Experimenting

Lesley's Blog

This blog was written a couple of weeks ago. I did not post it at the time so it is sort of "outdated"  as we have gone and come back from our vacation already. But I like the idea of life as an experiment so I wanted to share my thoughts even after the fact. I have added an "after the experiment" update at the end. Enjoy.


In August we will be in New Mexico for a week. The dogs are going with us and we are considering this jaunt to be an experiment.

It will be the first time we have taken our two seventy pound smooth collies with us on vacation and we are not sure how much of a vacation it will be. The pet friendly cabin we have rented is on seven acres but the land is not fenced securely. Our dogs are used to going in and out of the house through the dog door into our fenced yard whenever they want to. Although they are completely house trained and do not destroy property ( at least not since Merlin graduated from puppyhood and eating cell phones left within his reach) we wonder what the anxiety of being in a strange house might bring. 

Like many couples, Eric and I tend to have different views and different ways of doing things at times. I tend to follow rules and not take risks and so being in someone else's property with our dogs is creating some anxiety for me. I want to make sure I do the "right" thing and that nothing goes wrong. Eric tends to feel it will all be okay and that the dogs and everything else will be fine. 

We want to be able to do some site seeing while we are there and many places will not be welcoming of our beloved dogs. But I need to be certain that the dogs will be okay left alone in a strange place and that no property will be damaged. 

So we have talked at length about our different styles and, given that I am the one who has the most anxiety, what I need in order to feel alright. We have already taken care of some of the issues by renting a property located on seven acres so that our barking collies will not disturb the peace of the neighborhood. Then we will test how comfortable the dogs are in the cabin by leaving them alone for increasingly longer periods of time. Giving them plenty of exercise before we leave them alone will hopefully ensure that they will be doing lots of napping in our absence. 

When I was in my twenties I worked as a research scientist and although experiments are planned with a hypothesis in mind, it is important that the researchers remain detached from the outcome so as not to influence the results. The actual experiment needs to be carefully designed and the results taken into account when designing subsequent experiments to provide further knowledge. 

Science is also about creatively thinking outside the box, taking risks and leaps of faith, being flexible, listening to intuitive ideas all finally focused in to a specific structure in order to reveal wisdom. Over time with careful thought and planning and ongoing additions of creativity and flair, that wisdom can be increased incrementally to hopefully help all beings in some way.

In many ways we can think of a well lived life in the same way, a wonderful combination of organization and the wildness of creativity, living the process without attachment to outcome. I love thinking about my life in terms of a series of experiments and I approached this vacation in that way, beginning with the idea "we can have a great vacation with the dogs." Then I imagined how we could create a wonderful experience taking into account such factors as drive distance, type of accommodation and, as importantly, mine and Eric's emotional issues that might be significant. 

I researched options and plans but always with the understanding in mind that it is just a series of experiments and that staying detached from the outcome and being willing to adjust to ongoing data will allow us to be pleasantly surprised and joy filled no matter what happens. We will adjust and cope with creativity, flexibility, flair, intuition and lots of organization and practical plans!!

Some people might ask "But where does spontaneity come in?" I personally have found spontaneity to be rather overrated but I know that others love to live in that style. However trying to take dogs on vacation spontaneously might be quite a challenge so for now I will stick to my experiments.

After the Experiment

It was a really good experience and the planning we had done proved to be most helpful for us and the dogs. Mostly we were able to go with few expectations and were careful to do less rather than more so that we did not get overly tired or stressed. It worked well to remind each other when things were difficult that "it's just an experiment".

We and the dogs enjoyed a nice balance of exercising and seeing amazing sites with lots of rest and restoration. Our choice of activities focused on "the road less traveled" rather than the usual tourist haunts and on several occasions we were alone in the countryside so that our dogs had lots of freedom to roam.

Now back at home we are grateful to have two very adaptable and mostly well behaved dogs. We are gratedful for a safe trip and that we had the opportunity to see and do new things in the beautiful state of New Mexico. We are also grateful for the dog door and a fenced yard so we do not need to go out in the early morning or late evening to supervise the dogs.

We are especially grateful for the experiment of living every day.