“Hi there! Marco Guinea Pig here. It’s a pleasure to chat with you today. Although this is a mostly one-way conversation now isn’t it? I hope you are listening and enjoying the messages we are sharing with you. I love it here. I love hearing all of the different points of view and there is such wisdom everywhere. Even the cats have interesting things to say. Some of them are a bit on the pushy side if I may say so. But each of us has our own place in life. I love to take little pieces of food and stash them away for later. I don’t think my humans have caught on to that yet. But some things in life are just meant to be savored. You know what I mean? I’m told I can ask you to participate here. Tell me what are some of your things in life that you savor? Come on, make this little guinea pig’s day and share your thoughts with me.”
“Oh, let me tell you, there is so much in life to be happy about! I’m on my second lifetime in just this one body. No, I’m not talking about a past life thing. This is a present life thing. You see I started out in life born in a horse barn. It was a noble start to be born in the stable. Then, I had an injury to one of my eyes and it was really bad. My humans knew they couldn’t take care of it so they sent me and my sister Bella to this farm. After a lot of trying to save my eye, it was not successful so they had it removed and that was a good thing. Bella and I became THE barn cats here at SFC. Bella died a few years ago but as she got ill, the humans here brought her inside to be warmer and it was the right thing to do. But I wanted no part of that. There was a barn to take care of and I made it clear that I was not ready to retire. I had to do this for me and Bella too. But then 2 winters ago, I changed my mind. It was time for my second career. Now, I am inside and enjoying the life of an indoor cat. I help in the office with important projects and meetings. Sometimes life is not just about seeing things but it is all about how you look at it. I’m hoping that with all the changes you humans are going through right now, that you will take a moment to realize all the things you have to be happy about. Really look at them. Life is full of incredible beauty. And we must see it through the challenges.”
“Do you know all the things that I know? I bet some of you think I’m just a pig and what could I know. Ah, but you would be silly to think that. I know the different smells in the air on any given day. I know when the weather is changing. I know the different smells of food and dirt. I have happy days. I have sad days. I love the comfort of my pig family, even when they get on my nerves. I love snuggling in the straw and hearing my pigs snore. All of these pigs with me are my children. I got to know that they are safe. Sometimes we argue but that is usually because they don’t listen to me. But I have the joy of knowing they will forever be safe here and that makes my heart feel good. I have deep feelings just like you. My body may look different. But my heart beats just like yours. Please get to know me before you pass judgment on who I am …. Because you may not know the truth about being a pig. But I’d love to get to know you and for you to know me too.”
“I volunteer every year for this mission of messages. Are you listening out there? We think we have lots of people following us even though we never see or hear them. But we feel you out there. This is a special time. Why? Because you allow yourself to look for hope and compassion at this time of the year. Have you ever noticed that? Hope is actually something that is around every single day, yet humans seem to need to have an excuse to indulge in it now and again. We wish we could fill you with hope! I want to say that I have come to rely on hope and trust in compassion every single minute of my life. Yes, I’ve seen terrible things. I’ve gone through some really tough things and had a rough start. But that didn’t define who I am, but it did make me appreciate all I’ve got now. You are not defined by your pain unless you let that happen. Define yourself instead by your happiness. You are a beautiful being. You are filled with a light that no one else has but you. The world needs to see each light. We are meant to shine our lights together. Will you join me today? Just try it. Stop throughout the day and find one thing to be happy for in your life. And you will see that there is more than you realize. And hope will fill your heart. And your light will get brighter. And then I want you to simply smile at another fellow human today and share that moment of light. You will touch their hearts in a way that helps them feel kindness. And the magic will spread.”
