I love cats because I enjoy my home;
and little by little, they become its visible soul.
Jean Cocteau
A feline presence abides in my home, embodied in three physical bodies. Many cats have consented to live with me, and I am not quite sure how their presence has transformed my home, but I know it has. There is something magical about cats. I miss them terribly when I travel, and when one passes away, I wander the house feeling their absence as strongly as I felt their presence.
The presence of my cats comforts me. Their characteristic purring calms my spirit like a familiar lullaby. If I cry, one will appear with soft eyes questioning my wellbeing. I laugh, and they perk up their ears or scatter, then return, quintessentially curious. They love their routines, and have called me from my bed to feed them on days when waking felt overwhelming. At night, they snuggle next to me and sleep as I read my books. Their presence reminds me every day, even hard days, are precious.
Over the years, they have done their best to transform me from human to feline. They’ve brought me gifts of what they have hunted or captured. They have swatted and playfully bitten me as they would their siblings or kneaded me as if I am their feline mother. Despite their best efforts, I remain human. I do, however, have days where I prefer the company of my cats. In a world that increasingly values more doing, more achieving, more producing, there is precious little space for quiet presence, and so, I escape and rest like my cats sleeping in the transient sunshine that warms our home.
~Lisa Kiel
