“We must begin to develop the consciousness that everything has equal rights because existence itself is equal.”-Alice Walker
I sit here overlooking the snow covered land; it stands stagnant waiting for warmth to return to it. Curled up against me is one of my cats, Willy. He is my companion and has been a large part of my life. I picked him out from a litter of barn kittens when I was seven. He is an average looking barn cat with black and white markings. He was my first childhood pet and he became my buddy as a child. Willy would go outside and hunt in the woods behind us every day but always return at night to sleep curled up against me like a baby doll. He has made many moves with me and eighteen years later is still by my side. He loves to be outside. Unfortunately since moving out of the country there are now cars everywhere so he has become an indoor cat now. However, he is spoiled rotten, the reason I have this lovely balcony is for him. I also rescued him a friend, Oz, a few years back so he would not be alone during the long hours I am away at school and work.
I think we can learn a lot from cats and animals in general on how to treat the great outdoors. When a cat sees sunshine it lays in it and enjoys its warmth; we go inside and turn on the air conditioner. A cat treats a patch of woods as if it were the best playground on Earth; we either avoid it or cut it down. Animals enjoy nature and do not destroy it. Animals are able to be in the moment and enjoy each moment of life. I think we could all use the lesson of learning to slow down and focus on the moment at hand.
I have always had animals around and would feel lonely without their companionship. I feel animals are a large part of nature. I group humans in with animals because I truly believe that each animal’s life is just as valuable as ours. I know this belief may come partly from growing up in the country living on a farm with lots of animals and in part from growing up with my mother. I am one of those people that won’t kill a bug and cries when she hits an animal while driving. To me, a life is a life.
“Anyone who says that life matters less to animals than it does to us has never held in his hands an animal fighting for its life.”- Elizabeth Costello
Our society does not seem to value the lives of animals nor the earth. How could we? We can’t even value the fact that every human life is precious. We put the lives of some above others in our society based on wealth, looks, religion, gender, sexuality, race, age; the list goes on. We focus so much on the differences between ‘us’ and ‘them’ that we don’t think about the fact that we are all in this together. I think we will not end up destroying the earth, but we will eventually make it uninhabitable for ourselves. The earth was here long before us and will be long after. Until we learn to treat each other with respect we will not be able to learn how to treat other species and the earth with respect.
“We should be allowed to destroy only what we ourselves can re-create.”- Alice Walker
