Many mornings around 9:00a.m. I sit in my office chair and my cat nestles in for some purrs while I work. For a little while she embodies warmth, surrender, love, connection and trust….and then she lets her wild out.
How can I assume an animal only exists inside an animalistic nature when she intentionally chose to join me, no treats, no tricks, just love and appreciation…and more importantly why is the animalistic aspect of being human always demonized as evil, or not spiritual?
After morning snuggles, she’s back to her diva ways, yet she also has moments where she takes her claws out to defend herself, claim her territory or work them out by climbing up a scratcher. When she climbs, she engages the strength from her body, often with a grunting sound to exert that little push to keep going to the top.
Like carrying something heavy or lifting weights in the gym, that little grunt, the sound of effort is the frequency of determination.
So, like her decision to come to me and reach up for snuggles, her innate desire to be strong and defend herself, she also chooses to persevere up the scratching post.
When a cat hisses, we know it’s defending itself, we know its instincts are working and we don’t fault the animal for doing what comes naturally.
In these observations, I find admiration for cats. I guess I love them in part because I can see the lessons they reflect back to me, the lessons of duality, integration, and wholeness…. the lessons of both purrs and prowess.
The sugar and spice adage is one that is not generally accepted in womanhood. In business, protecting my clients and/or my creations once earned me the title of being “difficult” or “emotional.” By the same token, being direct earned me the title of being “cold.”
How did we get to this place where being direct, clear, vocal and doing what’s right is not considered good character?
In a world where it’s so easy to point the finger at those with courage, boldness and tenacity as the villain, it’s also important to know that this is when truth, authenticity and inner-knowing shine most.
If you are someone who strives for, and values integrity, you cannot live from that place without letting your claws out.
The world wants to wear the mask of comfort and call it good.
The world wants to avoid confrontation and call you difficult if you call out wrong-doings, think differently or express possibilities beyond the status quo.
The world wants obedient, people-pleasing workers that lose themselves, their individuality, inside the rules of groups and corporations.
The world wants you to deny the animalistic parts of yourself where desire, passion, sensuality, anger, righteousness and intuition reside, where the moral compass is seated inside a gauge of inner knowing, where fury reigns as the gasoline to greatness in a world that will always be unjust, yet just right for those who understand this is part of the spark towards awakening.
If you reject the status quo or group, think, you will be singled out, you will be tested, yet how can you be healthy and fully human without unleashing the wholeness that lives inside of you and includes both parts.
To tame the beast is to also recognize when it must be un-caged, when it must open the box and step forward.
If you want to live from a higher-mind, from a zoomed-out lens, from a state of individuation and higher consciousness, you must also recognize the sacredness of your wildness, in coming into embodiment, in feeling, in enlivening the senses for the senses are a lot like the whiskers on a cat when honed. These are navigation anchors and tools, connect with them without becoming under their control, use them without being used by them. Invite the senses in and live life sensually, poetically, from a state of awe, but be not swallowed up in senseless pleasures that over-ride discipline, balance, heartfelt connection, and responsibility.
I read the other day that without law and order, society would devolve into a state of animalism. I understand this sentiment because the world is seemingly devoid of realness, truth, humility, class and a desire for excellence in learning, creating, and experiencing greater aspects of being, striving for the wisdom that lives beyond intelligence. The tik-Tok attention spans have dumbed-down many even more at exponential speed.
At the same time, there is something deeper to the animalistic nature beyond the surface level fallacy of emotionally manipulated and the materialistic out-of-control masses. There is something deeper to the wildness that lives inside our nature that connects us to the natural world and is necessary as a navigation tool for protection, passion and perception.
The animalistic side feels, it doesn’t need to escape the body nor transcend the physical experience, it is fully present. It is the feedback for knowing whether it is a time to purr or pull claws out. It is a compass that contains choices aimed at, not only survival, but opportunities to thrive inside the cycles and seasons of life.
Be not hasty and learn to know when those times are right to be employed. Learn to discern the difference between seeking enlightenment and escapism. Know there is a time to curl up for a snuggle in the warmth of love, of safety, and also there is a time to stand up for yourself, for others, and not to back down.
I can assure you that you’ll respect yourself a lot more when you do this, when you are willing to be hated at the sacrifice of being true to you. You’ll be respected by those who are in touch with their own desire to step into their courage and authenticity and you’ll begin to see that being the villain is sometimes the most loving, heartfelt gift that can be given to a world controlled by fear, blinded by guilt and living lives not their own.
Like a cat climbing up a scratching post, you cannot climb up the ladder of life without unsheathing your claws from time to time. You cannot find safety in a loving purr if you are a doormat seeking validation from those who don’t even know themselves. You cannot truly love if doing so means censoring your true self and being afraid of being honest with others at the fear of losing them or a circumstance.
Stand up for yourself, let your wildness out when the time is right, listen to your instincts instead of burying them deep inside so that all that is built up only comes out in the unhealthiest, toxic, and wrong times.
To be able to control yourself yet also allow all parts of you to exist is to find wholeness in being a living man or woman, to know that beauty and beast lives in us all and it’s how you harness this that determines the cause and effect of life from a sovereign stance.
A cat may not have consciousness in determining if a situation is truly dangerous or merely illusion, but you do. A cat may not be able to make good judgements on when the best time is to pounce on a predator, but you do.
Your instincts and foresight is a skill that can be developed and heightened through contemplation, stillness AND primal movement, sound and placing yourself in natural environments without technology and normal comforts.
Your animalistic side can also be connected to playfulness, for your wildness is not just vicious, but the aspect of you that wants to express freedom and creativity….and joy!
Ultimately, everyone is predator and prey to something, so do not be afraid to defend yourself and claim the power of your prowess when warranted. Do not be a doormat of complacency, comfort and unhealthy acceptance. Do not be a bully either, know where your power lives and how to harness it. Yet, do not sit in the validation of victimhood and pretend you are helpless.
Keep climbing, grunt if you need to, make playfulness part of your every day, and if you need to pull out your claws to stay in your highest mind, integrity, (which seems counter-intuitive, but is anything but), then do it.
I must point out, that pulling your claws out doesn’t mean acting ridiculous and throwing temper tantrums and fits to get your way, avoiding cognitive dissonance by being a moron or clawing your way through life as a bully threatening everyone in your path! It simply means being firm, strong-willed, passionate, or at an appropriate time to also be calculating and ruthless for the highest good, for protection.
Remember, Sometimes the lion’s roar is silent and the gentlest purr can be a warning, it’s up to you to know the difference.
~ Claws in, purrs up for today, but always ready to stand in solitude, unearth the wildness within and defend my lair. Always play fair, but keep your claws sharp.
Angela