I once had a martial arts instructor, an 8th dang from Korea. I had taken Taekwondo for a year in college and took it up again when I moved to Tucson. I had only studied under a 2nd degree, so I was impressed and awed by this man that I saw punching the cement blocks on the buildings every morning when I entered the studio.
My Master told me: “The more a person sweats, the more beautiful they become.” Because he was an 8th degree, he told me he was wise enough that he could tell how much a person had sweated- that there was a glow about them, and that they were closer to God.
I mention this story because I was reminded of it by this Brad Pitt quote.
Grief, if you survive it, leaves a gaping hole but it also leaves PROFOUND BEAUTY. It is an aching beauty, but it’s a beauty. – Brad Pitt
When you get into living your life, you will run across tragedy, loss, grief. Our pets don’t live as long as us, humans we know cross over unexpectedly, we lose a relationship, get a life-threatening illness-no one always has smooth sailing under clear skies. For those of us who share our lives with animals, the loss of a beloved pet can be one of life's most heartbreaking experiences. They are our companions, our family, and a source of unconditional love. When they leave us, the grief is real, the absence is profound, and the memories we carry become part of the love that remains.
All of a sudden, you are in the club. The club that you only join thru tragedy or the death of someone you love. After having horses for a decade, I realized that it wasn’t “if” you had tragedy it was “when.” Because of that, I committed myself to learn how to deal with it.
“Some goodbyes leave an emptiness, but the love we shared lives on in every cherished memory.”
I believe that the more beings we love, the more beautiful our heart becomes. The more we “glow” the closer to God we get, just like my Martial Arts Master said about sweating. It creates a beauty that you receive no other way than by loving genuinely and not expecting anything out of it in return. It is a beauty that cannot be faked.
In this reality, what is considered important is not always what remains throughout time, what is eternal. Loving is eternal. It teaches us what is sacred, what is worthwhile, what has meaning beyond time and space.
Remembering those we have loved, including the animals who have shared our lives, is one way we keep that love alive. Their presence may no longer be beside us, but the pawprints they leave on our hearts never truly disappear.
Owning 4 cars instead of 1, wearing designer clothes, having money, all that is stuff that does not matter in the world of love. What matters is that you gave a soul water when they needed it, offered shelter or food. That you took care of beings that were never going to belong to you, so they had safe passage to the next chapter in their life.
Grief is a refining force that adds irreplaceable depth and beauty to the human spirit. The stakes are existential: you either numb yourself and carry unprocessed pain as dead weight or choose to feel at a divine level. Grieving at a divine level expands the heart’s width, the soul’s scope, and knowledge. This is the type of experience that changes carbon into diamonds. A quality spiritual grace emerges from loving deeply and enduring loss. Sharing talking about the loss, releasing the pain makes room for new love.
The meaning of grief is to embrace grief instead of denying it. To not avoid pain but choose compassion and feel your feelings. This builds a kind of beauty that cannot be faked. You can see it in someone- that they have stared at the worst possible thing they thought could happen in the face and didn’t look away. They have an essence- one I have seen with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and the Dali Lama and random people that are considered nobody by most everyone.
Like my karate master, I, after studying grief for thirty years, have become an expert at seeing how much someone has grieved. Just like with sweating, it makes you more beautiful, more authentically you and closer to God.
"A beloved pet leaves pawprints on our hearts that time can never erase."
Love Remains, Even After Goodbye
Grief is a reflection of the love we carry, and when someone loses a beloved pet, that love deserves to be recognized.
At Pet Perennials, we believe that pets are family and that the loss of a cherished companion deserves compassion, understanding, and remembrance. A thoughtful gesture can remind someone who is grieving that they are not alone and that the bond they shared with their pet will always matter.
Through our Gift Perks Program, pet-centric businesses can send meaningful sympathy gifts directly to clients who have lost their beloved pet. From comforting candles and beautiful suncatchers to personalized memorial keepsakes, each gift is an opportunity to honor a special bond and offer a little comfort during a difficult time.
Because sometimes, the simplest way to show someone you care is to remember what they have lost.
Learn more about the Pet Perennials Gift Perks Program and discover how your business can offer compassionate support to clients when they need it most.
