The Joy of Servitude
There are two queens of the castle and there is one servant. There are only three entities in the castle, not counting the plants. Only three entities, yet there are two queens. What kind of queendom is that?
One of the queens is a dog named Shawnee and the other is a cat named Taco. They rule the castle with absolute authority. There is only one servant in the castle and the two queens must share this servant. I happen to be that servant. I am the lone human in the castle and somehow I ended up with the servant job.
I am a good servant. I do as I am told and I put up with all manner of idiosyncrasies. I get to feed her majesties and I also get to clean up cat and dog vomit. Both of the queens are geriatric now. In dog or cat years, I have been collecting animal hair for around one hundred years. I have collected enough hair to knit a sweater big enough to wrap around the entire solar system. It is too bad I know nothing about how to knit.
I have found that it is extraordinarily difficult for me to go more than a few hours away from my masters. It is not easy to leave the castle but I must in order to continue serving and supplying the queens. I cannot help but think about how my masters are doing back at the castle without my servitude.
Animals are such great masters. I strive to be a great servant to them. They have so much to teach and I have so much to learn. It is no wonder we live together alone in a big castle. How lucky am I to have, not one, but two grand teachers; two queens to serve? To be a loving servant to an animal is one of the grandest and most energizing dharmic jobs you can get. But it is one of the jobs where you do not apply for it, but rather it is assigned to you. Of course, you signed up for it long ago but it still seems to be thrust upon you. When a queen comes and taps you on the shoulder, indicating that it is time for you to step up, you feel honored and willingly accept your task. You surrender and step into the role with enthusiasm and excitement. You do not wonder if that enthusiasm and excitement will still be there 15 years later. You just give it all your love.
How sweet it would be to deal with other humans in the same way.
I am an ignorant human living in the presence of two god-creatures. I am extraordinarily lucky because these two god-creatures are fantastic teachers. What I learn is utterly dependent on how good of a student I am. A student serves a teacher much like a servant serves a queen. How well that student learns corresponds to how well that student serves their master. How well that student learns also corresponds to how well they can go beyond the teacher/student dualism. The best way to go beyond it is through it. The best way to go through anything is to love it.
I love my doggie and kitty with all my being.
They are my lords and masters. One day I will be a fully-fledged god just like them. I am working on it.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
One of the queens is a dog named Shawnee and the other is a cat named Taco. They rule the castle with absolute authority. There is only one servant in the castle and the two queens must share this servant. I happen to be that servant. I am the lone human in the castle and somehow I ended up with the servant job.
I am a good servant. I do as I am told and I put up with all manner of idiosyncrasies. I get to feed her majesties and I also get to clean up cat and dog vomit. Both of the queens are geriatric now. In dog or cat years, I have been collecting animal hair for around one hundred years. I have collected enough hair to knit a sweater big enough to wrap around the entire solar system. It is too bad I know nothing about how to knit.
I have found that it is extraordinarily difficult for me to go more than a few hours away from my masters. It is not easy to leave the castle but I must in order to continue serving and supplying the queens. I cannot help but think about how my masters are doing back at the castle without my servitude.
Animals are such great masters. I strive to be a great servant to them. They have so much to teach and I have so much to learn. It is no wonder we live together alone in a big castle. How lucky am I to have, not one, but two grand teachers; two queens to serve? To be a loving servant to an animal is one of the grandest and most energizing dharmic jobs you can get. But it is one of the jobs where you do not apply for it, but rather it is assigned to you. Of course, you signed up for it long ago but it still seems to be thrust upon you. When a queen comes and taps you on the shoulder, indicating that it is time for you to step up, you feel honored and willingly accept your task. You surrender and step into the role with enthusiasm and excitement. You do not wonder if that enthusiasm and excitement will still be there 15 years later. You just give it all your love.
How sweet it would be to deal with other humans in the same way.
I am an ignorant human living in the presence of two god-creatures. I am extraordinarily lucky because these two god-creatures are fantastic teachers. What I learn is utterly dependent on how good of a student I am. A student serves a teacher much like a servant serves a queen. How well that student learns corresponds to how well that student serves their master. How well that student learns also corresponds to how well they can go beyond the teacher/student dualism. The best way to go beyond it is through it. The best way to go through anything is to love it.
I love my doggie and kitty with all my being.
