By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Just recently we took in a cat someone gave us. It was only 9 months old but it was already significantly bigger than the two felines we already have at the house. He has a docile attitude so we didn’t have to worry about cats fighting inside. We expected him to adjust quickly like the other two we had before. But it turned out the introvert gene was also present within him.
For the first week, we couldn’t even see him inside the house. He took to making the cold cramped space below furnitures his home. Our two smaller cats being a bit hostile may have played a part in his need to recluse himself. The size advantage was a bit overwhelming for the two kittens. Though they arched their back to appear bigger when he would come close, a hypothetical scuffle between the three of them would still be unfair.
We would only see him come out if there was an incentive, and that was in the form of a fish. The rare times he would come out, any sudden sound would just send him back into his hiding place. We never thought of this as very out of the ordinary. After all, a bit of time for adjusting was normal.
More time passed and he remained still a recluse. It was funny to think of this bigger cat being afraid to come out and meet the two kittens whose concerns only revolved around catching the toy we use to play with them.
Thankfully, he eventually started to come out and roam around the house. It’s not like he would become a recluse forever. He had to face the world he lived in and he did so with bravery, especially when meeting with the two kittens. What seemed like a house with only two cats living inside now revealed a fuller and more chaotic living space.
For all the things our cats like to imitate from us, like going to the table when dishes are served, our cat showed something we all eventually must do, go out into the world and out of our comfort zones.
In a harsh world, all must go outside with bravery. We can choose to remain inside our circle of comfort and let the world pass us by. But no living being would be content with that. A life of recluse can only harm all the parts of our being. No matter how much we convince ourselves that hiding inside is the only way, there are better ways just outside the door.
Living beings after all, must live, and with every fiber of their being give it their all and struggle, that way we can truthfully confess at the end of the line that we have truly lived. **
