One of my all time favorite books is "Kinship with all Life" by J. Allen Boone. It’s the true story, written in the 1950s, of when the author had a big Hollywood star, a German shepherd by the name of Strongheart, come to live with him. Boone began to learn some amazing and wonderful things from Strongheart, about getting along with others, about communication and some of the basic principles of living a life in harmony with the world and its creatures.
I first read this book about twenty years ago, and it stretched my thinking. I found a lot of truth in it, and was delighted not only by the possibilities of more communication with non-humans, but also at how the principles apply to our human relationships. He wrote of learning how to listen, of letting go of preconceptions and being present. He also found that when he focused on the positive qualities of whatever creature he was in relationship with, those qualities grew in them and in him. He emphasized qualities such as appreciation, respect, sincerity, generosity, affection, a sense of fellowship, flexibility as ways to find right relationship, be it with a dog, a camel, a lizard, a fly…maybe our fellow humans?
I go back to the book now and then, to see what I find in it at this stage of my life. I always find it to be a fun, affecting read, and I always learn something. It has the flavor of the 1950s, and yet it’s timeless. The book is still in print…jump on into it and hang out with the critters!
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