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Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Blessing of Abby the Cat


I always chat with my kids a bit before I put them to bed for the night. I sing them a little song and tuck them in. A few nights ago Suni surprised me by sharing "I am glad you didn't let them kill Abby." I didn't know what he was talking about at first. We have had Abby for almost a year. Who was going to kill her?

Then he reminded me, "You know those people who took her to the vet?" And I remembered the story. I am glad too. She has been such a blessing to the family. What happened was a little more than a year ago I took my two kittens to the vet to have them "fixed". As I was waiting to pick them up I spotted this gorgeous persian-looking cat in a cage held by a very sad owner. I couldn't resist asking "What is wrong with her?"

It turns out she was not getting along very well with the dog and she was "peeing" everywhere and they thought it was a medical problem but they had tried everything and they didn't know what to do anymore. It was so horrible and the decision had been so hard but they had finally decided to have her put down. She was to die that day.

As is typical of me, I didn't think before talking, I simply went on the energy of my intuition. "Can I have her?" I said. The owner had a glint of happiness then it quickly faded. They went on to explain to me about all the trouble she would be and did I know what I was getting into?

I said that I did (although I didn't really) and I happily took her home.

Abby started out in my son's room as a way of easing her into the rest of the house but as time went on a few things became obvious in her personality:

1. She prefered to be without other animals.
2. She prefererd to be in small safe places instead of outside or the whole house.
3. She was very territorial and didn't like it when Suni left things on the floor or in her way.

Well, it took her about 7 months to train Suni to keep his door shut, keep the other pets out, and keep the floor clean, but now she is a happy cat and no longer pees anywhere and is the most charming sweet cat you could ever imagine. When you pet her she purrs like no other cat I have ever heard. She is so soft you just want to melt into her when she sits on your lap. Her temperament is sweet with children and adults and even strangers (but not other pets) and every night when Suni goes to bed she follows him up the ladder and snuggles in next to him.

I am as happy that we found her as she is! Abby has taught us that pets have emotional needs as much as humans do and as long as we honor her needs she is the perfect pet!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Being Lonely as an Illusion

I received this in my inbox a week ago from www.dailyom.com and have been wanting to share it ever since! It is just lovely and inspiring!

An Incomplete Understanding
Feeling Lonely

We all have days when we feel lonely, but the very idea of loneliness comes from the false notion that we are separate and isolated parts in a world filled with other separate, isolated parts. In truth, we can no more be separate from our world than a fish can be separate from the water in which it swims. When we really begin to look at the boundaries we see as so solid, they prove to be, in fact, quite porous. For example, it is not clear exactly where our skin ends and the air begins when we consider how our skin is affected by changes in the quality of the air. When it is dry, our skin becomes dry, and when it is humid, our skin becomes moist and supple.

By the same token, it is difficult sometimes to distinguish the boundary between one person and another, especially when our actions tie us together so inextricably. Every move we make has an effect that touches all the people around us. On an even more subtle level, when we share space with another person, we often pick up on their energy, feeling how they feel and attuning to them, whether we mean to or not. This is what we mean when we say a mood or a feeling is contagious. We cannot help but be part of the realities of the people around us because we take form from the same energetic force, and this force unifies all life. This force is the light that all the great mystics and gurus encourage us to move toward, and it is the light we will dissolve into when we move beyond our individual egos.

If loneliness is a temporary condition based on an incomplete understanding of what we are made of, we can think of its presence as a catalyst for exploring our ideas about reality. We can respond by testing the boundaries we believe separate us from the life within and all around us. If we test them, we will discover that they are not so solid after all and that we can never really be alone.

DailyOM.com