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Special Episode: My Healing Journey with Animals · Divas That Care Network

• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Tina Solettini, and today I'm speaking with Diane Rose Solomon with Animal Magic Films from Los Angeles, California.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Diane has written a story to add to Candace Gish's book, Animal Prints on My Soul, an anthology of stories with animals and healers.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Diane, and welcome to DivaSet Care.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Please introduce yourself.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Tina.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for inviting me to join you today.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm delighted.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: Let's see, yes, I live in Los Angeles.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: I have two human children.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: I have two for babies in the shape of dogs.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I was writing books about animal rescue about 12 years ago.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: I wrote two kids' books about animal rescue and one called What to Expect from Adopting a Dog, which is not specifically for kids, but it's for families.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then more recently I started making films about the human-animal bond and the different ways that animals help people.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: And as you mentioned, it's called Animal Magic Films.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of who I am and what I'm up to.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's awesome.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Why did you decide to submit a story to this anthology book?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Well, first of all, it sounded so lovely.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: And it was so interesting how everything kind of gelled together and why my business is moving the way it's moving.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And it it was really nice for me to be able to write out my story.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: So going back a little bit, in 2014, I was at a conference.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: I was writing, I had the kids' books.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: I had published them so far.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I was at a conference, and the the keynote speaker was from the Human Animal Bond Research Institute.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And they were talking about all the different ways that animals help people and the studies and the research and the science behind it.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I was blown away.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I kept thinking, like, wow, if more people knew how amazing animals were, maybe we'd be kinder to them.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Because remember, I was writing books about animal rescue.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: I was coming from an animal welfare mindset.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: And as I as I left the conference and got more involved with it, I realized, wow, not only can we change the way we view animals, but there's a lot of people out there with challenges that are suffering.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we can make a difference to a lot of people too.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was really excited about this whole idea of, you know, you know, the work that I could do to help animals and to also help people.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: And then it kind of clicked one day that the reason I was so attracted to this is because I had personally experienced a lot of the healing that they were talking about.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, one of the studies many of us are uh have known for years is about the fact that when you, you know, when you pet your dog or even cat that your blood pressure goes down.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, I've had dogs and cats since I was younger, and my cat like kind of saved my life when I was maybe not, that's a little bit extreme, but it was it was a pretty intense time when I was in middle school, and he was there for me, and I would cry to him every day.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then when we moved to California from New York, um I had a dog, and I was pretty lonely.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't have friends, and he was my buddy.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then I also remembered that in 2009 I was hospitalized with pneumonia, and I it was I I had been sick for like a week and a half at that point, fevering just awful.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: And a woman stuck her head into my um hospital room and she said, Would you like a visit from a dog?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: And now I'm like delirious at this point.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I look at her like, why is there a dog in the hospital?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like I it was something so foreign to me.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: But the dog came in, they they visited for a few minutes, and it lifted my spirit so much.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: We have a photo of me.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: I've got an IV in my arms, I've got oxygen in my nose, and I've got the biggest smile on my face because I'm petting this dog.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so it kind of clicked when I came back from this conference that that all all of this, the different ways that animals help people, like I had personally experienced some of them, not all of them, of course, but some of them.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: And it was profound, and if I could turn around and do the same for others, whether you know, just by example or by you know telling stories that I would like to be able to pay it forward.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I had the opportunity to write this story for this book, I I I was able to sort of sit down and synthesize it all.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, wow, this is this is impactful for me, and hopefully it'll be impactful for other people too.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, animals are just amazing.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: So is that the story then that you wrote in the book?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I I think I'd have to go back and reread it.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, I think that's kind of what it it I think there's more to it than that.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but that's kind of the gist of it.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, how my progression in life with animals, and it still continues.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've even had a profound experience with my my big dog just got sick a couple weeks in a week and a half ago, and just how I've had to pivot in my life, you know, to to be able to take care of him, and he's a lot better now.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it was it was a really tough time over the past week and a half, as you might imagine.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so it it continues to evolve.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's not, you know, like the story will end on that page, but you know, of course it continues in life.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right, of course.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so and that's why like this particular story is so important to you because you see uh what your own dog is going through.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: And exactly.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: And like, you know, just like they're there for us, I think it's so important for us to be there for them in their time of need and and in general, like are our are our pets and animals in general being not only treated the way they should be, but respected and you know, okay, okay, so we've domesticated animals, but are they still able to be a dog?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Are they still able to go outside and sniff the way you know the way they would like to sniff?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so there's there's a lot of learning for us to to to still do as a you know as a society about you know that balance of care, caretaking for our pets and um keeping them safe and also making sure that all of their needs are met.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think just like children, our dogs, our pets in general, are also teachers for us.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: A hundred percent.
