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Category Archives: Spirituality

The Joys of Living Together

Posted on January 3, 2013 by catzandalldatz

I grew up as an only child. This means that I can spend oodles of time by myself. In fact, I crave it. I once dated a guy who came from a large family and constantly needed to be around a lot of people. You can imagine how long that relationship lasted.

For the past month or so, I’ve been in a transition state. Most people are not comfortable with an extended transition state. It feels squishy. You don’t know when things will be resolved. It’s constantly fluid but solid. I’m ok with my transition state. Consulting as a profession could be defined as doing ambiguous things for an unknown client for an indeterminate amount of time. Here is the secret to accepting transition – just accept it. It’s hard to let go of the past but in that transition state is where your future lies.

By staying flexible and knowing that anything can change, when it does you aren’t surprised. Instead you just move in step with whatever path you’ve been guided.

Cats are ambiguous creatures as well. Some easily adjust to transition but others begin to act out. As our cats have always been two household cats, they’ve learned to adjust to whatever happens. But here are some tips for cats, and their owners, to adjust to transition:

1) No matter where you are, you can mark out your space, however small
2) Find something, someone or someplace you can go to center yourself
3) Do not be afraid to discuss how you are feeling in your transition
4) limit your transitions – you aren’t going to quit smoking, give up Chick-Fil-a and train for the marathon all at once. Pace yourself
5) Open yourself to whatever happens is what is supposed to happen; control is an illusion

What other tips do you have for transitioning in your life?

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Adjusting to New Circumstances

Posted on August 28, 2012 by catzandalldatz

So as we’ve seen we have a new kitten Koko. There was definitely some discussion over her name. Koko was her name at the shelter and as we can well see our cats have names that have meaning. For example, Jean-Claude’s middle name is Calinvif which is loosely translated French for “snuggles hard” and Roxie’s middle name was Toshi which is loosely translated Japanese for Warrior.

I haven’t yet determined what would be appropos for Ms. Koko. Azeena frequently calls her Koko “Bean” which is cute, but I haven’t yet figured out what is the definition of her spirit. She is extremely loving towards humans but still gives JC a hard time. I think she hasn’t figured out that she can use his 16 pounds of cuddling to keep her warm at night.

I think it took Koko awhile to actually adjust to being home and recognizing that this is her permanent home. I think she was adopted before, so it will take awhile before she really trusts that she is a permanent member of the family. I am using scent and no stress spray to get her to be comfortable with JC as more than just a cat she shares space with. Luckily, we aren’t as bad as some people, like the couple who was recently on “My Cat From Hell” in that they can share some space and eat together and not always have it be fighting.

Most humans fear change. We delay actions and thoughts because of the fear we have in our minds. However, the older I get the more I realize that NOTHING has ever come out the way I feared it. When I’ve broken through the curtain of fear, everything has turned out to be wonderful. I have been able to accomplish things in my life that I never thought I would because I broke through fear. I have also let fear dictate some things in my life and hold me back. If we are honest with ourselves we will do those things we need to do to get over our fear and move beyond it.

We humans have resources untold available to us. We have groups, phones and can connect with people in a number of ways. We also need to to interact and connect within ourselves. Pray, a form of meditation, is a wonderful way to do this.

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Roxie Remains Remain

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Azeena

It’s day four after the vicious dog attack that  left our precious Japanese bobtail Roxie dead.   The sanitation department  asked us  to put her body in a trash bag or box beside the trash can last Friday. We did so before the vicious storms that attacked the D.C. area.   But  today- day four after her death – Roxie’s remains remain in the back alley behind the yard.   Sunday I arrived home from a family trip  I  took the day of Roxie’s demise to find Jean Claude calling for Roxie, looking under the bed, running to the basement to announce my arrival from the trip.  He hollered most of the night.    It had been suggested I take Jean Claude to the bag with  her remains and let him know that she has moved on- but some said not to do so  because it would make him sad and protective of her space.  Calls to the sanitation department so far  have not resulted in no action.  I realize the  storm clean up is taking up a lot of time  but hopefully the matter will be resolved today.  Tomorrow is a holiday and I’m certain Roxie would like everyone to have a good time.

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Slugs and Validation

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Azeena
Roxie

As I was tending my garden I realized that I would soon need to start treating it for slugs.  Slugs  are bottom feeders who not only  feed on scraps but  sometimes suck  the life right  out of beautiful plants and flowers.  There are  people like those worms. They  practice “leveling” as a contact sport. The common term for them is “playa haters.”  Such people  use weaponry of harmful words, ‘accidental forgetting,” glances, snickers,  misdirection and direct insult to level the playing field.  They are “jealous spirits” – some with no hope of recovery.   Like many folk, I have on occasion, sought validation from these types,  who depending on their own sense of self at the moment,  might parcel out faint praise or at least be nice to me.  Now as I enter an age of enlightenment and self-worth I chose,  when I can,  to be around people who like themselves and like me genuinely.   Choosing one’s audience is important.  Still it’s not the only course of action against slugs.   Prayer and wishing your enemy the best are good tactics to take out the sting of cruel or lying words or misdeeds.    As misery likes company sometimes you have to stay away from whole groups and institutions.    Some places such as  one’s job are filled with people who have no purpose or sense of self.   There you can just  ”grin and bear it” – a trick I learned from my late father  who simply would smile at people spoutting nonsense or exhibiting petty cruelty.  So  next time try a simple smile and/ or even compassion for your “playa hating” enemy or frenemy  - the unfortunate behavior won’t stop but you’ll be able to deal with the situation with grace and gain instant peace of mind.   Playa haters’  jealousy or envy can only bring you down if you let it.  Take a page from Roxie and Jean Claude.  Some would say Roxie is more possessed than self-possessed but then she doesn’t give a juggernaut what is said about her.

