I have the coolest cat
Somewhere down the road I seem to have morphed into a Disney princess...
I have been living a nomadic lifestyle for almost a year now…which is actually crazy for me to conceptualize. My nomadic journey began after a series of unfortunate events, but I couldn’t be happier to be living the life I am today. The universe always has a plan, I swear.
A little over a year ago I was living in an apartment with my two cats. After some poverty, homelessness, and general misfortune, I lost a cat (which was one of the most devastating heartbreaks of my life), I have lived out of a U-Haul, had said U-Haul repossessed, got stranded in Oklahoma City, finessed my way to Los Angeles, lived out of a motel in Los Angeles, lived on the street in Los Angeles, shacked up with a shady man in Los Angeles, put my remaining cat in foster care, fled the shady man in Los Angeles, got my cat back, received a lot of help to get me and said cat, Charles, to North Carolina, experienced a wild turn of events I still haven’t processed in North Carolina, and eventually left North Carolina for New York.
Since landing in New York, I have lived in Arverne, Queens, and now I am in a new borough. I don’t know what it is, but something about New York just feels different. And I mean that in the best way possible. A little over a year ago, when it was just me and my two kitties, my cats were strictly indoor due to the kind of apartment complex I was living in. I also didn’t trust the two of them to go outside by themselves because they were so young. They got to hang out on my balcony and that was it, although I kept having dreams about them desiring to go outside.
My master plan was to save up enough money to buy a van to take both cats on adventures where they could explore the outdoors with me. I figured we could all go on little adventures together. Unfortunately, that never came to pass as one of them is no longer with us, but I did get to roughly try this with my remaining cat, Charles, when we were living in the U-Haul.
The first time I let him play outside was when we had stopped somewhere late at night in Indianapolis. I had him on a harness he hates and let him play under some pine trees in the middle of the night as we were stealth camping. He did alright, but I had no idea if he would ever be up for the kinds of adventures I once had in mind. I realize he had a lot to process in his own way where he had just lost his brother and had his whole life uprooted. He was new to life in a vehicle, and it was all very chaotic.
When we got to LA, I was on foot for much of my time there and was lugging Charles along with me. I would take him out to play in parks here and there as a way to get him some exercise and let him stretch. I still didn’t think he’d ever be able to handle going outside on his own if it ever came to that.
When we got to North Carolina, we were in a relatively safe area for the most part. This is when I really started to let Charles explore the outdoors. I know that this is controversial as a cat owner, but I think it is cruel to keep a cat inside for all of its life. I know it helps them live longer, but I would rather my cat live a full life he loves than have a long life cooped up indoors. I don’t think it’s natural to keep any living being indoors for the entirety of its life.
During this time in North Carolina, Charles definitely got a taste for exploring, which translated to our time in New York. Landing in New York was the first time I have felt at ease in a very long time. I never quite felt at home where I was from, and I had that feeling the entire time I made my way across the US. New York and Rhode Island are the only two places that have ever really felt right to me.
Strangely, I had no issue letting Charles go out and play when we got to New York. I think his time in his foster home, along with the tragedy of losing his brother, changed him. I found that he made friends with the neighborhood cats really easily and would spend all night out playing with them. I was so sad to move boroughs because it seemed he made some good friends at the place we were staying at.
When I got to my new place I was worried this wouldn’t be recreated. If anything, things have only gotten better, and it has amazed me to no end to experience this. Charles made new friends at this new place we are at fairly quickly and he even brings them home. I have found that a lot of them are strays, but they are so friendly.
For a while, I thought that Charles was trying to find a new companion to fill the space his brother used to take up. What I have since come to realize is that Charles finds strays and brings them home so that I can feed them. Tonight was one of the saddest cases I’ve gotten so far. Charles brought home the skinniest cat I’ve ever seen. He came right into my apartment when I told him to, which is very unusual for a stray, so I knew the poor thing really needed help. He came right in and ate almost 2 cans of tuna fish before coming over to me for some cuddles and leaving.
I swear I feel so honored to have Charles as my fuzzy child. Because what do you mean you go find cats in need and bring them home for me to feed? I feel so lucky. I got an absolute angel for a cat. And I feel even more honored that my cat knows that all he has to do is bring his friends home and they’ll be taken care of. I just feel so blessed to be me.
I think it’s pretty cool because I know what it feels like to be starving and homeless, and Charles has seen some of that too. I love that this is how we are having a little impact on our community so far. I know it takes a village, and what I’m doing at the moment isn’t much, but this is my village.
I always see these instances as beautiful omens from the universe. I think it is a sign that my luck has changed and that things are getting better for me and Charles from here on out. I felt so blessed to have an abundance of food to share with those in need, even if it is just the animals we share space with.
I swear I started off a homeless wretch and somehow managed to morph into a Disney princess along the way. Who would’ve thought?
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