Creature Comforts

I don’t consider myself a pet person.  I don’t particularly enjoy cuddling with furry creatures, and most of the time I feel like I barely have the wherewithal to sufficiently care for myself and the other humans in my charge, let alone members of various other species.   But I do have two cats, and every once in a while, one of them teaches me a valuable lesson.  Like yesterday, for instance - by some miracle, I found myself at home alone, as all three of my children and my husband had accepted last-minute social invitations and were out of the house for a couple hours.  In my normal Type-A fashion, I took this to be the perfect opportunity to complete every ounce of the housework I hadn’t gotten to earlier in the day.  So I set about doing chores, but I quickly became tired – it had been a long, long day - and eventually I decided, reluctantly, to sit down and rest with a cup of tea and an episode of one of my favorite television programs.  I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the first time I had sat down to rest all week.  

No sooner had I settled on the sofa and laid a blanket over my legs than Macy, the older of my two cats, came crawling up onto the sofa and plopped herself down on my lap. Macy is a gorgeous, striped brown and black Bengal cat with beautiful green eyes and a whole host of neuroses – one of which is that she doesn’t like to be touched.  Usually any time we reach out to stroke Macy’s fur, she recoils and slinks quickly away.  She spends most of her time hiding in our basement or in the darkness of our linen closet.  So for her to feel comfortable enough to approach me, first, and then to sit on my lap is significant.  After a few minutes of allowing her to get settled, I slowly reached out to pet Macy’s head.  At first she winced, but then she allowed me to stroke her head and then she allowed me to scratch behind her ears and to pet her back.  She closed her eyes, and I could tell from her stillness and from the weight of her body on my legs that she was finally relaxed - and so was I.  

I felt like Macy was giving me a gift in that moment.  I had finally allowed myself to be still and the result was a beautiful, peaceful exchange of energy that left me feeling spiritually nourished and completely at ease.  I wondered to myself, what other blessings would come to me if I would just allow myself to be still?  

~REBECCA