It’s 1:58 am on Monday, July 1st, and I’m getting ready to go to bed. I’m up late once again, living the strange hours of the writer’s life.
Today was a stressful day, because I didn’t accomplish nearly as much as I had hoped to. It didn’t help that it was like 95 degrees in New York City, just nasty hot.
The main thing I had hoped to get done was to convert the chapters of the memoir I’ve been working on from individual Google doc files into one single memoir file, then convert that into a PDF. I’m also working on a Chromebook, which makes everything harder for formatting.
A literary agent at a top talent agency has promised to read my memoir, but every time I email her she tells me she hasn’t gotten to it yet. Last time she said she’ll “make it a priority.” It’s frustrating.
So I tried to do the computer formatting at the local print shop around the corner from me in Astoria, Queens, but I couldn’t get it done. The South Asian guy working there was extremely nice, and he told me that everyone at his store hated Google Docs and Microsoft Word. He said they preferred to work in Adobe. Which I found fascinating, and which also helped explain why I was having such a hard time formatting this darn thing.
I then spent the evening aimlessly watching TV, and by 1:30 am I’m feeling more restless than ever. I decide to utilize my tried and true method of boosting my mood and relaxing, which is to pet my beautiful and beloved cat Copper.
I go into the bedroom. Copper is hanging out in her favorite spot on top of a pile of laundry on a chair in the corner of the room. I put my hand over her head, slowly.
“Hey Copper, hey beautiful, I miss you, how have you been tonight?” She lets out a loud, yearning meow, and rubs her cheek against my hand.
Then she jumps onto the bedroom TV stand, and then onto the floor.
So now I climb onto the bed, settle in my usual corner spot, hang my arms over the floor, and begin petting my beloved cat Copper as she walks to and fro under my arms.
I immediately feel a cool, calm, chill gust of wind descend over my whole body, and my worry about not getting everything done today melts away. I just rest my mind and body, and let myself be.
Then for the second day in a row I try something new. I know from talking to my mom, who’s an animal lover, that cats like to be pet on their cheeks. But recently I remembered that she said they also like to be pet on their forehead.
I have been petting Copper on the top of her head for a long time now, but I realized I haven’t really tried petting her forehead much.
So last night, and now again tonight, I stroke her forehead with my thumb, and then with my full hand. She purrs with pleasure and weaves her head back and forth.
I start to feel myself transported to a meditative state, almost a trance of some kind, where everything in the bedroom just slows down. All I can hear is the droning hum of the air conditioner on this scorching night.
After a few minutes of petting her forehead and stroking her coat, I lay back on the bed and look up at the ceiling.
I feel incredible. Petting Copper has instantly chilled me out, and I feel as if I have just meditated for a long period of time.
The crazy thing is, I did meditate tonight using the Headspace app, which is really good. And it did chill me out a bit.
But petting Copper was just so much more real, and honest, and loving, and fulfilling.
She really is the Queen of the Castle, my feline goddess, and she has the power to alter my mood in an instant.
That’s what animals can do for humans, and what humans can do for animals, when you engage with each other on an equal footing with love in your heart.
So thank you Copper for de-stressing me tonight, and thank you for being the most awesome cat in New York City.
Now I’m going to relax and just be.
