This film is dedicated to Casey. With love from Philip.
Until you have loved an animal
you have not had your soul touched.
When people do talk about your family,
who are the important people in your life?
It's the people that bring me joy, the animals, the birds.
When I wake up every day, I am so thrilled
to walk out and to be welcomed by the call of a peacock,
the little dog that runs up and wags his tail,
a horse that just loved to see me.
They have all been my gurus.
We are almost looking at life with blinkers.
And animals have taught me to take the blinkers off
and see what lessons I am being prepared for.
If I am open to them, I will get them.
As a young boy I was always out and about,
finding little creatures.
I guess in many ways, they found me.
If one of them was needing some help, some care,
I was there for them.
Getting a little bird that had fallen out of a nest,
learning how to feed it.
Finding a little bird with a damaged wing
and trying my best to try and splint it.
Those early experiences have just evolved
into us now having a farm.
Every animal and bird that is here
has had a very sad beginning.
And has ended up now being comfortable, loved,
cared for and looked after.
It's a place where you can be who you are
and to feel safe and be safe.
It really is quite a difficult part of our life on the farm
to have to say goodbye.
When that animal is no longer with you,
the grief and pain is immense.
But I have realised over time
that we've all been lent to this earth.
And just as one day we are going to have to move on,
it is the case with every animal on this farm.
When the time does come,
it is so important that when that animal needs you
in those last minutes, last hours, that you're there for it.
We have then had to be brave.
And it's all about the animal, not about us.
One of the things that I do say to the animal is 'thank you'.
Thank you for coming to us.
Thank you for what you have given us in our life,
making our life richer and happier.
Just thank you for being you.
After the passing, that's when the bucket of tears opens.
And it's never easier.
It's never a process that you can say, 'oh well, it's over'.
It isn't. That is the beginning of a grief period.
Those emotions help me to actually find closure.
Closure is a massive part in our lives
that many people don't have perhaps the courage
or they haven't had the experience
of being with somebody, be it a human or an animal,
in those last moments.
As a child, when I did take a little injured bird in,
and after caring for it for days, it didn't make it,
the tears that I wept then, I still weep now.
I always like to think of it as tears of happiness
that actually roll down my cheeks,
because it's the happy times that I think of.
That helps to actually have closure.
My purpose in life is to
try and bring as much joy to those around me.
And one of the most natural things is to smile and laugh
and to have the joy of hearing yourself laugh.
Our animals on the farm help us so often to do that.
Be in the moment. And enjoy that moment.
Don't always try and capture it. Just enjoy the moment.
And laugh... laugh lots.
A mantra that I live by is gratitude.
Being grateful for what I am...
grateful for what I have around me...
and I have great gratitude for being able to live my dream.
I have been so rich...
not money in the bank... but I have been so rich...
I'm a millionaire in happiness.
There are times in my life where I wish I could live double my age.
I would of course, love to continue living eternally.
But I will... I actually will.
I'll be around this place for a long time.
I'll be loving my animals.
Even though my body may not be, my soul is here to stay.