They are my lords and masters. One day I will be a fully-fledged god just like them. I am working on it.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
Sun Worshipers
The sun has moved from one side of the room to the other. The cat, an avid sun worshiper, has followed the sun's movement these last few months, her "special place" moving with the sun. To watch a cat sit in the sun, absorbing the energy, I cannot help but want to do the same. Like my cat, I partake of this elixir with abandon.
No room is constantly the same. It changes with the shafts of sun coming through its windows. Does our perception of the room change as the sun moves?
I would like to move my "special place" with the changing shafts of sunlight coming through my windows but my "special place" is my desk where I write and moving my desk every few weeks is not a very practical thing. My desk slowly moving back and forth across the room would be both a logistical and Feng Shui nightmare. Perhaps stationary, the desk serves as a ballast or maybe it is the fulcrum null point upon which the solar see-saw sits.
Once the sun has set and night time has commenced, the cat's "special place" becomes my lap as I sit at my stationary desk. It is a place where she can bask in a different kind of warmth. In the winter time I especially appreciate her warmth as well--even as little as it might be. We sun-worshipers tend to stick together.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
No room is constantly the same. It changes with the shafts of sun coming through its windows. Does our perception of the room change as the sun moves?
I would like to move my "special place" with the changing shafts of sunlight coming through my windows but my "special place" is my desk where I write and moving my desk every few weeks is not a very practical thing. My desk slowly moving back and forth across the room would be both a logistical and Feng Shui nightmare. Perhaps stationary, the desk serves as a ballast or maybe it is the fulcrum null point upon which the solar see-saw sits.
Once the sun has set and night time has commenced, the cat's "special place" becomes my lap as I sit at my stationary desk. It is a place where she can bask in a different kind of warmth. In the winter time I especially appreciate her warmth as well--even as little as it might be. We sun-worshipers tend to stick together.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
Aging Cactophile Monarch
Have you ever noticed how the letters for the word cat are in the word cactus? For me, that is only appropriate because my kitty cat companion, Taco, is a genuine cactus lover. She has a fondness for all the cacti I have spread throughout the house--and I have quite a few. I am constantly picking cat hair off my cacti because she uses them to brush her hair!
It is almost painful to watch her gently rub her face across the very sharp cactus thorns. "Doesn't that hurt?" I have asked her. But she never replies. Apparently, it is rude to ask questions while the queen is brushing her hair.
My cat is a queen. For over 15 years she has only lived indoors. She is a house cat and the house is her domain. She is the supreme ruler. Within her domain she is fearless and walks with regal authority. The dog knows that she is the boss and I know it, too. With her good grace I am allowed to live in her home with her (and pay rent). She also allows her sister Shawnee to live in her domain. Shawnee will show Taco some queenly respect--although there is a limit to how much of Taco's fantasies she can endure.
I am but a mere lowly serf but I take pride in my job of feeding the queen and attending to her every need. With pride and joy I pluck the cat hair off my cacti and I never ever complain.....not even when I get pricked. I may never know what it is like to rub my face over a cactus but I have at least witnessed such an event through my queen and in the process was made to think about how complementary opposites can actually be. The softness of a kitty kitty and the brutal sharpness of cactus thorns can come together in a beauteous way. There is much to think about in that regard. And it is all thanks to Taco, my lord and master and queen.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Photo by White Feather.
It is almost painful to watch her gently rub her face across the very sharp cactus thorns. "Doesn't that hurt?" I have asked her. But she never replies. Apparently, it is rude to ask questions while the queen is brushing her hair.
My cat is a queen. For over 15 years she has only lived indoors. She is a house cat and the house is her domain. She is the supreme ruler. Within her domain she is fearless and walks with regal authority. The dog knows that she is the boss and I know it, too. With her good grace I am allowed to live in her home with her (and pay rent). She also allows her sister Shawnee to live in her domain. Shawnee will show Taco some queenly respect--although there is a limit to how much of Taco's fantasies she can endure.
I am but a mere lowly serf but I take pride in my job of feeding the queen and attending to her every need. With pride and joy I pluck the cat hair off my cacti and I never ever complain.....not even when I get pricked. I may never know what it is like to rub my face over a cactus but I have at least witnessed such an event through my queen and in the process was made to think about how complementary opposites can actually be. The softness of a kitty kitty and the brutal sharpness of cactus thorns can come together in a beauteous way. There is much to think about in that regard. And it is all thanks to Taco, my lord and master and queen.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Photo by White Feather.