Perspective

In the moonless night three equines cast me into their web of harmonious serenity. A vortex of wafting odiferous creosote and damp earth engulfs our rhythmic breathing and beating hearts. I reach and pluck a brilliant star from the inky heaven; it is that close. We are a small band of creatures bathed in lustrous beauty, held in the pulsing awareness of Mother Earth.

From bacteria in our gut, to the noble elephant, we share home planet with throngs of other diverse life forms. An alarming novel newcomer, Covid 19, is sweeping through our human population threatening lives, economies and the status quo, prompting me to ponder the rapid erosion of multitudes of other Earth communities. Subsonic radar scrambles whale migration routes; rising temperatures turn coral communities into lifeless, concrete slums; plastic bags strangle sea turtles. We are struggling on Earth.

Wrapped in a night blanket of stillness and grounded in the comfort of my companions, I take a step back from obsessing about the new viral visitor living intimately among us. In my imaginative mind’s eye I shape-shift into an agile feline who has been dropped from a high window ledge. Somersaulting in successive spirals, arcing gracefully, twisting mid-air, we land on feather-light padded feet. Spring-loaded, sleek legs absorb the shock of touchdown and our body reverberates with the elegant finesse of knowing what to do. This feeling into the adaptive behavior of a different species is infinitely helpful for my fragile, frightened human psyche. The instinctually intelligent cat guides me into a powerfully refined truth….stay in body. Embody.

What is now transmutes to what can be, shifting extreme challenge to extreme opportunity as my feline guide and I land lightly on our feet. With humble reverence I know we can heal ourselves and our splendid home.

My equine friends pick up on my feline mind-movie and perk up in curiosity. We are in sync and I see starlight in their luminous eyes. The illusionary “boundaries between species” is dissolved and communication floods the airwaves.

Chief: Yo, sister, stop compulsively petting me. Take a chill pill. And just a word of caution….NOT a wise move to talk about your imaginative episodes with most humans. We animals know well about lockdown facilities.

Geronimo: Did you see the sharp points on those pillow-paws? No hooves?

Traveler: Wowza! Let’s get a cat.