“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” ~ Sigmund Freud
Happy Sunday!
My Niece L. lost her beloved cat a few weeks ago. Knowing that this was very tough for L. and that she had done so much to keep the little puss going this past year I went onto L’s Facebook page to see how she was coping. L. was saying all of the right things to get through this tough time so I knew she would be OK.
The thing that struck me was the photo that L. had posted of her kitty, it was a beautiful close up of the cat’s face. I thought about our relationships with our cats – they really are quite personal. Here was a picture of L’s cat that gave to me a sneak peek into view a bit of the cat’s soul. As a lifelong lover and owner of cats I know that it takes a whole lot of love and trust for a cat to give you that look, and she saves it just for her own one, maybe two, humans.
It really doesn’t matter how much of a cat lover we are, when we go to someone else’s home and want to meet their cats we are out of luck. There are those that never come out, those that are just a flash across the room, and those that may rub our leg but then shrink down or run when we try to pet them.
At Thanksgiving my Max set himself on the couch with all the company around, this action surprised me as he is OK with company, but never just laid out with people around. My feeling was that he just wanted his couch for his afternoon nap so he was doing what he wanted whether strangers were there or not.
So where am I going with this?
A love connection with a cat takes a certain type of person. It takes a person who is willing to take the time to love with patience; a person who can give, and give, and give without the expectation of receiving anything back.
If we humans were smart we would all be dog people. Those dogs just LOVE you until you can’t take it anymore. They LOVE everyone they meet. They LOVE everything about life. They are such a great example of unconditional Love as long as some human has not messed them up.
But, when we chose to come to Earth we signed up for experiencing the good and the bad, the struggle and the joy. You cannot know one without the other!
So what does being a cat person tell me about myself?
It tells me that perhaps I am willing to Love the difficult ones. I don’t see myself as a great lover or a great giver. There are those people we encounter who just know the right thing to say or do to make us feel special – I don’t think I have those gifts. I think my gift is acceptance.
I am able to accept people for who they are. In my past I don’t think it was because I had an open heart to accept everyone as they are but more so, because of the ‘golden rule’; my mind believed they had the right to good treatment just I have that right.
Today I do believe I have learned to have greater compassion for others and am able to better understand their life journey to relate it to my own, I find empathy. I also know we are all part of the whole of ‘All That Is’.
I also think that loving a cat is a journey to find specialness. When you learn the patience and giving that a cat requires you are eventually rewarded with love being returned. But, the cat only gives that love to you so you are the special one.
A dog lover can never get that, dogs love everyone. A cat lover can say to themselves “I am special because my cat loves me.”
Is it worth it I wonder?
At this point in my life I strive for the ability to unconditionally Love. I realize the downfall of wanting to be special as it separates and isolates me from all those I want to be joined with in unconditional love.
I want my being-ness to just radiate Love. From this place there are no difficult people to Love – ‘dog people’, ‘cat, people’, ‘no pet people’ are all the same. We are all aspects of God extended here to experience.
Perhaps I am forgetting a key aspect of living with at cat – the zen-ness of them. Whereas a dog can show his enthusiasm for life by running, jumping, kissing, rubbing – all actions of wanting to connect, the cat brings to the home the love of life in exemplifying just being in peace.
So what is it about dogs and cats that draws them into our lives?
Perhaps they are like the Sufi say of all special relationships; they are the mirror back for us to experience ourselves.
I hope you enjoy the quote below by Rumi. It is beautiful of itself, but I considered it as God speaking to me. I know myself as God extended so I have within me “All That Is”. His gift to me is my beloved ones who are my mirrors of Self and my images of God.
Namaste’
“You have no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You. Nothing seemed right. What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean. Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these. So I’ve brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me.” ~ Rumi