{"id":66,"date":"2020-07-16T14:47:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T14:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/?p=66"},"modified":"2020-07-16T14:47:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T14:47:21","slug":"what-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/what-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Furry Buddha: What Cats Are Really Trying to Teach Us \u2013 By Jesse Wolf Hardin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It\u2019s high time I came out and admitted it: the most important teachers in my life have been decidedly non-human.  Much of who I am and most of what I\u2019ve authored grew out of the experiences and lessons of nature.  I\u2019ve been instructed by the rootedness of plants and the parable of a fallen baby swallow, armed and empowered by my growing connection to the land, humbled by a sometimes flooding river, and transformed as well as informed by the poignant examples of our fellow creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all of my numerous critter mentors, however, have exactly been what you\u2019d call \u201cwild.\u201d  Pumpkin-Sigh was a particularly fine teacher and role model for me, a veritable furry buddha, a fuzzy feline soothsayer if dressed in a rather ordinary orange-tabby coat.  He was the last of a long line of backwoods canyon cats, his every need tended and every insight recorded by the man-who-writes.  Like those venerable masters who preceded him, Pumpkin-Sigh brought forth a special joy we\u2019d do well to emulate, and an ageless wisdom that we too can share.  His instructions for a satisfying and honorable life were simple, imparted through evocative wordless example.  I\u2019ve been privileged to translate, as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Focus on the present moment, or else it might get away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Live as if there\u2019s no such thing as the future, because in a sense there really isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) You know full well who you are.  If you find you can\u2019t relate to the names that some people call you, simply ignore them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Pretense is a disease of the masses, tool of the controllers and strategy of the weak.  Who the heck cares what most humans think?  Be your true self at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) You\u2019re a cool cat, so refuse to be pigeonholed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Be wary and suspect, without sacrificing your cuddliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) Freedom is more important than even sex or food.  Fight to keep anyone from ever sticking you in a box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8] Pester whoever is in authority until you\u2019re allowed to go outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9) Insist on what is most real.  You darn well know the difference between genuine water-born fish and so-called \u201cfish-flavored\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10) Believe in what you can see and taste, and not what people seem to try so hard to tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11) You\u2019re capable of learning from your mistakes and moving on.  If you happen to have swallowed any hair-ball lies, simply hack and spit \u2018em back out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12) You are a wild-willed creature, perhaps a companion but never anyone\u2019s pet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13) Getting dragged to a behavior modifying school, doesn\u2019t mean you have to behave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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14) Though you don\u2019t need to be mean spirited about it, a degree of disdain is natural\u2026 and to be expected of any individual with discernment, taste, and even the most elemental standards for our coinhabitants on this planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15) Never waste your waste products on a perfumed litter box, when they can be put to better use making a political statement or avenging some perceived indignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16) Self defense is an act of self respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17) Never fake affection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18) Indulge in the nourishing comforts of life, whether that means treating yourself to a bowl of warmed milk on a chilly day, or taking a break from all your worthy activities to catnap in the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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19) On the other hand, doing the unplanned or the scarily unfamiliar can be a real character builder, and greatly enrich your experience of life.  Risk discomfort for the sake of adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20) If you have something significant to express, by all means sing it out.  Otherwise, you will experience and learn more if you walk silent and keep quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21) Purr to indicate you\u2019re happy with your meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22) Always play with your food!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23) Balance out all the good eating by running up and down trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

24) Chew on a few flowers like afterthoughts, and then enjoy gazing at the rest until you\u2019re cross-eyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25) Explore the ordinary, as though it were infinitely fascinating \u2014 because it is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26) Life is precious, finite and fleeting, so don\u2019t let a single butterfly go by unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27) Maintain self awareness and pride, even when acting as silly as you feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28) And whenever not busy making a statement, playing with your food, running up and down trees or exploring fields of wildflowers\u2026 curl up tail-to-nose with a loved one and sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pumpkin-Sigh died of old age over a decade ago.  He was not replaced with another cat, much as my family and I love and even sometimes crave another feline in our lives.  This is in part because of the no-pet covenants that are part of the sanctuary being designated a wildlife and botanical refuge, with the beautiful lizards and ground pecking birds clearly relieved.  But mostly, it is because he was irreplaceable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you all find in your animal companions not just love but but a connection to the natural world in all its wonder and with all its faithful instruction\u2026 and through the natural world, the nature of your own truths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s high time I came out and admitted it: the most important teachers in my life have been decidedly non-human.  Much of who I am…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesse-wolf-hardin-essays-tales","category-practicing-anima-lifeways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animacenter.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}