A few months ago, I wrote a Sunday Purrs column titled “Be Your Cat.” I was happy to see that I’m not the only cat lover whose life has been improved by looking to my cats for inspiration on how to be a better person. In a recent Feline Wisdom column in Edge Magazine, Angie Bailey shared ways in which she has grown to be more like her cats.
Guest post by Angie Bailey
As I age (okay, I’m only 43, but I’m feeling wise and Maya Angelouish), I am less concerned with putting up appearances and fretting over sanctimonious scrutiny others may cast upon me. It’s quite a liberating feeling and one that I hope continues until I’m an old lady wearing pajama bottoms to Walgreen’s and singing “Come on Eileen” from the open windows of my phat Buick LeSabre. I know that saying “life is short” sounds so cliché, but it’s the truth. This physical life, that is.
My cats are like furry little retired people who do exactly as they wish (for the most part) and just couldn’t care less about what other people think. Although they sport nine lives, each one is bursting with so much lyrical laissez faire (or lazy fair) that even Maya Angelou is taking notes.
I usually write about ways I look to my cats for inspiration. This time, I’ll share the ways I’ve grown to be more like my cats. Gotta give myself credit for quite a bit of personal growth and enthusiastic embrace of life!
- Cats don’t care if an ear is flipped inside out or they get tangled up in a blanket. These days I laugh it off when I trip over a step in front of a crowd of people. In fact, I sometimes even raise my hands and say, “Ta-da!” Hopefully, I even give someone else a smile.
- When cats don’t get what they want, they usually just keep moving — unless it’s food, but that’s a whole different story! I finally feel like I’m in a place that I understand things don’t always work out the way they were “supposed to.” I’ve experienced this enough times to know that something better always comes along and it’s almost always a situation of which I’d never imagined — in a good way!
- They spend time doing what they want to do. I’ve done some major soul-searching and have shed habits and activities that don’t serve me or bring me joy. I’ve also done this with friends. I used to think the number of friends I had was important. I no longer believe this — I’d much rather hang out with friends who lift me up than gossipy friends who tear others down.
- They enjoy a good snuggle, but will tell you when they need their space. When I was first married, I wanted to be with my husband all the time. Seriously, I was pretty clingy. Now we’ve been married 22 years as as we’ve grown together, I’ve come to appreciate our time apart. I still treasure our “snuggle time,” but there’s such value in finding your own voice and independence. I’ve definitely done that!
Yes, cats are wise beyond their lives…but sometimes so are we! In this world of constantly examining ourselves and analyzing where we need improvement, we need to take a step back and really celebrate how far we’ve come. Cats celebrate themselves all the time, right? Let’s not only try to be more catlike, let’s bask in a sun puddle and radiate the greatness that already exists within us!
Copyright © 2013 Angie Bailey. All Rights Reserved.
This article was previously published in Edge Magazine and is republished with permission. Angie Bailey is an award-winning Minnesota writer/blogger, cat fancier, word game junkie, creative-project dabbler, music lover, food enthusiast, wife, and mother to two humans and three cats. She spends most of her days enjoying her family, writing, blogging, playing Scrabble, laughing at her cats’ shenanigans, and finding the silliness in most everything. Visit Catladyland for a daily dose of Angie’s cat-centric humor.
I was once quoted by Cleveland Amory in his book “The Best Cat Ever” as saying that I had grown to be more like my wise elder cat Gabbie. She was a curmudgeon who never cared what anyone thought of her. At my age now I can look back at my younger self and see how much time I’d spent worrying about my image, worrying about having things exactly right and worrying about hurrying. I sometimes wish we could learn how unimportant those things are at a younger age. Maybe then we could just enjoy life more.
You are so right, Andrea. Worrying about what others think about us is such a waste of time. And obviously, cats know this!
Great post. Really enjoyed it. Cats are very wise.
And they know it, too, Sue… 😉
Thank you for running my article and I look forward to your review!
Have a great weekend! xoxo
My pleasure, Angie! I hope you’re having a great weekend, too!
I was previously a “Dog Man” between 1976 to 1994 , owning two dogs,a spitz bitch named “Blondie(1976-1984) and a dachshund bitch named Lucky(1984-1994).The first cat in my life “Trixie(1995-2007) came accidentally into our household, a dying kitten adopted by me from Mumbai’s famous “Crawford Market” pet-shop.After the demise of “Trixie” i purchased a traditional Persian cat “Matahari” who is with me today along with her 4 year old kitten, now a tomcat named “Matata”.All pets do affect the mind, attitude and way of living of their human owners, be a dog or a cat.Cats are more easier to care since they can be left alone for hours unlike dogs which require a human counterpart or otherwise get anti-social, barking, etc.This was the main reason that i took to rearing cats as pets rather than dogs as my aging parents found it difficult to care for dogs.Now, a total cat man i have realized the psychological benefits of cats.I travel a lot and a hobby writer/blogger by passion, hence my opinion on this topic.Cats have a soothing effect by their calm behavior and beside’s the “Fur-Shedding” and occasional toilet mess problem are easy to maintain for lonely people or families.My house care-taker looks after my cats and her life-style too has changed after taking employment at my house,the cats keeping her busy.As a writer/traveller my cats have definitely helped in my life-style.
I may be biased, but I think cats are perfect companions for writers. 🙂