A new week has found me camping on the Oregon coast. We’re far enough from the water that the stunted shrubs and sharp grasses on the beach have made way for towering trees and green earth. Piano chords play hauntingly in my headphones, weaving a strange tapestry with my surroundings and the morning bird cries. The camp only shows a hint of stirring, echoing a touch of sun on the treetops. The crisp air takes me back to last night’s campfire and the cat that found its way into our site after sunset.
It was a sleek black thing, physically indistinguishable from my three black friends at home, though the differences soon became apparent. This cat hadn’t known enough human kindness to put its trust in a stranger, it sank back into the blackness of night as swiftly as it had arrived.
It’s amazing to me that even a hundred miles from home I come across constant reminders of who I am and what I’m planning to do with my life. For me, the welfare of cats is more than just an ideal; its a calling.
I joined the humane society this week, checking the box for as many positions as I thought I could possibly handle. They told us that even with hundreds of volunteers, it was still a rare thing for more than one shift to be fully booked each week. I suspect that even volunteering the equivalent of a full time job I would still fear I’d not done enough. In reality I can only give a fraction of that time, and other helps I can bring myself to offer are sub-par, at best.
I have recognized areas that a capable individual could make a noteworthy impact, but none fit my strengths. I believe my stubborn spirit could take me down the long hard roads to becoming a grant writer or a veterinary professional, and indeed I have already taken steps toward doing both. The more I learn though, the more I can see that neither of these positions fit my passion.
What I want more than anything is for the world to see animals as I do. I want animals to be treated with the same respect and dignity that we afford one another. I want an end to the ways of life that have turned them into nothing more than objects to be used and abused in a materialistic world where they exist only for us. Humanity has a chance to do great things to protect and preserve animals, but for all of our efforts, we have done more so much more harm than good. I hope to do my part to change this.
For me, cats have become a catalyst. I can no longer see a feral cowering under a car, or a stray dead beside the road without thinking of how humans have placed them there, and how we are their only hopes of being saved. In every homeless cat, I see every feline friend I have ever known and remember the extraordinary depth and value they have brought to my life. Even with their various quirks and idiosynchrasies, I have never met a cat I couldn’t admire and love.
I’d like to use my strengths to help cats, and in turn, help myself grow as a person. I want to find a way to help more and better than I could ever hope. I want to make a real difference. I don’t want to ever forget, a mile away or a hundred.
I hope my writing can take me there.
Pawsitive Presence 