Rescue Journal

white noise

Carol  ·  Mar. 30, 2013

it is not really surprising that there is sometimes conflict in rescue. there are so many ways to hike up the very same rescue mountain and many rescues like to do that hike on their own. when you fine tune it into the specific mandates, specific species, or specific breeds..it gets even more confusing because suddenly there are a ton of experts laying out road maps on the best way to go.
in rescue you can drown in other people's advice, suggestions, rules and road signs...you can get lost in the expectations, sometimes the limitations.... of people who believe, think, act, rescue differently than you.

mo and i were talkng about this yesterday. we all learned rescue in various ways...personal experience, the experience of others, research thru books and internet, workshops, conferences, formalized education, discussion, debates, trial and error. we pull it all together and morph it into a unique and individualized rescue which sets it's own mandates, accomplishes it's own tasks and chooses it's own rescue route and plan of attack.

for me personally there is a high degree of not just knowledge but an even greater degree of gut in the mix. somethings just feel right...some things feel wrong...some things feel more confusing...somehow off kilter to me. these things from my gut frustrate me...they defy verbalizations, i can't pull out a book or an expert to prove whatever it is i am feeling.

it is critical in rescue to keep an open mind...to be willing to learn, change and to grow as you go along. it is also critical to know when to stand strong. this type of rescue..in this i mean..my personal kind..is different than many of the others because we do not do just one single type. i am not immersed in the horse world, yet i rescue horses, i am not a farmer nor a vegan yet i rescue farm animals. i am not a dog trainer or behavioralist yet i rescue dogs. i haven't been obsessed with bunnies, budgies or cats since i took my first breaths. my accumulated knowledge comes from loving and caring for old, sick and unhappy beings from many different species....it is what i am good at and it is what i like doing best.

a good day for me is not how many adoptions did we have, it is not how much advice i dispensed out or how many people i converted to my way of thinking. it is not teaching a dog to walk nicely on a leash or winnng a ribbon in a equine event. i don't care about expanding our rescue social or working network and i am not all that interested in getting people to like or respect me.

at the end of the day, i want to walk thru here and feel surrounded by peace and contentment. i want my gut to be satisfied that all is well.

people need to undertand this..i am not one to jump on anyone elses bandwagon..i am not going to get hysterical or upset or start beating up on someone else or turn this place or any other place upside down because that is the prevailing wind of the day.

i need to follow the route that feels safe for me and the animals at saints. and that is what i do. i don't care how rescue A B or C does things. my assumption is..they are doing it their way that works best for them. i don't care if someone here or in the outside world thinks every person associated with saints has to be vegan. i don't care if the entire equine world feeds beet pulp and thinks it is great or if the dog world thinks all dogs should be fed raw... i don't care if in people's homes or rescues they spend hours grooming, training, working, analyzing or walking their dog.
every single person with a belief or an opinion or special way of doing things can do what they want.

but please embrace, celebrate, enjoy, feel good about what you do..don't judge others or try to shove your way down someone elses throat to shame or force them into being a mirror image of you.

all of us are on the same journey...we are born, we live and we all will one day die. and none of us will do it exactly the same way. our job for ourselves alone, is to do it the best way we can. we can help others along the way, we can cheer them on, offer support when we can but our job is not to knock people over and drag them to where we think they should be.

what i try to live in life and in rescue is...be respectful to others on their own journey, always try to do the best that i can, pick myself up when i stumble or fall and find some way to tune out the white noise or it will drive me right around the freaking bend.

Comments

jan

Each and every individual has their own value system. It is unique to us and has nothing to do with right or wrong. It is simply our own, we may change it over time due to "our" life experiences or not.