“I always love to be asked to share in these communications. I sit here on my favorite chair as Dawn asks me if I want to share. And I settle in and take a deep breath. I’d love to share. I have so very much to be grateful and happy about. And I have so much I’d love to share with people. If you meet me in person, the first thing you’d likely notice about me is that I am missing a back leg. People instantly feel sorry for me and wonder what horrible thing happened to me. Well, if all you see about me is that something is missing, then you are not seeing all that is here. And if you walk away from me feeling sad that I lost a leg, then you are failing to understand what I found instead. I lost my leg in an accident. It is as simple as that. But what I found was a home with extraordinary people who have loved me and nurtured me and cared for me in ways that I never had before. I found comfort and I healed. I find joy everyday. I have lots of cat friends with whom I have lived for many years now together. We are a family. And when we lose one, we are all sad. We lost our friend Nemo this year and I’d like to give a shout out to him and the magnificent friend he was to all of us. Ok, I admit sometimes I bopped him now and then. But that was lovingly done. Sometimes adverse events happen that bring us to other places where we find our deepest blessings. But we have to be willing to accept those blessings when they come. If all you see is what is missing, you will never find the blessing that is there in front of you to replace the thing you lost. Trust me, it’s true.”
“Listen to me my human friends. It is far greater to try things in life and fail than to never try anything at all and die empty. I may be just a rabbit to you. If you are thinking that, then you don’t understand rabbits. Actually, you may not understand one another either. I think indeed that is the case. You look at each other and animals with expectations of how we would think or not think or be. You categorize everyone and everything and label it so that you know what you can expect. But you don’t accept anything outside your own silly parameters. You box yourselves in. It’s ok, because we still accept you for who you are anyway. But you limit yourselves with your limiting thoughts. A rabbit is just a rabbit after all, you think. What would a rabbit know? But I’m here to tell you that this rabbit knows a lot. And your limitations are holding you back from great growth and from receiving great gifts from animals and nature around you. That is just what I see. I have tremendous respect for you. Truly. Now go carry on with your day.”
“I’d like to talk about friendship. When I came here to the farm as a baby, I was surrounded by older horses that took me in and raised me as their own. My own mother had died when I was born. I never even knew her. But my new surrogate mother and friends saw me through. But they were all older and while I benefited from their wisdom, I watched each of them die of old age and illness. At first, I thought this was going to be a life of loss. I got a bit lost in that sadness. I lost my way. I disconnected from others. And I kind of fell aside from the herd. But then one day, a horse came in who needed a friend. He was old. He was in bad shape. But my human friends trusted me to be with him, because they knew I understood how to be with the old and frail. Something happened to me in that moment where I suddenly realized I had a great purpose. This wasn’t about loss and sadness at all. This life was about companionship and healing. Because even if my time with them is shorter, what I learn from them is far greater than anything I could ever know. I have the richest life! Now, as I grow older, I have a deeper wisdom within me. Love is the greatest gift we can give to another, no matter how long or short a time we have with them. There is no time to waste. Love is now.”
“Play, eat, sleep. Run, leap, spin around. Find things, hide them on the humans, and make games out of everything. Snuggle for just a second, then move on as if there is something urgent to do. These are the things I busied myself doing. But sometimes I don’t know what I’m here for or what I’m supposed to be doing. I nearly died, yet I fought back hard and survived. There must be something bigger for me in this life. But sometimes I can’t find myself with all the chaos going on around me. Do you ever feel that? Does this happen to you too? Maybe we can figure this out together. I am curious about all of it. Are you?”
“I love participating in this every year. But why do you only look for inspiration from us once a year? Seriously, you should come check in with us more often. Now, being a goat offers me a very unique perspective in life. I love being a goat. Goats really have something special. We have a connection to the earth that is very strong. And we also love to play and be silly. You humans need more of all of those things. When I see a human taking things too seriously (which is like everyday!) then I have to jump into action. A goat body is made for expression. I can make people laugh in an instant. I can make them talk baby talk to me and do the silliest things. And if need be, I can be downright annoying as well. I admit it, it’s true. My message is simple. Wake up each day and have your first thought be that you have awakened to a new day. All the rest will unfold. Wake up with gratitude. Go to bed with gratitude. If you would do that, your whole life would change. But who would believe a goat anyway?”
