Podcast Bonus A Personal and Practical Spin
Originally Published March 19, 2022
Listen: Apple, Podbean, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast station.
Script
Welcome to True Kinship with Animals, where we believe we all do better when ALL creatures do better. I’m Janet Roper and each week I share stories and suggestions with you on how to deepen your relationship with animals, moving you from ownership to true kinship, one animal at a time.
This podcast is brand new and your help getting it off the ground is much appreciated! If you enjoy this podcast and find my work helpful, if you have been inspired or informed, or have discovered your world has opened to new possibilities because of the podcast, support my work by making a financial contribution. Your support helps this podcast grow and makes my work sustainable.Thanks!
Today’s episode is a tad different than the previous ones, as it’s coming from a more personal and practical spin. I want to take the time to introduce myself and to share with you in far more detail than I have previously how I show up and support true kinship with animals to the world at large.
So, starting with an introduction,
About Me
My name is Janet Roper, I identify as she/her/hers and I show up in the world as an animist, podcaster, mentor and communicator. I live on the land of the Salish, now referred to by the colonized name of Missoula. I am cheerfully owned and managed by one cat, Raven, a multitude of angel animals and several houseplants.
Since my earliest days, I’ve been enthralled with relationship and communication, even when I was too young to be able to put words to it.
I have been a musician, performing professionally on violin & viola in orchestras and with various ensembles, and that was followed by being a music teacher, a spiritual director, an animal communicator and most recently, an animist, spiritual activist, mentor, podcaster and communicator.
For 20+ years I have been facilitating clear conversations between animals and people. The intent I bring to all of my work is to assist you and the animals to have a better understanding of each other so that the relationship is deepened, moving us humans from an egocentric perspective to an ecocentric one.
Moving From Egocentric to Ecocentric
What I mean by that is we humans need to move from a place of centering and thinking only of ourselves, that we’re the center of the universe. We need to get to a place that recognizes value and importance of the entire environment and all life in it, not just the parts that are useful to us. In this episode I use ‘ecocentric’ to highlight our connection with animals, since that’s the show’s focus.
Folx who are ready to move into an ecocentric relationship of true kinship with animals are attracted to my work, but often they aren’t sure of what is involved or are concerned about getting started and making needed change. No problem, that’s absolutely normal!
These concerns about moving from an egocentric to ecocentric relationship with animals can show up in a variety of ways - you might even have experienced some of them yourself:
not knowing how to get started
if you have the skills to do it
if you’re disciplined enough
not sure you can do it
concerns about adding one more thing to your already busy schedule
concerns about the time that is involved
how your life will change by embarking on this journey
Let me assure you these concerns are normal and perfectly natural!
What I Offer The World
One of my offerings to the world is creating space to meet with folx and encouraging deeper exploration & curiousness as you are discovering yourself and your emerging journey towards true kinship. I help you manage your concerns and witness as change is created, so that you and the animals are able to connect with each other from a genuine place of agency and wisdom.
I’ll let you in on a secret - I do this work because I’m one of you. I want to be in better relationship with animals and leave the ‘it’s just an animal‘ attitude and behavior behind. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I want to leave behind the assumption that all animals are here for our well being, to serve us by being our helpers, guides and teachers. Blanket statements do not suffice and create harm with creatures who do not fall within that statement. I struggle personally and professionally with the contemporary view of our relationship with animals because it is harmful to all and it goes against true kinship.
I do not find the current conventional attitude about our connection with animals is fair to them or us. We’ve come a long way in our relationship with animals - and we have a long way to go.
We need to get uncomfortable with the conventional way of looking at our relationship with animals and sit with that discomfort to discover respectful and honorable ways to be with them so that we are honoring their agency and ours.
I help people do that.
For instance, my dog Max, who recently passed after 14+ years together. His former family wanted a cookie cutter, well behaved dog, one who didn’t think for himself and look for ways to entertain himself. When Max bolted out of their door again for probably the 1,000th time, they had had it, and didn’t bother to do what was needed to bring him home. When I found Max, he had been at the shelter for months and was literally coming to the end of his days.
In our time together, Max moved into his own, being secure in his own agency and willing to be his authentic self. And yes, upon occasion, that included him darting out of the door, particularly in his younger years.
In my work I bring a blend of compassion, intuitive conversation and guidance, forthright dialogue, and a dose of cheerfulness to help you and the animals co-create the ecocentric true kinship relationship that is both needed and indeed, possible.
That’s how I show up in this life and the work I do. The tools I have created to share my work with you and the world are:
Lighten is a 3-session package helping you and your animal pal get through big life events like anticipatory grief, death, moves, existing with Covid, new animal or human family members, or changes in the health and wellbeing of a family member. Lighten is for you and your animal family
Freshen is a one time check in for insight into your animal pal's wishes or behaviors, giving you some peace of mind on their well being. It’s for you and one animal.
