Month: January 2016

Lafonda and Mimi

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Lafonda and Mimi Good evening friends.

We have another miraculous story tonight. Say hello to Mimi. She comes to us from our great friend LaFonda and Family.

In 2010 LaFonda rescued Mimi at 7 years old from a home where large dogs were abusing her.  Mimi speaks of her years when she was was not read to take on a rescue. When the time was right she let her higher power show her the way. And that way lead her to Mimi.

Her registered name is “Minis Red Dress” — LaFonda tries to keep her at 4 pounds but Mimi can be a very picky eater. LaFonda speaks about how Mimi is a blessing to everyone she meets. We can all relate to that.

Sammy & Family wants to thank LaFonda for making the world a better place, one rescue at a time.

No lives will go in vain, no pain will go unnoticed. Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family.

Is it Oxygen or Living

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Hi friends. You can listen to this message over audio right below, or you can read text version below the audio. Thank you.

Good morning friends.

Dr. Harp Seal here. Thank you for stopping by. I’m really excited to share this message with everyone. Here’s a question I asked myself in the morning for years. Did I just wake up this morning because oxygen is still flowing through my body, or did I wake up to actually live today.

I have said this before. I used to think life was a series of losses and then you die. Now I know life is a series of experiences and then you grow.  Now mathematically speaking, they are both correct. I mean everyday we wake up we are one day closer to death, and we do lose a lot of people and things throughout our lives. However that completely ignores the things we learn and gain throughout our lives. Doesn’t that fact deserve attention too ?

Let me say that another way. Picture browsing in a book story. You come across a book that peaks your interest. The covers says; “It was love at first sight” — The back of the book says; “25 years later it ended in tragedy, shame and death”  — The problem is when you look at life that way, you miss all the pages in between that made up your life and your story. Doesn’t that count ?  — It certainly should because that’s where the majority of your time was invested.

So where am i going with this ?  Here’s where, If you only look at scoreboards in life, you’re missing out on all the life that created those scores. We are not made up of statistics and should haves, we are made of experiences. And what has life taught us ?  Life has taught us experience is our best teacher.

See you tonight friends. Have a great day.

Day 365 here in Puerto Rico

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Day 365 in Puerto Rico

Good morning friends.

Day 365 here in Puerto Rico. I know we all know this but its been a great illustration of how times flies. This was a big transitional year for Sammy & Family. We had a lot of happy times and sadly lost some friends along the way.

I remember the plane flight last year on January 11th, 2015. I was having an outer body experience of stress. Number 1, I was freaking out about keeping my boys under the seats in front of us. Number 2, I had not been on a plane in 10 years, and number 3, I was saying goodbye to NY after 45 years.

After the first few days, Vanessa had to remind me of how she came to NYC on a Friday, helped me get set up with the boys to leave on Sunday. She also reminded me that She and I went for dinner on Saturday night, the night before we left NYC. It was the same place we had the wedding party in 2013, and the restaurant was nice enough to comp us the dinner. It was our going away present from them. The point being is I did Not remember any of it.

So today really is a special day when I look back on those first few days in Puerto Rico. Its funny, the dogs adjusted immediately.

My father died at 46 years in old on February 3rd, 1984. I am 46, Vanessa is 47. Where am I going with this ? Here’s where; Everyday we wake up is a gift. Don’t sweat the small stuff and do the best you can.

As you know Sunday is our favorite day of the week. So being day 365 landed on a Sunday makes it that much sweeter. The only bad news is we did not win the Powerball. The good News is the next Powerball will be well over 1 billion dollars, we are going to win that.

When we do, I am going to give twice as much to animal welfare now, and I am going to buy 2 hotels in Puerto Rico instead of 1. Then I am even going to throw a a bigger ELS party between the two hotels. Once the party is over, I will sell both hotels for a major loss and go back to a simple life.

See you tonight friends. Scott Smith for Sammy & Family.

Rocky’s Reflections

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Rocky's Reflections

Good morning friends.

