feline wisdom

Sunday Purrs: Longing for Spring

longing-for-spring

Winter is not all that long in the Mid-Atlantic, and this one actually started out on the mild side. Then in January, we got hit with a massive blizzard, and since then, it’s been quite cold. We even had a little bit of snow again yesterday. However, last week, we had a couple of wonderful, warm days, which made me long for permanent spring. Allegra and Ruby are, of course, indoor kitties, but they, too, enjoyed the warm breezes coming in through our screened windows, and they’re ready for more!Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Come Curl Up With Barbara Crawford’s Cats

cat-under-blanket

Cats remind us that we need beauty in our lives, and that we need to take time to appreciate that beauty. To me, few things in life are more relaxing than looking at beautiful cat photos, and what better day of the week than Sunday to spend time doing just that.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to a relatively new Facebook page, Come Curl Up With My Cats. Longtime Conscious Cat reader Barbara Crawford created the page to celebrate the four cats in her life. Frank, Tony, Stella and Fusco are all uniquely stunning, and Barbara has a way of capturing their personalities in her photos that, to me, is bordering on magical.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Lessons from the Big Game

super-bow-cat

We’re not huge football fans here, although Ruby has been trash talking about wanting to join the Carolina Panthers. She says she would make a great wide receiver: after all, she’s fast, and she’s great at catching flying objects! We’ll probably watch at least part of the game for the commercials, and of course, we’re looking forward to the Kitten Bowl. Since I’m always looking for the lessons in everything, I spent a little time reflecting on what lessons we might find on Big Game Sunday.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Lessons from a Blizzard

blizzard

Allegra, Ruby and I made it through the Blizzard of 2016! I admit that I don’t handle severe weather as well as I should. I get pretty anxious when weather forecast contains words like “monster storm” and “life-threatening storm” – especially when my trusted forecasters at the Washington Post, who are not known for hype, use those words. Weather anxiety is becoming a recognized psychological disorder, which is not surprising, given our obsession with the weather. Checking weather apps is the number one smartphone use.

I’m a firm believer that when life throws a challenge our way, the best thing we can do is look for the lessons.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Do You Have a Vision of Where You’re Going?

vision-reflection

Do you have a vision of where you want to be a year from now? January is a good time to think about your dreams and goals for the year, but there’s a difference between planning and having a vision of where you’d like to be. Planning usually involves concrete steps on how to get to a defined goal. A vision statement answers the question “what would it look like if I achieved all of my goals?”Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: 3 Simple Ways to Get Into (and Stay in) The Flow

getting-in-the-flow

The “flow” is a much batted about term in self-improvement circles. It is also sometimes referred to as the “zone.” When you’re in the flow, you’re completely absorbed in an activity. Your perception is heightened, you’re feeling a sense of joy, and you’re probably losing all track of time. You feel in tune with who you really are. You’re at peace.

What you experience when you’re in the flow is complete mindfulness.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Choose to Be Happy

choose-happiness
Ruby chooses to be happy on my lap

I’m a firm believer that happiness is a choice.

Everything around us is energy, including our thoughts. We have the power to choose our thoughts – so why not choose thoughts that make us feel good rather than  thoughts that focus on what isn’t working in our lives?Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Do Cats Make New Year’s Resolutions?

new-years-resolutions

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I stopped making them several years ago. Since I still like the idea of the “fresh start” a new year offers, I set New Year’s intentions instead. I think New Year’s resolutions are destined to fail, because there’s an inherent flaw in the term “resolution.” The difference is subtle, but one (intention) implies that we are actually determined to do something differently, whereas the other (resolution) simply states that we’ve decided to change something.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Pause and Reflect Between the Years

pause-and-reflect

I’ve always used the time between Christmas and New Year’s to reflect back on the year that is about to pass, and to set some intentions for the year to come. The Norwegians actually have a name for this week: “romjula.” “Rom” means ”room” or ”space.” Romjula is the ”space” between jul (Christmas) and nyttår (New Year). To me, there’s something magical about this space between the years. Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: Live a Life of Passion

tortoiseshell-cat

I believe that we are happiest when we allow ourselves to life a life of passion. I’ve been on a journey of following my bliss for more than two decades now, and I’ve been fortunate that for the past fifteen plus years, I’ve been able to do work I’m passionate about, from working in and eventually managing a veterinary hospital to my current incarnation of writing about and working with cats.Continue Reading

Sunday Purrs: When a Friend of the Heart Moves Away

friend- moving-away

The one thing in life that you can count on is that things change. Some changes are planned, others are unexpected. Over the course of my life, I’ve found that most, if not all changes, have been for the better, even when it sometimes didn’t feel that way while I was going through the inevitable upheaval change brings. But I’m having a hard time looking at one of the most recent changes in my life as something positive. Last month, one of my closest friends moved all the way to the other side of the country. Continue Reading