Misha

Week 48

Misha

December 4, 2010

I don't like cats. Ok, let me re-phrase that. I don't like cats. It's not because they don't have every right to roam the earth as any other animal... like dogs for example. I could blame this on my father, who also doesn't like cats, but I won't claim a hereditary disposition against cats. Rather, it's that one can't really control a cat. Not in the way that you can control dogs. With dogs, you see, you teach it to obey. You teach it to fetch, to lay down, heel, and play dead. You know your dog loves you and wants day after day nothing more than to please you, it's owner. Not the cat. With cats... it's more of a role reversal, really. You end up being the one that fetches.  Cats may or may not like you or even tolerate you on any given day. I round out this thought with the confession that I myself have never owned a cat. The closest I've come is pictured above. Her name is Misha, and it's my brother's cat. I've fed her twice. She's a nice cat. Besides the time she tried to bite me.  My second confession is that I don't really dislike cats. I don't want one, but I don't dislike them. In fact, I've come to appreciate some things that they have to offer. 

Cats are helpful to think about when looking at a life, I think. Like cats, we can't control much of life, and that which we think we can control, we're wrong about. It seems rather, the more we let go and appreciate what is given to us and presented to us day to day, the more we tend to enjoy life. In other words, recognizing that I am not in control = happier, more fulfilled life. I don't believe this is the full equation (by any means), there will definitely be some arguments about this, and there is much to be said for who or what you believe is in control. But I think it starts with recognizing that it's not "me". Not just intellectually recognizing this idea, mind you. Most of us can "agree" that we aren't in control. But deep down in your gut recognizing. That place where we get mad at traffic and our computer. That place where we leap to judgment of someone not because of some merited character flaw, but because they don't agree with us, and we can't change their mind so we make up some bogus association in our mind that allows us to dislike them.

Recognizing that we are not in control doesn't mean that we don't care. It doesn't mean that we don't plan and steward what is given us responsibly. It doesn't even mean that we don't get mad or frustrated. I think it means that we are able to look at what is happening in our lives, in our days, in individual situations, and know that its not our job to be in control. Only to behave toward others as we'd have them behave toward us. When we learn this, I think we make tremendous strides forward in a joyful, peaceful existence.

Let a joyful life come to you. It will if you're patient. It will if you feed it no matter what and provide an environment it can thrive in. It will when you stop trying to control it. At least that's the first step.

image taken with Canon 5DMII, 50mm lens, 1/80 sec @ f1.8, ISO 400