Recently we caught this beautiful picture of Rocky doing some reflecting on life. 52 days ago we rescued him directly off the streets. He is such a good boy. For all he’s gone through, he’s very confident and well mannered.  He doesn’t trample over our 5 other dogs. He knows hes much bigger and acts very delicate around them.

With me, I don’t receive such delicateness. I get all the love from him, but he sees me as his partner in crime. So when I enter his room, we’re wrestling for 15 minutes before we go for his walk.

Day 364 here in Puerto Rico today. I mean Wow on that.  Thank you to everyone for being part of this life in transition.  I guess I could and should say transformation as well.

OK, lets kick this day off with a question for ourselves;

Did I wake up today simple because oxygen still flows through my body, or did I wake up today to grab some life ?

See you tonight friends. Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & family.

Checking in with the Team

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Hi friends. You can listen to the audio message just below, or the read the text below the audio.

Good evening friends.

Scott Smith here. Thank you for stopping by. I just wanted to personally check in with the ELS team tonight as we are approaching in on one year. Day 363 here in Puerto Rico. Counting the days helps me stay in the day. I hope everyone got something out of the counting in all of your lives as well.

As I have been mentioning, Sammy & Family is extremely excited about 2016. A lot of dreams, plans and action are on the menu. All kidding aside I have gotten my Mojo back like I had when I was 25. The only difference now, I am actually more immature.  What can I say, I’m a Toy R’ Us kid, I don’t want to grow up.

So welcome to the weekend everybody. Lets kick this night off with two positive notions.

1. Like any year, 2016 will have its trials and tribulations. That’s a given. Also a given is that we will ride the good times and get through the tough times. So bring it on.

2. I want to give a giant salute to Social Media for bridging all of us together. We love being surrounded by animal lovers from around the world. We may speak different languages, or come from other cultures, but the one common denominator is our love for animals.

Goodnight everyone. We will see you in the morning.

Sammy and his Bandanna

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Acronym for Friday

Good morning friends.

Happy Friday. There is such freedom in the air on Fridays. Day 363 here in Puerto Rico. If my math serves me correctly, in two days that will be a year. I will have to confirm that with a calculator a little bit later.

Its great to be alive today on January 8th, 2016. Today could be the greatest day of our lives. I’m not saying it will be, I”m just saying it could be. With an open mind and an open heart, anything is possible.

OK, lets do a an acronym for Friday.  “Fantastic – Reality – Inspired – Delight – Always – Yippee.

See you tonight friends.

Day 363 here in Puerto Rico

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

New Directions for 2016

Good evening friends.

Thank you for stopping by. Its a privilege talking to so many animal lovers around the world each night. I have to be grateful about that, and I am. Day 362 here in Puerto Rico.

As a lot of you know I was a trader on Wall Street for 20 years. Had some years where i could stop working for several years, and I had some years where I was selling my furniture to pay the rent. The point being is there was a historic statistic made for the first time today. This has been the worst start to a new year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in history.  Meaning from just this past Monday, through the Stock Market’s close of today on Thursday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst start to the year Ever.  This is in a No way an opinion about the rest of the year. I’m just sharing with you a historic statistical fact that was made today.

Moving on. It’s great to be alive on January 7th, 2016. It didn’t have to be that way, Thank God that it is. Life is cruising right along and hopefully we are all cruising along with the flow. Remember, we don’t need to be right, we want to be happy. And sometimes yes, sometimes they can go together.

So friends.  Let me share some news with you. Number one, I am making progress on putting together that trip to Canada I keep mentioning. I am taking that very seriously. Its going to be me, Vanessa, and two people that help us manage all the content we create. Point is, when we get there, we are going to put a Harp Seal piece together like never before.

Additionally, after 5 years of building a positive animal loving community and all sorts of inspirational and motivational messages, its time bring on new projects. I am making a personal move into Self help and Crisis Management market with all sorts of Digital Audios and maybe some Videos too.  We also have 7 digital books in the pipeline, 3 are complete, and we are going to roll those out this year.