“Every year I have been at this farm, which is a long time now, I have been asked this question. I love to share what it’s like for me to have no eyes and still be able to see more than most of you with two. I don’t say that with any judgment or negativity. I truly don’t. But you humans sometimes get very set in your ways and you tend to see things through a very narrow lens. If you could see with your heart, you would see so much more beauty in the world. I can see smiles because I feel them deep within me. I can still see colors because I can feel them and smell them and taste them. I can see the truth of whoever stands before me, even when they themselves cannot. I see their beauty. I see their tremendous worth. And I hope that by sharing just a momentary touch or breath together, that they can see themselves through my heart. You are all truly beautiful creatures. And I am happy to see you inside of my heart the way I do. I hope you’ll try that too. You’d change your world into something you’d find much easier and safer for all of you.”
“I know a thing or two about feeling hopeless and despondent. I dedicate my message to those of you who may feel lost or feel the loss of someone else around you. I understand a heavy heart as mine has been heavy before too. I felt like life had no meaning and there was no sense continuing on. Boy was I ever wrong. What changed my mind and healed my heart was the love and belief of someone stepping in and saying to me, ‘I want you to be here.’ Just to feel wanted again was incredible. We all need to belong. And when we feel we don’t belong, it is important to understand that we each have a unique place in this world and a beautiful plan. But if we separate ourselves out from our own destiny, then we become disconnected. Believe me, I know this is true. If you have the ability to be the light in someone’s darkness, it is a gift that is as precious as life.”
“I may not see as well as I once did. I can’t fly like I once enjoyed. My body is a bit more rickety now. But my joy is still flowing. I love all of my friends of so many species. I have cats and birds and rabbits and guinea pigs and of course humans. Over the years, I loved my dogs too. I used to be able to call them and they’d come over and I’d drop food to them. It was funny. Yes, I miss the ones who are no longer here. I’ve seen a lot of lives come and go. One day I too will leave this body. But when I do, I will leave richly filled with the most amazing experiences and I will be forever grateful for the opportunities of this lifetime. Your life if your most precious gift. Don’t waste it worrying about how you are doing. Just live it the best way you can. And be grateful and kind and loving. You can never go wrong with that.”
Mary Beth: “I have a very unique view of life. Seriously, I’m not talking about something philosophical here. This is anatomy and science. I was born with my head crooked and I cannot lift my head up very far. So I have always seen and experienced life from a different and unique perspective. No one here sees things the same way that I do. But in reality, that is true about all of us. Each one of us has a unique look at the world. But there is not a single one of us that sees things the way they really are. Each of us sees our own unique little piece. When we put them all together, we get a grander view and a deeper understanding. But when we criticize how another sees the world, we are losing a key piece of understanding and perspective. We should listen to what each of us sees because when we do, we’d all be a lot happier. I guarantee you that I see things about you that you might not even see about yourself. And you may also look at me and think you see a perspective about me that is not true for me. We need to listen to one another without judgment and always with compassion. We’d learn so much more.”
“Oh there is so much to be happy about. One could look at me, and maybe some people do, and think that I have a lot of problems in life. But, you have to realize that I had problems in life for sure. But what I also found were a lot of solutions. If you focus only on the problems and difficulties in life then you will miss the very solutions you are looking for. Be on the ever lookout for miracles because they will find you. But you have to be willing to welcome them. If I stare at my empty food bowl and focus on the fact that there is nothing in there, I could be filled with sadness. But if I look at that empty food bowl and feel grateful that I just ate all the food and there will be more coming, then I will live in a state of gratitude and hopefulness. Not everyone has a bowl that gets filled. A lot of cats would do anything for the ability to even have a bowl. My point is this, you need to focus on what you have and what is coming and not on the problems for which you can’t in this moment see the solution. The solution will be shown to you when you welcome the answer, and not a moment before that time.”
