the supervision of two responsible adults (at least this is what we told ourselves), Ziggy met Moxie.
Speaking of living in the present moment and making the best out of everything. There was so much gentleness, so much joy when they could finally play together unrestricted! They would both lay on the side, Moxie with her mouth wide open and Ziggy playing with her beard. There was an understanding between the two of them, a silent vow, Ziggy saying “I’ll play with you all day long, if you teach me all you know about life”. And so, she did. Moxie took her role very seriously, showing Ziggy what life is all about.
“Humans” she told him, “can be strange sometimes. They often cry for no reason. They can live in the past at times, and they worry so much about the future. They are physically here with us, but rarely are they truly here. They load up the present moment with so much stuff, that it is hard for them to even realize the beauty of it, the gift they get each time, with each moment. They concentrate so much on the past, they dwell on the should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, only to quickly jump to their next to do list. They pride themselves in multitasking, only to realize much later that the piled-up tower of tasks crumbled under the weight of “I can do it all and I can do it now”.
Our job, Ziggymeister is to show them how to live in the present and how to enjoy each moment to the fullest. They pay attention to us and by doing this, we will teach them how to pay attention to the present moment. “I’m in” said Ziggy, “let’s get them out of their head and into their heart more. High five for this!”
After Moxie crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I directed my attention more and more to Ziggy and realized what a good teacher he became. He lives life with much intention, and he makes sure I know what his intentions are. He loves unconditionally, he plays with the silliest strings and cardboard boxes, he loves our bike rides and walks in the park. He also enjoys our lazy summer afternoons, on the swing in the back yard, me sipping a cup of tea and him chatting with his birds and squirrels. He gets his daily zoomies around the house, I am sure he learned that from Moxie, because he acts like a dog when he does this.
He has no fear, just like Moxie, he never attacks when he meets another dog or cat, but he will stand up for himself when someone is not treating him right. He comes running at the door when I get home and he is always there when you fix something around the house.
He continues Moxie’s legacy with much grace, I would say. Above all, Ziggy makes me pause, he reminds me of how precious present moments are, and how to immerse myself fully, with all my senses in each moment. Because each moment matters.
After all, Pericles was right “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others” – something that Moxie, and now Ziggy are doing so well. They leave drops of gratitude and awareness in many of us.