November 2025 Director's Corner: Small Things: Koa and the Basketball

Like so many people, this time of year is challenging as the days grow shorter, and the darkness prevails.  In addition to other types of lived-experience, I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and find the lack of light depressing. I am also not a big fan of the over-commercialized winter holidays. And of course, this is in addition to the divisiveness that is going on in our country, and the fact that our democracy is being challenged.

At these times, I find that it is important to focus on the small joys and wins while doing the hard work of making our world a better place in which to live.

For instance, I am the proud grandma of a French Bulldog grandpup. (I understand this may feel like a non-sequitur, but stay with me.) My daughter has a spoiled rotten pup named Koa. Koa is obsessed with the ball. One of her favorites is a basketball that is bigger than her head. Before, she had managed to pull tags of the skin off the ball to make little handles that allowed her to bite it and carry it, and now that it’s slightly deflated, she can get a pinch of the ball into her mouth as she proudly carries it to me. She drops it at my feet, and I throw it above and ahead of her as she scrambles to get it and crashes into the door at the end of the long living room.  She loves it, and she always makes me laugh. Koa’s life is simple: food, treats, walks, balls, treats, neck scratches, and loads of sleep. She delights in these things, and I think I can take a lesson from her playbook.

I tend to overcomplicate things, especially when my mood is not great, so I am keeping this picture nearby to remind me to keep it simple and enjoy the small things.

-Dr. Pata Suyemoto