Don’t misunderstand me, all of this will be inside the ELS community. Anything I do will be related to ELS, or indirectly related to it. We have been making in roads with people all over the world where ELS should double in size this year, maybe triple.

I’m bringing this to your attention so nobody is surprised when you see sponsored posts of Sammy & Family marketing some of our digital books and services. In 2016 we’re going to branch out in other additional directions. The one constant, regardless of direction , will be continuing to resonate a message of animal kindness, and just making the world a better place one animal and person at a time.

We can’t change everything but everyone can change something.

Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family.  Peace and Love.

Travis Burke is Living the Dream

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Good morning friends.

We have a fantastic feature today. This was an incredibly enjoyable piece to do. Say hello to Travis Burke. We have all heard the term “Home is where the Heart is” — Well Travis must have a big heart because he lives all over the country. He has seen and done things that I never even knew existed or was doable.

Travis and his Adventures The Wave in Arizona

At 29 years old Travis is an exceptional photographer with an incredible sense of adventure.  You might think of him as a 21st Century Indiana Jones. He doesn’t just want to live behind the camera, he also wants to be the object.  Between Surfing, Kite-Skateboarding, high-lining, or hanging off a 500 foot bridge to capture the perfect shot of base jumpers in Twin Falls, Idaho, Travis is a hands on photographer.

Travis 2Salty reflections along the California coast. This is a 40 minute exposure creating star trails around Polaris (the North Star)

Taking pictures is one thing, and experiencing it is another thing. When a photographer also participates in the activity, it brings a lot more passion and authenticity to the picture.

Travis-Highlining

Quick to note, “High-Lining” is the sport of walking the Tight Rope.  Yes, Travis (pictured above) has walked a tight rope 130 feet long and 400 feet high. He is no ordinary photographer. World renowned High-lining specialist, Jeremy Miszewski has said only 100 people in the world can walk that kind of line. Travis is now one of those people.

Travis 3Beautiful yet dangerous Ice Caves in the Pacific Northwest.  See more of Travis’ work on Instragram; 

About 7 years ago on a family trip to Yosemite National Park in California, Travis bought a Nikon D300 and his world changed forever. He did not know that taking pictures on a family vacation would turn into unshakable passion and profession. Its like they say, if you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life.

Travis 4Backpacking the Lost Coast Trail with my girlfriend in California

Travis caught his break a couple years back when working for Grind TV.  He was an outdoor adventure photographer for them. He specializes in photographing all different types of athletes and sports.

My van after I just finished fully customizing it for my road trip around the country

Travis took his grandmother’s 1994 Dodge Ram Van and converted it into an “Adventure Mobile,” which allows him to work and travel full time, continuously photographing diverse locations. He’s been traveling and working out of his Van for about 2 years now. Below is the video of how Travis transformed his van into a high tech travelling home. Folks, don’t miss this video. Its hard to believe

Continue reading →

Goodnight from Kelly & Family on January 6th, 2016

Posted on by Dr. Harp Seal

Kelly on January 6th, 2016

Good evening friends.

Thank you for stopping by. Its great to be here with everyone. Kelly wanted to stop by and say goodnight. We hope everyone had a pleasant day.

Day 361 in Puerto Rico. Day 49 since we Rescued Rocky. Today was one of those days where 20 frisbee’s were thrown at me, and I did Not catch even one of them.  I guess that’s what Bruce Hornsby meant when he sang in 1986, ♫♫♫ That’s just the way it is ♫♫♫.

Or when the Shirelles sang in 1961; ♫♫♫ Mama said there‘ll be days like this There‘ll be days like this ♫♫♫.

OK enough with that, y’all get the picture. Time for two positive notions;

1. The Chinese Proverb, if you fell down 7 times, get up 8 times.

2. God willing we wake up tomorrow.  Who knows, maybe its the greatest day we ever had.

Signing off from Puerto Rico, Dr. Harp Seal for Sammy & Family.