Fearing the Invisible
Aragorn explains how to recognize when it's okay to fear something and when it's just silly, and how to combat any fears you feel.
Turns out that sometimes us cats can be a little silly too. At least some of us. I’ve learned this by watching Apricot these last few weeks.
His silliness even resembles that of the hooman kind, so I wonder if he’s been living with the hoomans for too long now and it’s already rubbing on him… surely hope the same’s not going to happen to me… but then again, I’m very smart so I have high hopes, in fact, I consider it nearly impossible. But back to Apricot…
You see, Apricot is really scared of the wind. I mean, Apricot is scared of a lot of things and for some, I can’t really blame him (like little screaming hoomans or unknown hoomans generally) but lately, it’s been mainly the wind that he’s scared of. And not even wind but just the smallest of drifts. Whenever he hears just the rustling of the leaves on the trees that comes through the window and I personally find it pretty calming, he deserts his sleeping spot and goes into hiding. Sometimes it’s literally as if he vanished into thin air.
Other times he simply crawls around the flat with this scared stare in his eyes. In both of the cases though, he deprives himself of sleep for most of the day.
Now I’m sure you understand that THAT is truly the silliest part. I mean, everyone knows that if you’re scared of something, oftentimes the best thing you can do is to sleep on it! Or sometimes just sleep through it.
That is of course unless you’re in imminent danger, in which case you do need to pay attention. Only hoomans can sometimes be as silly as to dive headfirst into some truly dangerous situations not realizing what they’re doing (like greeting a complete stranger and shaking hands with them without sniffing their shoes first).
Anyway, there is no imminent danger for Apricot. At least not VISIBLE. And that’s the problem. And something I so often see hoomans do too.
The fear of the invisible. Which can be completely paralyzing.
Just as much as you can’t see the wind, hoomans often decide that something that doesn’t exist – like some idea about the future – is too scary. And this fear often makes them not do anything. They feel threatened by the invisible, just like Apricot. Only, Apricot, can at least FEEL the wind.
But can YOU feel the thing you’re so scared of? Do you have any kind of proof of its existence?
If you do, kudos to you! In such a case I totally understand, and sleeping on it or through it is much advised (depending on the situation and the kind of danger).
But if you don’t, don’t deprive yourself of your sleep like Apricot! Don’t deprive yourself of a delicious day, by crawling through your home, looking behind every corner expecting there to be something scary, and not enjoying a single moment of your day.
Because that my dear hoomans, is a true waste of life.
I’ve tried to explain it to Apricot too, I even tried to set an example for him by lying on my back and showing my belly which in cat language means we feel safe.
Unfortunately, though, it didn’t translate quite as well as when one of us is scared and the rest follows in being scared (totally understandable and just common sense in such case).
You see, that’s another thing about fear though. It seems much easier to join in feeling scared – even by the invisible – than to join in trusting and feeling safe. And unfortunately, both hoomans and cats are victims of this sometimes. But of course, as with most things, cats much less and for much shorter amounts of time, because we realize much quicker it was just silly!
But in any case, try to trust you’re safe. Because you are! Unless you can put your paw on that that you fear. Unless you can, your fear is invisible. And that means it isn't real! It's as easy as that. Can touch it? It's real. Can't touch it, it isn't. Got it? Good!
It will take some time to convince Apricot of that, as he’s a little traumatized by a particular summer storm from last year, but I trust you folks, can work it out.
By the way, if you need some help with being more focused on the here and now, and thus avoid any fears or stresses about the non-existing, my hooman put together some course that should help you with just that and she asked me to tell you about it. I’m not quite sure what a course is if I'm being honest, but I'm sure you’ll figure it out. She said it's a lot of fun!
Anyway, after a few weeks of being scared, I feel even Apricot is making some progress, and he doesn’t hide now most of the time… he still crawls (but a little less) and still stares into space and does not sleep… but… I can tell that every day, he’s becoming a little more courageous and a little less scared. So if you're having a hard time letting go of your fears, take inspiration from Apricot. Because if he can do it, so can you!
And if you see someone in a similar situation as Apricot is in, do as me, and show them your belly to indicate they’re safe. Or any hooman equivalent of that. And do not give up on them. Because sometimes we can all be a little silly.