• 7:14
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've learned so much from my all of my pets really, and a lot of it's compassion.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of it is empathy and compassion.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: And you you just can't trade that.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm also a humane education specialist, a certified humane education specialist, and that's what we teach, you know, children.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: This is a good way to learn empathy because we want to be empathetic to our fellow man, fellow children, whatever, and and we can learn this by by caring for our pet.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: And being often struck by other animals.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the story that you've um added to the book, how how would you explain how it's impacted your own life?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, as I said earlier, it was just so um it was amazing when I had that like aha moment of, oh, wow, I've experienced all of this too.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: This is not just me thinking, oh, this would be a really good idea to start doing a project that shared all of the science, but it like that I had a very deep why as to why I was now tur you know turning into a filmmaker, going from somebody who was writing books who decided to go into documentary film with almost no experience, very, very little experience.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: And to be able to take that leap, it was really because, as I wrote in the story, it was so profound for me.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: But but I didn't realize it.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know, like I didn't realize how profound it was for my cat to be there for me at the time.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: I just knew that he was there for me and I was grateful too in this very, you know, like kind of far out place.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: I knew I was, but it wasn't I wasn't really present to it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Same thing with my dog, um, JJ, when we first moved to California.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like I wasn't that aware.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I was on one level, and I wasn't that aware that when that dog came to visit me in the hospital, that it was going to be a profound experience and and and ultimately have something to do with my future work.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, who who could have known that?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: And yet looking back on all of it, it's it was really impactful, and it is it has made me more more aware and self-aware, if that makes any sense, and more grateful, I would say.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, oh absolutely, that makes sense.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you have animals now.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: You said you have two dogs.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then you also have you have a I f I'm sorry, I forget.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Was it a horse?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: No, I d I wish I had a horse.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um I wouldn't know how to care for a horse.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: I've got friends that have horses, I know people who have horses.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um I love being around horses, but I don't have a horse.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh although the last time I did some volunteer work around horses, one of the the experts there said, ah, they're kind of like big dogs.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know if that's true or not.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: But um yes, I have two dogs.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: I've got a 70-pound um Labrador pit bull mix, at least that's what he looks like.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: And then a 28-pound, I don't know what you are.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: What are you like a whoop it um terrier, maybe Chihuahua mix, and um I love them.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: They're the best.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome, yeah, for sure.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us about their personality.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, um Ninja, the the big one, um, he's pretty mellow, but you know, his personality actually changed since he got sick.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: He's just got or older, I should say.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um he's he's gotten much noisier.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one of them scratched and you might be able to hear his his bells jingling in the background.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um Ninja uh he got his name though because he's very stealthy.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: And you can be washing the dishes at the sink, and he's a big dog, a 70-pound black dog, and like you have no idea that he's like snuck up behind you, and that's how he got the name.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm like, how how do you just sneak up behind me?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: You're a big dog, you've got you know a jingly thing on your collar.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: How do you just sneak up on me?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then the little one is hilarious.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: He's almost 13 years old, and you would never know it.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: He still runs around with a toy in his mouth, and he sleeps cuddled under the blankets with me at night, and I it's just my favorite thing.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that sounds so sweet.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I know I have a little Bichon, and she doesn't leave my side at all ever.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, my my the big one's what I call my Velcro dog, like a what he doesn't have to be touching me, but he has to know exactly where I am at all times.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: I love it, but I don't love it at the same time.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what's advice for you to be around your animals so much?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you know, it's hard for when I'm not around my animals, you know.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, even before the pandemic, I was working from home and I love going away, I love getting out of the house, but I love coming home and seeing my animals.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: And the little one makes this really cute roo noise where they go, ooh, you know, kind of howling, but it's really funny.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so every time you come back home, you're greeted by this little roo.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's just the best.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: So we we were just away over the holiday, and it was so lovely being with family, and it was so great coming home and being with my dogs.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I can I can relate with that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: I love being around my dog, even though she doesn't talk back to me.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe that's what I like about it.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um how can our listeners get a hold of you, Diane?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, um the best place is through my website, animalmagicfilms.com.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: So it's the words Animal Magic, M-A-G-I-C Films, F-I-L-M-S.com is the website, and there's a way to a few ways to find me on there.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Or anybody's welcome to email me at Diane D-I-A-N-E at AnimalMagicfilms.com.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this was great.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: I I enjoyed talking with you, and I I do agree 100% that animals are they're amazing, you know, for us to learn from and to teach.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: And um yeah, well it was great talking with you.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: I wish you luck with all of our thank you.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, thank you so much.