Misty is my 19-year-old kitty, who likes to share her vast experience of life from a feline perspective, here on my blog. I am just the conduit for her "whisker wisdom". Hope you enjoy her insights and musings!

1. Follow your inner feline curiosity. There's a big wide world on the other side of the window. You can decide whether to view it with fear and uncertainty or with curiosity and delight. Choose delight!

2. Groom yourself to look your best. Good grooming is very important. Wash your face and ears often and keep your fur in place. Getting all ruffled is not attractive. Neither is getting puffed up to twice your size unless the neighborhood bully is bothering you. In that case, it's perfectly acceptable. Claws can even be unsheathed when there is something crucial to defend. Like your food bowl, or your mousie toy.

3. Be vulnerable. Misty has mastered the art of vulnerability. She turns on her back with feet up in the air exposing her belly, inviting a rub. We can all find our individual way to express that trust and vulnerability to those we love. It's a sign of great strength to be open and invite others to metaphorically rub your tummy.

4. Be peaceful. Sometimes the very best thing to do is curl up on a cushion and meditate. Or take a nap. If we want peace, we must be peace-full. Cats know this. You can't "fight" for peace, you simply live it!

5. Creaky doesn't equal cranky necessarily. At the advance feline age of 19, Misty knows all about being creaky. But creakiness doesn't give you the right to be cranky. We all have days when it's hard to get motivated or we are moving slowly due to pain or injury. Go ahead and lick your wounds, but don't let grumpiness cause you to snarl at others or bite the hand that feeds you. Life isn't perfect, and at times it can be downright messy. But remember, misery is optional. You can always choose your response to life.

6. Stay active and engaged with life. Stretch yourself, mentally and physically (cats are good at the physical part!) I often observe Misty doing her morning yoga and try to follow her example. She sometimes assists me with mine, also, usually by rubbing against me or dragging her tail by my mouth. Do yoga, chase birds or geckos, be alert for mice and other interesting creatures crossing your path (or whatever your human equivalent of these activities may be). Have fun, play, learn new things, stretch your life to new dimensions! Hiding under the bed is not an option! Be brave and have an adventure today!

7. Practice looking cute. If you find yourself drawn into any problem or communication issue, such as putting your paw (foot) in your mouth, simply looking cute can prevent escalation. Misty is the absolute master of looking cute. She does it pretty much all the time, to varying degrees, making it very difficult to be angry or upset with her at all. Try it. Hint: it helps to practice with a mirror so you can experiment with various expressions and gestures. Too bad we humans don't have whiskers and multidirectional ears to generate extra cuteness, like cats do. I love Misty's "Yoda" ear position, which indicates relaxation and her whiskers-forward move, which means she is intensely interested or curious or about to pounce on something. If humans had feline type ears and whiskers, I'll bet we'd have far less miscommunication!

The Story of the Butterfly emerging was told to me originally years ago by a  minister, and it touched me deeply. Here's a version adapted by author Paul Coelho: "A man spent hours watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. It managed to make a small hole, but its body was too large to get through it. After a long struggle, it appeared to be exhausted and remained absolutely still.
 
The man decided to help the butterfly and, with a pair of scissors, he cut open the cocoon, thus releasing the butterfly. However, the butterfly’s body was very small and wrinkled and its wings were all crumpled.
 
The man continued to watch, hoping that, at any moment, the butterfly would open its wings and fly away. Nothing happened; in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its brief life dragging around its shrunken body and shrivelled wings, incapable of flight.
 
What the man – out of kindness and his eagerness to help – had failed to understand was that the tight cocoon and the efforts that the butterfly had to make in order to squeeze out of that tiny hole were Nature’s way of training the butterfly and of strengthening its wings."       ~Anonymous

I am a caterpillar who wants to fly. I have been dutifully following Nature's path of struggle to break through the tiny hole in my cocoon, but I'm stuck, I'm exhausted and it's dark in here! No, don't come running (or walking) with the scissors. I must get unstuck myself, if I'm ever going to fly. Encouragement is appreciated, maybe even some cheering from the sidelines. You could throw me some chocolate. I'm not above needing a boost :) But, I am certain I can take on this life altering transformation, this scary-beautiful rebirth into a totally new way of being. I have faith. After all, a caterpillar has no way of knowing what its struggles are heralding. I do.

