Time to Listen to the Dog

November 8, 2018 Roland Kuhl 0 Comments

I work from home. I am an online faculty member of Grand Canyon University leading courses in the College of Doctoral Studies in the Ed.D. program on Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Christian Ministry (too long to put on a business card). I just don’t teach from home, I can teach from anywhere I can find an internet connection – so I have taught while hiking in Sedona, visiting family and friends in Canada, on the road, in airports, on trains, or when I need to get out of the house, some local coffee shops and bistros, here in La Crosse. My time is pretty flexible – I can log on early in the morning and engage a number of doctoral learners. I try to keep my weekends free by trying to stick to a four-day a week schedule of early Saturday or Sunday mornings, and committing significant time on Mondays – Wednesday. On weeks that I have papers to grade, my schedule easily engulfs the whole week.

This week, I have papers to grade, however, it is not an ordinary week, so no seven-day schedule for grading papers – got to get them done in three days. My youngest daughter, Hilary, is coming home from Australia this weekend. What she does there is Relief and Development work in Global Health Care with YWAM. So, I am pushing myself in order to have more free time with her while she’s here for two weeks – need to get them all graded by Saturday.

My dog Dakota is not a fan of all this focused, frenetic work. When my wife is at work and I am working here at home, she does not get the attention she wants and often tries to distract me by nudging her head between by arms and my laptop. Today, though she’s been pretty quiet, so she’s been great, but enough is enough. After having spent about 6 hours grading papers, she started giving me the eye from beneath my desk.

Well it was time to listen to the dog. Wrap up what I was doing. Get washed up and dressed (had not done that yet today) and take her for a much deserved walk – for her and for me. It’s good to get outside into the cold brisk air (31F here), defrag a bit, breath in some fresh air, and walk through the leaves around the neighborhood where I live. Helps me to think and reflect as well – at least, when I am not picking up after her.

There is a rhythm in life that we can often miss (I often miss) when I get working on meeting my own deadlines. Work does get done when I make space for the rest of life. In listening to Dakota and taking her and me for a walk, life is allowed to find its way back into my life, a refreshing break gives a fresh outlook, and life re-enters into my soul. Sometimes, I need to be stared down by my dog and listen to her – not just for her wants and needs – she seems to have a sense what I need as well.