Living with Animals, because well, they are totally better than hoomans

Unlike my other blogs which are mostly information based, here is a more heartfelt article, about how awesome life is living with and amongst animals. Now I would say “my” animals but the reality is that they actually own me… yup, seriously the shocking realisation when suddenly it dawns on you that they have actually trained you!

Let’s start with how many animals there are on the farm. There are just short of 20 animals on the farm. But in the house, or as I call them the indoor kids are the 3 dogs, a kitten and a African Pygmy Hedgehog. When I was 18 years old I picked up the cutest Jack Russell puppy of all time; Chocolate, yup that’s his name, I know cute right, he is now 12 years old! And it all started with him. There are days I cry and there are days I’m happy, there days where I don’t see the point of life, until I look into his eyes, he’s always there soothing my soul, and always there to catch my tears. He’s my best friend and my rock.

Of course the dogs and the cat also go camping 😁😍😁

There is a lovely sentence in a song I heard few years ago and it says “whenever I come home I get accepted with grace” and that’s exactly what it feels like living with animals. They don’t care what you look like or smell like, how much money you have, how popular you are. They are just there loving you, and it’s the only type of love that is unconditional. Every human being including your own family will love you with conditions, if you do them wrong they will stop loving you, but not with an animal, they don’t have the maliciousness mentally of humankind, or the cunningness or even the ulterior motive, they just are, they just exist. Isn’t that amazing? I honestly think that is something we can learn from them, the simplicity of life, of existing, of loving, and more importantly of living in the moment.

Simba chilling whilst camping in her orange bandana.

The kitten is playful, will often hide and then jump out to surprise you followed with tedious run away from the scene. She is a rescue and often still nurses on my blanket, in the act of missing her mommy. I dread the day she grows up and becomes independent. What I found fascinating about cats is that they see things we don’t. She often glazes above my head with full concentration as if something is there. She looks up in corners of the room with admiration and quisitiveness. She is follows things we can’t see, and hunts things that are just not there. I wonder whether cats have the ability to detect realms or alternative realities that our limited human cognitiveness just isn’t able too.

Compared to dogs, cats are smarter and they notice everything. Every movement and every sound, they don’t miss a beat! Dogs on the other hand are like the dopey versions of cats, or the stoned versions of cats. They are clumsy, funny and just adorably stupid sometimes. I watched a mouse once run over my dog and he didn’t spot it! The cat on the other hand will go out find it and bring it home😂😂

Simba enjoying her time by the campfire.

Moving on to my other indoor companion. The hedgehog, as my best friend always says ‘she’s my spirit animal’ why ? well because she sleeps 20 hours a day. Not kidding maybe even more depending on how well her first nap went! Bodhi the hedgehog only ever comes out for brief moments before she is totally exhausted. But she has made friends with the dogs and the cat, and regularly ‘self anoints’ with their scent which is a very weird thing heggies do when they love a smell, so they make a foam of that smell in their mouth and spit it all over themselves. Yes, I kid you not, they really do this. Imagine if humans did that! Like you are sitting in a restaurant the person next to you says oh I love this smell chews their food and sprays it all over themselves, lol, okay maybe we shouldn’t copy all things animals do.

But we should definitely adopt their way of thinking, the basics of life, the instinctual thinking and the unconditional love without judgement, is something we all need a little bit of right now.

If you have an animal companion, go and hug them right now, life is too short and they will be gone in a flash, give them everything they need and then a little bit more.

With Love

The Earth Healer

Changing the world one Blog at a time