My child is mine and i am hers...

On Children 

Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

You see i can't have children, biological children that is. Yes i have tried but fortunately life had other plans. 

Many have shared that i could adopt (yes i have thought about this and perhaps one day i will do so), in the meantime my nieces and nephews that i adore and love will do- they fill my heart with joy, peace and so much love. They teach me a lot about life and teach me to see things differently and 'simply'.

Despite all of this, i continued wanting to be a mother- like real bad. I became the woman who would stare at children, smile at them, talk to them, hug them if their parents allowed and would simply be in awe by their presence. My nieces and nephews know this very well and yes they have taken advantage of this- but who cares, i let them.

Late last year, a friend suggested a kitten. "Start with a kitten and see how it goes", so i told myself. But for those who know me, knows that i have never wanted one, i feared them so much.

2016 was once again about challenging my comfort zone and Storm (aka stormy) came into my life.

Oh my goodness, i can't express the love i have for her. I honestly can't. Coming to work is hard, going out to do my usual Saturday marketing and posting letters/postcards used to be a ritual- now i do all my shopping,posting of letters & postcards and buying my veggies and fruits in less than 2 hours. The reason for this change, is my Stormy. I feel bad for leaving her alone at home, if i found a little pram that is suitable for both storm and i- then i am definitely getting it! It may be hilarious but its true. We may just revive my Saturday ritual.

Anyways back to why i am writing this post- since Storm came into my life and now that she has given birth to beautiful kittens, many have reminded me that she is simply a 'cat'. That she is not human. How i treat her should be different. I should not feed her the same food i eat, i should not allow her to sleep where i sleep, my 'love' for her should be different to the 'love' i feel for humans.

You know what, i can't differentiate my love. For me, love is love is love is love. What i realised lately is that as humans, many differentiate love. Many have created these invisible structures, divisions and somehow suggesting/indicating that as humans we are more superior. Thats the problem!
I also get reminded a lot on not placing a 'human value' on my cat, because my Stormy is simply that...a cat. My Stormy is 'simply' not  a cat, my stormy is my child. I love and adore her. She is my baby, my bubba and i spoil her rotten with so much love.

Same goes for when people spread 'hate' by suggesting that the reason why we should rather hate than love is because, that person belongs to a different ethnicity, or that person is of a different religion or sexuality. It irks me to know that many spend a lot of their energy and time on spreading hate instead of Love, kindness and patience.

As humans that is where we have failed- we have classified love into levels/layers. There is this constant comparison to us (humans) and them (animals, environment (land & ocean)- i hate this hierarchy of living things!! i really do- this is what fucks us up. The selfishness, greed and ego!

If we loved our eco system, people (regardless of race, ethnic make up or background), animals- our world would be a much better place.

We are visitors and caretakers of this earth- we should treat ALL living things with respect and love. We should not be egotistical and think of ourselves as superior. Everything can teach us a thing or two about life and my stormy has taught me so much within the first half of this year. So go on...try Love for once and see the magic!