Our Latest Book – Stories From The Magic Years is Now Available
Stories from THE MAGIC YEARS
A Thirty-Year Interspecies Conversation
celebrating the Thirtieth Anniversary of Spring Farm CARES – 1991-2021
This an amazing book! We, ourselves, did not realize just how amazing it would be until we began to re-read thirty years of letters and newsletters to you–our friends, students, and supporters–and to remember sometimes forgotten events and details from thirty magical, often other-worldly, miracle years. Many of you have been with us every step of the way! Many of you read and loved the stories in these newsletters way back when. You, too, will again laugh, cry, thrill, cry out in amazement, and be inspired as you re-read these stories and remember the wonderful, often Master, animal teachers and friends who have graced our lives and yours. While those of you who have joined us somewhere along the way are in for a heart-warming and soul-inspiring experience.
There is no book that has ever been written—or that could have been, or could ever be, written–like this thirty-year chronicle of continuous conversations, comradery, companionship and spiritual communication between human beings and animals. For, as you know, Spring Farm CARES is the world’s only living, breathing, daily-functioning sanctuary dedicated to carrying on a dialogue between humans and animals and then sharing that dialogue with you.
(This 8 x 10 book is over 475 pages and is filled with over 340 photographs)
Where is it Available?
Please note that in prior communications advertising the release of this book, we had anticipated the price to be much cheaper than what Amazon has it listed for now. The list price is correct. Due to the size of the book, and the many photographs, the printing cost ended up being much higher than we anticipated. We apologize for the confusion.
E-Book: Stories from THE MAGIC YEARS is available on Kindle, and Smashwords
and will soon be available on Nook.
“I like when there is a sense of quiet around me. Sometimes life moves too darn fast. What the heck is the hurry? You all speed around like you have to be somewhere that you can’t get to fast enough. But you rarely stop to enjoy where you are. If you’d enjoy each moment, you would actually get to where you are headed much quicker and with way more joy and peace. I have had a lot of change in my life. Many times I didn’t belong where I was. Sometimes I was alone and frightened. Yet, it was all that change that brought me exactly to what I was looking for – a family. If I hadn’t gone through the discomfort of change, I’d still be alone and afraid and certain that there was no hope for anything else. Instead, I ended up finding sheep friends and lots of animal and human friends who treat me like I’m special. Slow down. Be in the moment. One thing is certain. Things will change. They always do.”
“Life has a funny way of teaching you things, sometimes in ways you don’t want to hear, but in a way that is necessary to hear it. It was like that for me. I thought myself to be a majestic little prince. I have it all – the good looks, an athletic little body, and a sharp mind. The world was mine. All of it. I thought perhaps a title like ‘his royal highness’ might have been appropriate. In short, I got a little too cocky. But I am a pony afterall and we are a special bunch. It’s true! But life dealt me a setback. I got abandoned. Totally and completely abandoned by the humans who once saw me as a prince. Left to fend for myself was more than I could even fathom. There was nothing more shattering to me than being alone. I wanted to die. But I didn’t. I had to reach to a deeper understanding. Once I did that, life sent me a different direction. I am forever grateful to have now found my way. Life is very different for me now. I have scars that I still deal with. But I have people who truly love me for who I am. Even when I am a naughty little pony. After all, that is what makes Charlie special! Don’t ever give up on learning. Don’t every lose hope or faith. Life can change in an instant for the better. Trust me on this one. I’m much wiser than I ever thought I was before.”
“When life throws changes at you, there are different ways you can respond. At first, change doesn’t always seem good, when in fact, it may be just what you need. That is what happened to me. When I lost my person, my heart was hurting. And I couldn’t imagine what would happen or where I’d end up. But now, I know happiness again. I work with people to help them understand that change is ok. That life is good. That love is always a good thing. Sadness from loss shifts into something different. It truly does. But you can’t give up on the hope of a new day. It won’t’ look the same. It won’t feel the same. It won’t be the same. It will be different. But different doesn’t mean that it will be void of happiness. Because, if you let it, happiness is still within and around you. You just need to allow yourself to be happy. That’s what I wanted to share with you today.”
