Skip to main content

When Your Dog Thinks the 4th of July is the End Times


 Let's be honest - while you're out there being all patriotic and eating your weight in BBQ, your furry family member is having a full-scale meltdown under the kitchen table.

Today's reality check: that beautiful sweet dog who usually greets everyone like they're returning war heroes? Yeah, she's currently wedged behind the washing machine because apparently, freedom sounds terrifying when you have four legs and no understanding of American history.

Here's the thing about being someone's safe person...

Your pets don't care about independence or star-spangled banners. They just know that the sky is making angry noises and their favorite human seems oddly excited about it. This is where you become their superhero - not the cape-wearing kind, but the "I'll sit in the bathroom with you for three hours" kind.

Create that cozy fort. Put on some calming music (classical works, but honestly, whatever keeps them from stress-shedding all evening). Be their emotional support human for once instead of the other way around.

And to my gorgeous international readers?

Celebrate anyway! Because it's basically the weekend, happiness doesn't need a passport, and any excuse to eat snacks and spread joy is a good excuse in my book.

The world is wild right now, but we've got each other, we've got our furry chaos-makers, and we've got reasons to celebrate. Sometimes the best way to honor any moment is simply to create joy where we are.

So whether you're dodging fireworks or just dodging Monday responsibilities, remember: being someone's safe space is one of the most beautiful things you can do.

Love you all! 💕

Sabine

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Writers, Don’t Be a Slave to Word Count: Let the Story Speak for Itself

As writers, we’ve all asked ourselves that nagging question: “Is my book long enough? Too short? How long should it be?” It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, obsessing over whether our work fits neatly into arbitrary word count guidelines. But here’s the truth: Word count should never dictate the quality of your story. The heart of storytelling lies in the narrative itself, not in how many pages it spans. The Pressure of Word Count From NaNoWriMo goals to publishing industry standards, writers face constant reminders about “acceptable” word counts. A novel must be 80,000-100,000 words. A novella shouldn’t exceed 40,000. Short stories have their own limits. These guidelines are helpful, but they can also be stifling. We begin to pad scenes unnecessarily or trim meaningful moments just to conform to these benchmarks. I’ve been there. I’ve wrestled with my manuscript, forcing it to stretch or condense to meet expectations. And you know what happened? The authenticity of the...

The Glamorous Life of a Writer (Or, Mostly Just Staring at a Screen)

There’s a persistent rumor floating around that writers live thrilling, adventure-filled lives. Perhaps it’s all the dramatic author portraits on book jackets—moody, windswept, staring off into the distance as if contemplating the fate of the world. Perhaps it’s the movies, where writers are always dashing off to Paris to write the next great novel in a charming café (suspiciously never interrupted by spotty Wi-Fi or overpriced croissants). I hate to break it to you, but real writing? Not quite so cinematic. In reality, my writing days mostly involve staring intensely at my screen, willing the words to appear through sheer force of will. Occasionally, I engage in deep philosophical debates with myself—such as whether my protagonist should turn left or right down a hallway (the fate of the fictional world depends on it). And let’s not forget the highly intellectual process of naming characters, which can take hours because somehow every single name I think of is either the name of ...

Picking a Favorite Character? Impossible!

  The question comes up all the time. It’s inevitable. Like taxes. Or discovering that you’ve been walking around with spinach in your teeth all day. "Who’s your favorite character?" And I should have a definitive answer, right? Like, boom—here’s my favorite! Neatly tied up, no hesitation, no emotional turmoil, no staring off into the middle distance questioning my life choices. But no. That is not how this works. That is not how any of this works. My knee-jerk reaction is always Pixie . Pixie, my telepathic, sass-infused, magical Papillon from the Magical Papillon Mysteries . How could I not pick her? She’s got it all—wit, charm, fluffy ears, and, most importantly, magic. I mean, who wouldn’t want a touch of magic? I can barely find my car keys half the time. Pixie would just twitch an ear, and boom—problem solved. And she’s funny. Not just “accidentally amusing” funny. No, she’s deliberately funny. She says the things we all wish we could say, with perfect comed...