Do you have a cat?
Have they ever sat on your computer keyboard just when you want to use it?
Or laid on your books just as you are about to read them?
Or sprawled on top of something that you need which makes it impossible to use that thing?
Cat on your head?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you can learn something from your cat.
Or if you don't have a cat, hopefully you can benefit from this advice regardless.
Or go out and get one.
Anyway, cats have a unique way of getting our attention. They seem to have a sixth sense for precisely where you are about to sit, and then they will make sure they are sitting there first, and will do something that makes it really hard to move them, like licking their butts or purring really cutely. They force you to pause and enjoy their company and pet them (which has health benefits, and it makes them happy, and makes you happy). Or you can get annoyed and say, "Why are you always where I need to be??" (btw, I have never said that to my cat <avoids eye contact>) and pick them up and throw them on the floor. But then you feel guilty right after, don't you? Especially when they skulk away and you then don't see them for hours.
Cats like to give us learning opportunities:
-They are nature's reminder to stop and smell the roses, amidst attempts to be "productive".
-Not all interruptions are bad ones. We can choose whether it is inconvenient or not, or whether we want to make the best of it.
-Sometimes we just need to stop an appreciate what's right in front of us. Maybe the thing we think we need to do right that instant can wait, for the sake of enjoying that other thing (be it a cat, or a child, or a cloud, or the sunset, or a flower coming up through the pavement, etc).
-They spark the idea, "Maybe now is a good time for a siesta...."
-Persistency pays off. No matter how many times you shoo a cat away, they will keep trying the same tactic, over and over, to get your attention. They don't seem to give up, in the long run. If you keep trying to make a difference, or introduce a new idea, or share your art (in whatever form that takes), and you keep getting "shooed" away by the world, be like a cat. Be purr-sistent (Oh no, I didn't!)
Anyway, I'm going to go do some writing now. Oh wait.....never mind.