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Time Passing

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Azeena

I paid a visit to Roxie and Jean Claude today.  Last night during a cocktail party at CCL’s house JC came out to greet me, Roxie stayed hidden.  Today she came out for a brief spell, let me pet her and then dissappeared into CCL’s bedroom where she rested comfortably on the middle of the bed.  Clearly, she has adjusted to her new/old space and  it was time.  It’s funny about some things in our lives, people come and go.  If we are lucky we have people (and animals and a couple of pairs of jeans) that grow with us.  Change is inevitable – as is the passing of time.  Sometimes one lingers in a spot for a long time, it’s comfortable or it  feels like if we give the situation more time there might be some magical transformation.  Eventually reality and acceptance steps in.  We have waited  and it is still the same old, same ole but we have grown and expanded emotionally, mentally and spiritually – and the situation  just doesn’t fit.  It’s time for new adventures.

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Female Empowerment

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Azeena

There is a lot of  controversy in the American political arena about women, our bodies, our health. Some say that those trying to implement restrictions are merely trying to change the debate to subjugate women and reduce our societal roles.   They have declared war on women and womenhood.  Women are life-givers, caretakers and these days,  leaders, champions and anything we dern well please.  As women our anatomy is unique to our personhood.  It sometimes dictates our moods and our habits but it is not a hindrance to our ability to lead, to encourage and to thrive.  Still there are those would like to turn the clock back, reducing or restricting our reproductive rights.  They sent up trial balloons on the airwaves and in certain state legislatures.  Women, wise as we are, are fighting back and speaking up. We are joined by enlightened men who are standing up for our rights as well.  Yes, it is a mistake to underestimate the power of the female. Even in the cat world that is true.  Roxie, the female Japanese bobtail, is fierce, often refusing to share the feeder with Jean Claude, the much larger male black Bombay.  Regularly little Roxie beats Jean Claude at play – she kicks his butt frankly.   Still she relies on him to protect her interests and to bring her comfort.  There is balance and unity and sometimes peace.

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Who You Are

Posted on February 24, 2012 by catzandalldatz

It’s never too late to be who you might have been. – George Eliot, English novelist (1819 – 1880)

This quote was left for me on a turn-down service provided by a hotel. It got me thinking about who you are supposed to be and who you are.

For example. When we got the cats, they were kittens. When I picked Roxie from the shelter, she was always spastic and crazy. When I picked her up she immediately started playing with my earrings and she had poop on her tail (a hazard of the otherwise really cute Bob tails). And today. She still loves to bel picked up, she still goes crazy for toys and she still occasionally gets poop in her tail She has always had the same personality and always knew who she was.

Jean-Claude, however, was another story. His name from the shelter was Tiny because they thought he was the runt of the litter. As a matter of fact, Jean-Claude and Roxie weighed almost the same amount. However, within one month Jean-Claude went from four pounds to six pounds. He increased his body weight by 50% in a month! However, the vet wasn’t concerned as Jean-Claude was also growing. So the shelter had it wrong. Jean-Claude, who has settled into a 15 pound solid cat very large cat with his super long tail, wasn’t the runt of the litter. He merely had to move himself to the right conditions to succeed and become the cat he always was. Those conditions of success for him being the love and support of three crazy women (Roxie included).

I was a mix. I’ve always had my own beat and been different, but didn’t really accept or embrace it until later.

What conditions do you need to become who you want to be? We all need love and support. One of the hardest things to do in life is to cut out people who are not adding anything to our lives. Maybe they aren’t detracting from our life, but if they aren’t adding anything, do we need them to just take up the space? The older I get, the more I realize that I have such wonderful, positive people in my corner. People I love and people who love me without condition.

Who do you want to become? Are you living the life you imagined? Are you fulfilling your purpose in life? While these are questions that we see all the time, you can never remind yourself of these lessons in life enough.

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Snowy Day in the Nation’s Capital

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Azeena

DATELINE: Washington

Time: Well morning,  CCL and Roxie are with me(grandma human) this weekend.  There has been a lot of snuggling.  Jean Claude for the most part has managed to stay in the house.  However, he did break front of my front blinds.

We finally got more than a bit of snow in Washington.  Mostly it’s gone now.

Jean Claude Inspecting the Snow Fall

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Earthquake

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Azeena

Washington, DC and several other locales got a wakeup call yesterday in the form of an earthquake.  There has been a lot of chaos in Washington lately over some major, and some very minor, things.  I was out-of-town during the quake.  CCL in another major city.  The cats, Roxie and Jean Claude, at my house this week, had to fend for themselves.  Still, when I arrived home, they seemed calm.  For them the chaos and excitement was but a moment.

The Wikipedia description starts as follows “An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe.”

So the moment magnitude of an earthquake impacts structures and people’s lives within seconds. There are other things that cause such phenomena: a smile,  that  quick wink between friends, a touch from a loved one -  all things done in  a moment that leave a lasting and powerful impression.  Also there’s  love, the moment we feel it for a romantic partner, that first blissful peaceful moment in the morning – or the morning after.

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A Time of Growth and Renewal

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Azeena

Jean Claude is sitting at my back porch steps after some early morning conversation with my neighbor Bonnie’s dog “Six” and another dog across the alley. 7:30 am in the morning. Kind of loud Spring is his favorite time of the year it seems.

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