I was taught a valuable lesson today—by a cat.
I couldn’t sleep, so I reached for my phone, though I was suspecting I’d regret it. Twitter was busy with opinions and one of them was of high school experiences.
One poster said,
It’s weird to see folks reminisce fondly about their youth. High school was horrible af tbh.
Another responded,
I heard a great quote recently that said to never trust anyone who says high school was the best time in their life.
They’re likely to be bullies or narcissists, basically.
And I felt personally attacked by this statement because I have great memories from high school and don’t consider myself to be a bully or a narcissist (would I know if I was narcissistic?).
While composing my response, I thought of what made my HS years good. It was friends. I had friends and I had fun with them. Out of nowhere, loneliness gripped me by the shoulders and refused to be ignored. “You haven’t had friends like that since then” it yelled. “You haven’t had friends in nearly two decades.”
I choked with a wave of emotions and quiet tears dripped down my face. As I hopelessly failed to calm myself down and push those thoughts back down again in the hidden corners of my consciousness where they can be locked away safely to not interfere with daily functions, I felt a stir. My cat Tailor silently moved from my feet where he was sleeping to lay by my side. His body heat started to melt down the ice which was forcing my tears out. I focused all hearing on his purring, and the sound and feel of it replaced all other thoughts. He gave me exactly what I needed in that moment. He pulled me out.
I thought, “Sweet Tailor, at least I’ve got you” and thought how lucky I was to have such a loving animal. He sensed that I was upset, came to me to offer his company, without asking for anything other than my company in return. I’ve never known a human who would give me the same comfort. No judgement, no words of advice, no “poor you” nor “pull yourself together.” No words, no expectations, just plain company.
I was hit by an epiphany. I’m really not missing out. Humans are overrated.
I know that it’s a controversial statement. We’re taught to think of animals as lower beings and shun those who keep only animal company, but the truth still holds. When you’re down and at your lowest, love of an animal can pull you up. Animals can give us what human company can’t. It’s that silent understanding, it’s those eyes that know secrets we’ll never figure out.
Now I know. I’ll never be lonely again because I’m always in a cat’s company.
This post was previously published on my old blog Stormy Waters of my Life.