“Sometimes it can be the simplest of things that make me happy. Why do humans think it strange that animals have the same kind of feelings that humans have? We don’t question if humans have thoughts and feelings? Anyway, there are days that I love to see the light starting to dim as the sun sets and the clouds turn all sorts of special colors. It is beautiful and it reminds me that there is so much out there in the world that is larger than I am. I don’t have to understand everything to appreciate it. I hope you can find happiness and beauty around you too. It’s there. I know that. Because it is everywhere. There are magical insects and majestic trees. And the wind on certain days brings the most amazing smells. All of life makes me happy. But what makes me most happy is the chance I have been given to live it.”
“I’m kind of the new guy around here but I’m figuring things out. It’s not always easy being a rooster you know. I have lots to contend with. Some of the hens wander off and I have to get them back. I have to dodge horses and tractors and then of course there are the wild animals too. By the time I get back to the roost at night I’m pretty tired. But I am grateful to have had a day to manage. It fills me with pride to do my work well. When the hens are safe, then I’ve done alright. I take pride in being the best me I can be. And that makes this rooster really happy. I hope you are proud to be you too!”
“The very idea of happiness makes me happy. Maybe that sounds silly. But it’s not silly to me. There was a time that I didn’t think I would live. I watched all my friends die one by one and no one seemed to care. There was little to feel happy about. In fact, I couldn’t even think of being happy. But life changed, as life tends to do if you let it. I remember when I first felt joy again. It was a specific day. I was here at this farm. I had gone outside for the first time to see what the farm looked like. It was not what I saw that changed my life, but what I felt. Because, although it is very beautiful here, what I felt immediately was the peace and serenity and joy coming from the horses and other animals who already lived here. In a horse’s life, that is not as common as you think. Often times we do not find permanence in our lives. We move from person to person and place to place. It is hard to keep adapting to that change. But when I got here, I knew joy. And I knew that joy was mine to hold onto. I wish you the same joy in your life. I truly mean that.”
“It is very true that we all see the world a little differently than one another. I see the world through one eye. But I also see the world through a perspective of trauma that caused me to lose my eye. Vision is a tricky thing. Because no matter how hard we may try otherwise, we only see things through what we believe to be true. No two of us see things exactly the same way. Not just because our eyes are different, but because our experiences are different too. But what I see that makes being human look difficult to me is that you seem to insist that everyone else sees things the way you do. You can not force people to see things your way. And why would you want to? Each of us sees a different piece of the puzzle. And the plain truth is – we are not meant to all see the same thing.”
“I love to share my heart with humans. And actually, that is also the very thing that brings me happiness. I love when people are drawn to me that have never had anything to do with horses. So many times I have been the first horse that someone has ever touched. I love to feel the amazement and wonder when they experience and feel how a big animal can be so soft and kind and fit inside their heart. I love getting inside someone’s heart and leaving softness. I think that humans should practice this with one another. Simply being kind is a gift you can give to someone that can change their lives in ways you will never see. Just be kind. Be present. And breathe softly. You literally can change the world that way. I know for sure that is true.”
“I love being a pig. I love life! Where I live, I get to see so many things. I love hearing the donkeys calling out first thing in the morning. They let us all know they are there and we are welcoming another day. I love to hear the nickers of the horses. I love the honking goose and the quacking ducks. All these sounds are around me all day. It reminds me that I am safe at home. At night, when it’s quiet in the barn, I can hear the contented sighs of all my friends. Life is really good here. I am a lucky pig. And I am grateful for every second of this.”
“Hi there! Marco Guinea Pig here. It’s a pleasure to chat with you today. Although this is a mostly one-way conversation now isn’t it? I hope you are listening and enjoying the messages we are sharing with you. I love it here. I love hearing all of the different points of view and there is such wisdom everywhere. Even the cats have interesting things to say. Some of them are a bit on the pushy side if I may say so. But each of us has our own place in life. I love to take little pieces of food and stash them away for later. I don’t think my humans have caught on to that yet. But some things in life are just meant to be savored. You know what I mean? I’m told I can ask you to participate here. Tell me what are some of your things in life that you savor? Come on, make this little guinea pig’s day and share your thoughts with me.”
