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I am excited to announce that I will be accepting new clients for my new Virtual Wellness Center! B.R.I.D.G.E. Virtual Community Wellness Center focuses on mental fitness for your mental health. Just like you would join a gym or a wellness center for your physical health, B.R.I.D.G.E. Virtual Community Wellness Centers is for your mental health. Starting in October, you see different levels of subscriptions. Each subscription provides services that range from individual mental health counseling to groups and workshops. Please email me at Dr. Jenenne for more information.

The human-animal bond is one that was formed before time.  There are many legends, myths, and sacred stories that tells the narrative of the human-animal bond.  You can still see remnants of this sacred bond.  Remnants remain in the  sacred art, such as cave paintings, frescoes, vases and jars, uncovered tombs, mosaics, temple walls, and in the oldest of languages.  Sacred Narratives of the human-animal bond were being lost to society.  Guardians of such narratives still remain with us and these guardians are passing down their knowledge so that this sacred-bond does not become lost to time.

So who are you in this society?  Are you a guardian or one that chooses to bury such a sacred bond with the sands of modern norms and values?  So much of my time was spent reading, searching, and gaining certificates, degrees, and a license.  For what?  This was my quest for the chalice.  The chalice being my voice in the sacredness of the human-animal bond.  My voice among the guardians of this knowledge.  In this quest, I was not enough, just fell short, or dismissed.  My ideas, knowledge, and progressive approaches were thrown away-like a wadded up piece of paper.  But before my narrative was thrown away, it was copied and used for another person's gain.  Can I ever be part of this guardian society?  Truth is, I was always a member of this society.  The difference is, they found their voice and used it, while I silenced mine. The absolute truth is, we are all members of this society.  We all have a role in this sacred narrative of the human-animal bond.  We just have to connect to our hearts, to find our purpose and be the voice of our purpose.  In this sacred narrative, some of us are guardians and protectors, while others, remind us every moment that we need to guard and protect this sacred wisdom.

I have spent so much time burying myself, my voice.  While I feel and live this sacred bond everyday, I chose to bury my voice, my part of this sacred narrative.  I allowed others to determine my part for me until I was frozen in silence.  I did not; however, allow my soul to be frozen.  My heart was close to that fate.  The sacred human-animal bond is what kept my heart from freezing so my heart can hear my soul and I can speak my truth.  I had to walk away and let go.  I had to listen to my animal companions.  Most importantly, I had to listen to my loved ones and supporters who helped me to get to a place to listen.  The human-animal interconnectedness is the sacred bond between human and animal.  The bond that is older than time and holds more wisdom and knowledge than a book or academic journal.  The bond comes from our sacred connection to our elders, the earth, the community-to life itself.  The journeyer-the person. The companion-the lessons from the animal that help you transform and grow.  Animals are the voices of our hearts.  Our ancestors/elders and all that is sacred reside in their souls.  They are here to teach us.  Through them we learn about honor, loyalty, regard, trust, faith, and unconditional love.  Through them, we learn who we are-the guardians of this sacred knowledge or the ones that bury it.

My animal companions helped me find my voice-the chalice.  Through them I am learning, who I am in this sacred narrative.  Through them, I silence my mind to hear the teachings of my mentors and elders.  As I was walking away from my discipline, I heard the voice of one such mentor who told me to make it my own.  Thank you to all my teachers, mentors, gurus, and animal companions that kept my flame burning bright enough to see past the darkness.  Human-Animal Interconnectedness is my voice, my place, and my role as a guardian of the sacred narrative of the human-animal bond.  In order to truly understand the bond, one has to embrace the interconnection between the self, animal, community and the sacredness of it all.

Born from two individuals-myself and my colleague, Effie Heotis, The Human-Animal Interconnectedness Institute.  To my mentor-I made it my own.  To my elders-I now see my part in this bigger web. To my animal companions, I hear you.

This is my story.

I love my horse. He loves me. I  am grateful. My husband started this page as my test page and the more I read it, the more I realized the completion in this statement.  I love my horse. He loves me. I am grateful.  Be My Love and I started on a journey.  Our journey is one of laughter, tears, and understanding-all on my part.  Be My Love took my soul and said, we will do this together and we are.  Everyday is a constant battle of not seeing him.  Constant battle of wanting him on my land to complete our family-along with his brother Bren.  The question I get all the time is, "do you ride him?"  My shocking response..."No, he dances with me!"  Our journey started with him showing me our path as therapist and co-therapist to now being one of growth, perseverance, and companionship.

I love my horse. He loves me. I am grateful.

This is all I need.  He pulled me out of depression, giving up on myself, and unending questions about what is next.  The only thing next for me is my next hug.  My next kiss and my next dance with B My Love.  Everything else is of no significance.  No job title, no choice, no decision, no regrets. Nothing.  My goal is to bring him and his brother home to me and Dennis and our furry family.  How I do that is still working itself out.  The only true path to healing is one with a faithful loving companion.  I am blessed to have many in the form of my husband, our fur family and family and friends.  I feel that  B My Love grabbed my soul and lit the way to my heart.   B always knows what is best for me.  I learn so much about me through what he shows me.  I have been battling an illness for over a decade.  This silent illness is one that takes my life slowly.  It suffocates me, silences me, and secludes me.  Upon reflection, living with adrenal fatigue and candida overgrowth, I find myself always needing to defend and reason with myself because Western medicine does not view this as an illness.  I have an allergy to mildew and mold.  This sparks candida overgrowth, which triggers adrenal fatigue, triggering depression and low immune system, triggering illness.  Western medicine wants to give me a Z-Pack.  Z-Pack makes my candida overgrowth condition worse.  So they give me something to "kill" the candida overgrowth, making me sicker and now I have to work full-time and manage time with my horses.  I get anxious and stressed, and now I "crash" and cannot get out of bed for two days.  Then I am expected to go on a strict diet that is difficult to follow, and does not work all of the time because my body then combats the food and develops a different type of allergy from the foods I that I am eating to combat the original food allergy.  So now I battle weight loss and weight gain, swelling, and fatigue.  All while obtaining the PhD, mental health license, Yoga instructor certificate, additional training, managing a personal business and working full-time.  Yet, the cycle continues and now I am burnt out.  Little joy, all that hard work to obtain the degrees and training and I do not want any part of it.  Nothing. All this time dedicating myself to helping others to get  thrusted  into a war of supervisors taking advantage of ideas, feeling threatened, getting set up, being crinkled up like an unwanted piece of paper and being thrown away.

For me, the tiny sparks of the flame are held in yoga, dance, drumming, and the companionship with my animals.  A fleck still remains for a healthy community.  Upon some reflection this morning, over this past decade and really my whole life, I am haunted with perfectionism, not feeling enough, job being the main identity, and weight-making my heart dark.  Then my soul speaks: trust, regard, love, wisdom, courage, and walking with ancestors through dance, yoga, drumming, and animal companionship.  I love my horse. He loves me. I am grateful.  He lights my soul and ignites the flame leading me on my path that my ancestors set for me and they sent me B.

I love my horse. He loves me. I am grateful.