Make It Self-Evident ‘You Belong’

Test Other’s power of ‘negative capability’

QUESTION: First of all what is Negative Capability?

I had never heard that term before Ken Burns’ interview on Rogan. Keats came up with it in deference to brilliance of Shakespeare. Not surprisingly kind of complex.

I could read from textbooks, great link on my site but I’d rather keep it basic.

My interpretion: It emphasizes the importance of being comfortable dealing with ambiguity.

That concept was fully regaled by a Peruvian Ranger when we were in Sacred City.

QUESTION: Some people took real issue with you ‘smuggling’ Twinkles into the Sacred City. What’s your response?


Honestly, I had no reservations at the time

Mainly because I didn’t realize ‘heightened restrictions’ given it’s classified as a religious site.

In hindsight, maybe I’d think twice, but back then we had already gotten into so many places where dogs weren’t allowed that it felt almost routine.

And “smuggling”? Very poor word choice. But I LOTFL when I found out that AI applied that appelation, jajaja!

Twinkles knew the drill

Quiet, respectful, invisible unless invited. And once inside, she respected the space. Always did. She wasn’t just well-behaved—she carried herself like she belonged.

There’s a photo of her with some llamas, a group of tourists laughing in the background—it wasn’t disruption, it was joy.

The moment of vindication, grace

About mid-way in the day we’re sharing a sandwhich, Twinkles barked under her breath.

“Uh oh,” she spotted a Ranger about 100-feet away.

The moment swung when the dog sensed there was a disturbance but it wasn’t a threat. She handled it calm cool, collected. That’s the way you comport yourself when you know ‘You Belong.’

Most dogs wudda went bananas.

Could’ve thrown the rulebook at us—but he didn’t. He watched. Took the time to observe her. Many would judge this as an obvious decision. Kick us out.

Twinkles dispelled the general intent of a rule (dog’s will cause disruption.) Quite candidly when this happened, she was in the middle of bringing joy.

So we viewed the situation as an ambigous decision relative to our fate. Guess the guy with the ‘Power’ did so too.

He didn’t fall into the trap of immediately judging on appearance alone. Came to realize maybe the rule book didn’t apply.

It's such a refreshing example of someone choosing wisdom over reflex.

I try to internalize this, daily: Looking past the surface, slowing down before judging, and remembering that presence matters more than packaging.