Long ago Delilah, a tabby cat, came into my life. Facing diminishing sight from retinitis pigmentosa, I was worried about sitting or stepping on her because she was very dark. But she adapted to the danger after a couple of times of almost being squished. She learned to meow when I came into the room. I remember once when I had pink eye, she comforted me by curling by my side. It seemed she knew I was in distress. At 14 years she passed away. After her, I knew I would always need a cat in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A friend of mine shared that she gets too attached to pets, so to be \u201csafe\u201d she refuses to get another. At 83, she said the loss is just too painful and not worth it. There is an old saying that says, \u201dIt is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.\u201d It\u2019s for sure I\u2019m not going to get through this life without some pain \u2013 whether physical, mental, or emotional. So I have decided to always have a cat whether it\u2019s painful or not. There is a Teaching idea that I use frequently and that is to be \u201cfree to experience\u201d whatever is going on because everything \u201ccomes to pass\u201d. It\u2019s worthwhile when I measure the pain against the many hours of joy I have with these cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the humane society I began looking for a white cat that would be easier to see. In opening one cage, Bella, a white cat, started loving on me; and, of course, she became our second cat. I discovered that cats are like humans, each has it\u2019s own special personality that unfolds as we get to know them. One of Bella\u2019s games occurred around 3:00 am. I\u2019d wake and hear Bella playing with a little cloth mouse, which after a time she\u2019d bring to the bedroom, meowing. I finally figured out that it was her gift. And then she would jump up on the bed and sleep with me for the rest of the night. When I groomed her thick fur, she had the look of ecstasy on her face while rolling over for me to get every part of her body. I had never experienced connection with an animal to that degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had taken on the suggestions from people who believed that cats were just \u201cdumb animals.\u201d Then one day I stumbled across a book called \u201cKinship with all Life\u201d by J. Allen Boone and it opened my mind to see more about all <\/em>of creation. It is wonderful to speculate that we all are connected \u2013 humans, animals and plants. To me, all animals are special \u2013 at least the ones I\u2019ve come to know. It\u2019s only at this age in my life that I want to learn to communicate with my cat, or horse or dog that I come in contact with. This book pointed out that I am not superior. Only as I\u2019m humble, can I hear and communicate with these precious creatures \u2013 hence they have become my teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve seen my cats look into my eyes when I\u2019m talking to them. Do they understand my words? That\u2019s in my \u201cI don\u2019t know department.\u201d Communication with animals is an ongoing experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another friend has a ranch where she gives lessons, boards horses, and does therapy riding. During my riding lesson she shared with me to look where I wanted to go, not at the saddle, horn, or reins. She said that the horse uses pictures in the mind for communication. I\u2019ve experienced this at times when thinking about my cat brings her to my side for loving. We have such a privilege to be with these amazing creatures. They deserve our understanding, generosity, and kindness and always give back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bella had a heart condition we were not aware of and she passed away six months later. So, back I went to the humane society. There was a beautiful cat named Myra. She came out from her little hide-a-way and licked my hand. The caretakers said she had never done that with anybody else and I thought, this is \u201cthe cat\u201d. I associated \u201cnow\u201d with \u201cthen\u201d when I had previously chosen Bella. But as with humans, all are not alike and \u201cnow\u201d is never like \u201cthen.\u201d Each moment is completely different from the last. I will never know Myra\u2019s past; but it didn\u2019t work out for us. No matter what I did, I couldn\u2019t connect with her and I refused to force her to let me love on her. I felt ignored and rejected and finally realized I had to face facts \u2013 with my blindness, I couldn\u2019t be a therapist or cat whisperer, I needed a therapy cat \u2013 one that would be very affectionate. So I gave the wellbeing of Myra back to the humane society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had set many \u201cideals\u201d for the cat I thought would fulfill my needs. Most times we don\u2019t even recognize that we have so many \u201cought to be\u2019s.\u201d The cat had to be a female, between three and six years old, and multicolored. White parts could be seen when the cat was on a dark colored surface and the black parts showed up on a white surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Myra, I learned that in picking a cat I needed to be able to pick it up and hear it purr \u2013 not hiss and lash out. It was the next step in tweaking my list and the best I could do for choosing. I don\u2019t fit with all the humans I meet, and there is an inner feeling that lets me know which ones I want to know better. It works sometimes and doesn\u2019t work on others. So perhaps all the senses need to be in the now and working \u2013 sight, hearing, touching, awareness and also inner feeling. What a lesson for so many things we do in our daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n School Talk #25 discusses \u201cMaking up the Mind\u201d \u2013 and there is another \u201cExcerpt\u201d called the \u201cThe What and the How\u201d. I have experimented with both of those ideas by myself, with my daughter, and with my musical partner \u2013 it\u2019s always interesting. I wrote down specifically what I wanted. Of first priority was a cat that needed lots of attention, leaving off the \u201cideal\u201d of female and three years old<\/p>\n\n\n\n But after two trips weekly to the humane society, I finally realized I was afraid of making a mistake. There is a Teaching idea that we\u2019ve never made a mistake because every decision we\u2019ve made \u2013 at the time it was felt to be right, or proper and\/or justified. But another discovery for me was that each \u201cmistake\u201d points me in a new direction that is more to my advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a month of these trips to the humane society, I saw this colorful cat (white and gray) tearing up the paper in his cage. I concluded he\u2019s not for me! I wanted another Bella. I had made another \u201cideal\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next week I saw him again. Oh no! \u2013 he\u2019s a male, he\u2019s only one year old. But I remembered that I wanted to leave off the \u201cideal\u201d of a Bella. Outside the cage, I could hold him and he was purring. It was time to take a chance again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I brought him home. Is he too young? Yes, according to what \u201cought to be.\u201d Was he Bella? No! Is that what we lay on every living human being we know? Do we unconsciously foist off conclusions we have about people we meet because they look like someone we did or didn\u2019t like in the past? We\u2019re all so different. I have discovered that I learn about myself from everyone I meet. I\u2019ve discovered that each person in my life brings out a different personality in me. If I\u2019m with a musician, I become music. If I\u2019m with a fun person, I automatically bring out the silly, creative, happy one inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I changed his name from \u201cRocko\u201d to \u201cJazz,\u201d since I don\u2019t play very much rock. When we\u2019re not playing, he follows me from room to room and helps me with all my tasks. He is a character, just like all the previous cats and humans I have ever known or know now \u2013 each has something to share and teach me, whether pleasant or not. Would you like for EVERYTHING to be pleasant and JUST THE WAY YOU WANT IT? Hmm. Ponder that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s time to go see what Jazz is doing because he is making some noise and I want to be part of it. Thank you, Jazz, for gracing my existence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, who\u2019s the Teacher and what is Jazz teaching me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m ever thankful to have him in my life and for our spirits to be connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Long ago Delilah, a tabby cat, came into my life. Facing diminishing sight from retinitis pigmentosa, I was worried about sitting or stepping on her because she was very dark. But she adapted to the danger after a couple of … Continue reading
So, here I go. I finally made a decision to take him home. I discovered quickly that he wasn\u2019t shy like Myra and was out exploring the house in thirty minutes. Yes, he has way more energy than I thought would be advisable; however, staying at the computer too long makes my eyes foggy and unresponsive. So playing with him in the morning and throughout the day breaks that hypnotized habit. Being sequestered for a year, I find I need activity more than being sedentary. He certainly provides action. Ha! So \u201cwe think we know what we need\u201d and Life seems to know better what I need then all my little mental \u201cideals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n