I am back at home and enjoying the autumn weather. October is my favourite month of the year. I love the warm gentle sun, the clear blue sky, birds chirping and the cool fresh breeze of this season.
Mount Kanchenjunga is showing off in full view. This morning my boyfriend sent me this image from his home in Lamahatta, Darjeeling
This season always seems to lift up our moods and hearts.
I also brought my cats along with me, this time by bus.
It was my first time travelling on a bus with them from Kolkata to Siliguri since I didn’t get train tickets.
The bus was comfortable, but I couldn’t sleep all night and only dozed off a bit in the morning while I was about to reach because of Ariel’s constant meowing. Elsa on the other hand was a good girl and she slept by my side mostly calmly.
I never had a cat before for so long.
The one I had, my Mia, whom I had found on the street, passed away after our one month of togetherness. But she gave me so much love, and I wanted to fill the gap she left in my heart.
So I decided to adopt not one, but two this time. I found them after joining a Facebook group called Cat Adoption Kolkata.
This was their first week with me. (Left- Ariel, Right- Elsa)
It’s been 5 months since I adopted them and I love being a cat mum to them. I am not married and don’t have kids yet, but I already feel like I have so much training for being a mum in future. Lol
Also, I always thought of myself as a dog person more than a cat person, but now I know there is no such thing as that.
You can love anyone and can be ‘any’ person if you allow love to grow in your heart.
Many years ago I read a book called ‘Dalai lama’s Cat’ and I loved that book. So today I thought of writing my own learnings from having cats because they’re just so different, unique and adorable.
If you have a cat too, feel free to add more to the list, or just share your own learnings too 🙂
Here are mine
1.You don’t need much to be happy
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You think you need to spend a lot of money to keep your cat happy, but what they are happy with is just little things like rubber bands, paper balls or some feathers.
Sometimes on my way to work outside my apartment, I see some feathers and I keep them in my bag because I know they’re going to love playing with them.
I think it’s the same with us as well and even with kids.
The things that make me truly happy and the things I actually remember enjoying have little to do with money or expensive things.
Mostly a good stretch and exercise make me happy, a nice nap, a good rest, going on long walks with my partner, evening tea with my mum, and good music.
They’re mostly enough. Others are just cherry on top and money helps make life easier, so I am thankful for that.
2. Be curious
Whenever my cats see something new in the room, they notice it instantly.
They’re afraid, but still, they’re curious.
Their fear of uncertainty won’t stop them from seeing what the thing is or what’s inside it.
They first use their paw to check what the object is, go around it and slowly get close to it.
The next moment they’re inside it or playing with it.
They never neglect their curious spirit.
Can we be the same with regard to uncertainty and the things that we don’t know what’s inside?
We humans mostly try to avoid uncertain things and hardly do we take risks.
We stop the moment we don’t know.
We run away and don’t even try to see what’s in it for us.
But what if we embrace a curious spirit?
See what’s in it for you if you take that class. See what happens if you try something new. See what would happen if you go for it with all the risk and uncertainty.
3. Play + Rest
I could watch my cats playing all day. They are my favourite distractions and entertainers.
Their routine mostly falls into two parts- Play and Rest.
They either spend their time playing, being curious, climbing up my plants, having zoomies, or they’re resting.
Even when they’re not sleeping, I love how they can simply be and rest, unlike us humans.
They can just sit by the window pane, not rushing, not restless and can simply be present in the moment, observing the world outside or looking at us from up above usually sitting at the top of the cupboard, fridge and any other high object they see.
They look as if they’re mindful of every breath and so relaxed and yet attentive.
Whereas we humans?
We don’t know how to work and we don’t know how to play.
We’re always restless moving from one thing to the next. And in this increasingly distracting world, most of us can’t ever sit just being.
Animals know by instinct when it’s time for rest and they listen to it.
We can also learn how to rest and just be.
Looking at them they teach us that doing is not always important. Being is.
4. Prioritize grooming
We all know how much cats groom themselves. And they’re never lazy about it.
They do it with full attention not thinking about other things.
Obviously, they don’t have work to do, a home to manage, or kids to look after, but can we also prioritise taking care of ourselves and how we look after ourselves?
And when we do, can we do it with full love, and attention and in a relaxed manner too?
Put on cream and moisturise your body, take care of your skin and wear good clothes, not just when we’re out, but also when we’re home.
Most of us hardly care how we look when we’re home almost looking like homeless people, but when we tidy ourselves up, comb our hair, moisturise our body and wear nice clothes, it makes us feel uplifted and joyous too.
So let us learn from them and prioritise grooming ourselves.
5. Be daring
I don’t know about other cats, but my two are so daring.
At home, I have my dog Missy and before I brought them home for the first time, I was really tense about how my dog would react, because normally she really hates cats.
I thought they would get scared of Missy and Missy would get angry at them, but it turned out exactly the opposite. The two of them are giving Missy a tough time. Lol.
Missy is the one who is scared of the two and is getting cat slaps from them.
My cats go head-on to Missy and try to get a smell of her body. Hopefully, they’ll be friends soon.
6. Do as you please
Another thing I love about cats is that they aren’t people pleasers. They do exactly as they please.
When you can’t find them, you can call them for hours and look everywhere, but they won’t do a single meow if they don’t want to.
When I come home from work or anywhere outside they don’t come rushing to me to greet me, unlike dogs.
When I leave, they’re on their own mostly minding their own business.
At first, I have to admit that it hurt a bit since I have always had dogs and so used to their open show of love and I felt as if my cats didn’t love me, but now I realise that it’s just their nature and they’re true to it.
They have their own love language.
They’re just themselves and so secure in their personality. And now I love that.
If we were like them too, we wouldn’t have the need to please anyone and we would be less stressed about how other people perceive us.
We would talk to those whom we wanted to talk to and not talk just for the sake of curbing awkward silence.
We would be friends with those with whom we want to be friends
We would leave those places we didn’t like when we noticed the vibe doesn’t match and maintain our boundaries where it’s needed.
7. No room for excess
Cats aren’t greedy. They have no room for excess. Even if you give them their favourite food, they will only eat that much which is needed for them to be full.
They aren’t hoarders and they never overdo.
They eat slowly without rushing and also drink plenty of water.
This is something we can learn from them too.
8. Try what’s possible
I see my cats always trying new things and looking for what’s possible.
Sometimes they’re above my cupboard, sometimes above my AC, sometimes sitting in my plant pots, climbing walls and places I couldn’t even imagine earlier.
When I first got them home and even now they are always trying to reach new heights.
Of course, it gets them into trouble.
One time Ariel even fell from my 3rd-floor balcony. I went rushing down dead scared to see what must have happened to her, but she was just there sitting as if nothing happened.
Thankfully she landed on her feet and that’s something we can learn from them too.
No matter what happens- always land on your feet and get back up.
You are lighter and stronger than you think.
9. It’s possible to live peacefully
My two cats are sisters and they never fight.
They love each other so much and live so peacefully with each other. Never have I seen them angry with each other.
They’re always giving each other hugs, cleaning each other’s fur and making sure that the other one is clean too.
Looking at them makes me feel that it’s possible to live peacefully too.
If they can, why can’t we?
So this was from me and my experience with living with two cats.
Some years ago I had written a post about describing my two dogs.
If you have a cat or any pet too, feel free to share with me what good lessons you have learned from them too by commenting on this post.
P.S This was from my Mindful Monday Newsletter. If you liked what you read and want to receive my updates, join below. It would be wonderful to have you ❤️
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