So, maybe I should re-title this blog post to: "Having a Butterfly Moment", since it's focusing on the positive outcome. But, the caterpillar moment is more honest. Still struggling. Still becoming. Still trying too hard to "be still and know".

Perhaps today will be the breakthrough to butterfly...

Recently, while dealing with a rather intense period of struggle and questioning, I picked up Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s book, The Call, and opened it to the bookmarked page.  I received the most perfect gift -- an answer!  It was towards the end of the book when Oriah was tying together all the luminous strands of wisdom into one perfect pearl:  how to embody and live your “word” -- the one that has whispered to you all your life -- the one you’ve struggled with, and perhaps run away from repeatedly.  The chapter ended with a meditation to find this one essential part of you, your own individual “word”.  As I sat and quietly opened myself and asked the question, the word that popped into my consciousness was HARMONY.  As a musician, a singer, specifically a soloist, the irony was not lost on me.  But I stayed in meditation with word harmony and I know with a deep inner knowledge, that is it my “word” -- from the musical implications to the planetary ones, it is what I have come here to learn and to teach.  Whew!  I must learn how to release the fantasy that I can do it (whatever the definition of "it") alone.  Yes, I have to put to rest the old wonder woman complex that if you apply enough effort and desire to a challenge, you can overcome it single-handedly.  Instead, I need to seek out and engage others on the journey to bring both my own life and a larger community into alignment for common good.  I must learn to ask for help, to weave ideas and people together rather than fiercely and falsely believing I can do it all -- by myself!

The rather humorous example that comes to mind is what I’ve come to think of as the pantyhose principle.  Let me explain.  A few years back, I accidentally cut my right thumb rather deeply, requiring stitches, and it turns out, severing a nerve.  This required the skills of a doctor who is a hand specialist - a micro-surgeon who repairs injuries to the hands.  After this very delicate surgery, no doubt perceiving my rather strong tendencies toward independence, the surgeon put me in a plaster cast from the tips of my fingers to just above the elbow, thus guaranteeing the immobility required for complete healing.  Hmmm.  This was an amazingly annoying daily trial, causing me endless aggravation & helplessness in doing even the basic activities of daily living -- particularly personal grooming.  A shower became a huge production, since the cast couldn’t be gotten wet.  Shampooing and blow-drying my hair was a real challenge with one operable hand.  All the things one takes completely for granted, such as brushing teeth, getting dressed, etc., became monumental challenges, exercises in logistics & planning.  Even taking phone messages at work was a trial, since I am right-handed (of course!), and writing with my left hand was illegible, even to me.  It was the old patience lesson rearing its multi-faceted and ugly head.  Again!

After dealing with these daily frustrations for weeks on end -- it seemed like an eternity!-- I became quite stubborn about figuring out how to accomplish things on my own.  One morning, as I was getting dressed for church, I decided (for reasons still not entirely clear to me, but seemed like a good idea at the time) to put on pantyhose.  Yes, I know.  It was extremely masochistic of me!

Ladies, if you have ever tried to put pantyhose on with one hand, you will know the level of frustration that it creates.  If you haven't, try it sometime, just for fun.  I tugged and twisted, and rolled around on the bed, determined to manage it.  Meanwhile, my husband nearly injured himself laughing, which only fueled my determination to do this silly task.  

Finally, sweating and swearing in defeat, I had to capitulate and ask for his help.  He was almost too weak from laughter to comply, but, alas, finally, with his help I was wearing the pantyhose in the right places.  Sigh.  The was a very tough lesson in abject humility. 

Ergo, the pantyhose principle:  Choose to humble yourself when confronted with an insurmountable challenge, and ask for help.  Also, it’s OK to provide some humor and entertainment in the process.  Life works much more smoothly and comfortably with regular doses of humor.  Be willing to laugh at yourself, too.  It prevents getting sucked into seriousness.

My last pearl of wisdom from this experience:  One should seek harmony between ideas and actions, integrity between thoughts and spoken words, and remember the pantyhose principle!