I also freely share information to the world through this podcast, my website and my newsletter
You can find more about these programs and my work at janetroper.com and links are on the show page for your convenience
I’m fascinated by discovering how we create new conversations and new ways of being with animals that aren’t reliant on convention, tradition or power-over.
Our relationship with animals is maturing, yet few of us are in true kinship. A conventional way of relating with animals comes from a place of power-over, which may include using aversive training tools.
With my first dog, Squirty, I followed the trainer’s advice of using a choke collar. It broke my heart to do so, but I thought I was doing what was best for Squirt. After all, I was listening to the professional, right?
When I learn to time travel, I’m going to go back in time and change how I thought relationship with animals was ‘supposed’ to be and work to create an ecocentric relationship with Squirty and the other animals with whom I came into contactWhen we listen to that conventional egocentric view about our relationship with animals, it can make us believe we have failed. In reality, we haven’t failed, it’s that conventional, egocentric template of what relationship with animals ‘should be' that fails us.
A Take Away
In this episode I want to leave you a foundational piece that I use in my own practice, that honors kindhearted and principled ways of being and that I believe is a needed first step to make the move towards true kinship.
It’s something you can start doing today, right now, by yourself. It sounds simplistic, but by merely keeping this in mind and working from this premise, you will begin to see changes in your relationship with animals.
True kinship is a move, not a destination
True kinship is not binary, it’s not either or. It’s a place to always strive towards in our relationship with animals.
It stems from when we know better, we do better. And accumulating that wisdom and practice is a state of mind, a conscious choice and a way of being.
A common scenario in my 1:1 practice is getting called in when an animal is ‘misbehaving’. For example, let’s say a horse is snapping or kicking out as they’re being saddled, a cat is urinating outside of the litter box, or a dog, like my dog Max did, may be taking advantage of an open door and sprinting out.
When you are coming from true kinship, you come from the premise the animals are not misbehaving, or getting back at you for something. They don’t have an agenda, they live in the here and now. They are communicating with you in the way they know to communicate.
Some days in the practice of true kinship, things go smoothly, some days they don’t. That’s normal.
When you’re having one of those days where everything goes smoothly, yay! Acknowledge it, take some time to see what was going on and celebrate!
When you’re having one of those days when nothing is going as you had planned, yay! Acknowledge it, take some time to see what was going on and acknowledge it. Realize that’s not where you want to be. Start by observing what happened. Observe, don’t judge. Be open to discovery and ask yourself what is a different way you can be the next time this happens.
Because there will be a next time!
How I Work With Folx
When I work with folx, I stay away from a cookie cutter approach. Why? Because each relationship between each animal and human is different, AND because relationship is fluid and not static, it can and most probably will change in your time together. My approach is tailored to you and the animal individually.
Honestly, here’s the thing, at least from my perspective. Results can’t be exactly copied because those results are unique to each of you. The unique relationship between you and the animal is extraordinary. Would you want it to be replicated?
In the work I do, I talk a lot about the lenses you use to view the world. To me, that’s essential because you have to understand yourself and know where you’re coming from. Your part of the relationship has to be centered around who you are and how you authentically show up in the world. That can be scary because we live under the constraints of a culture and society telling us not to be ourselves and they do everything possible to prevent that. But, in true kinship, you need to be able to recognize, know and acknowledge your own agency and ethics and why they are important to you.
Your uniqueness is your trademark, your way of being. I believe, and decades of experience has shown this to be true, that when you connect with animals coming from your own unique place, they are aware of that, they respond to it and appreciate it.
When I first started as an animal communicator and for a long time in my practice, I worked from the perspective of being the translator between the person and the animal and sharing what needed to be done from the animal’s perspective. I’ve learned there’s so much more! Yes, I still use animal communication, but instead of it being the focus, it’s a tool in my tool kit.
I work with folx so they can create their unique perspective and relationship with animals by recognizing what lenses have been handed to them by family, tradition, culture and society and what is their own way of being in true kinship with animals. To be authentic with the animals, you need to know who you are, what you stand for, as well as what works for you and what doesn’t.
You want to show up, with them as equals. When I say equals, I don’t mean we’re all in this together, but you’re each showing up in your own agency. Things can go astray when we show up wearing the mask of owner, rescurer, trainer, care taker, etc.
When you show up for an animal as yourself, you are saying this is what I know for sure, this is who I am and how I show up in life, and I’m here as or if you need me. That authentic stand you present will often begin to build trust with the animals and permits you to feel more confident and grounded.
When you show up as your authentic self, the animal has the liberty to respond from their own agency.
When that happens, you are moving towards true kinship, away from that egocentric perspective to an ecocentric one.
Many thanks for joining me today. If you liked what you have heard, you can support this podcast by making a financial contribution, leaving a comment, giving the show a like, a follow and/or a share.
Your support of this podcast with a financial contribution makes my work sustainable and encourages me to keep on going!
Thank you for listening and keep moving toward true kinship! Just for today remember: We All do better when all creatures do better. Until next week, take good care!
