(transcribed with permission)
Hello, Beautiful humans! My name is Lancelot. I live near the Himalayas with my human, Idee, and her other cat, Frodo Bond (aka Bond). Idee says I am her handsome orange tabby. Me? I am more modest, though I don’t mind the attention. I’m a big fan of Animal Reiki. Idee has been trying to write about my experience with Reiki, and I decided to help her. This is our story about how Animal Reiki helped us all on a Diwali night.
The background
Have you heard of Diwali? It is an appalling time of the year, and I am certain that human logic takes a vacation then. Why else would humans gather together to make that horrific loud racket (they call it firecrackers)? It shakes me to my bones, and I feel the sky is about to fall.
It was October 2022, and we had just shifted to a new house. I knew that Idee was tense, and she was doing her internet thing, trying to figure out how to survive the night. She thinks I don’t know. But I do. And I saw the checklist she had. I know because I have sat on it.
How the night started
Just after I watched Grandfather Sun go down over the horizon, I heard this dreadful large sound. What on earth was that? I have never heard anything like that before. I flattened my ears, and my eyes widened. What on earth? Run! I ran inside my room. And then what do I see? Idee is pacing around, looking anxious.
That did not help. If Idee is worried, then there must be something off. I added her unease on top of mine. And little Bond was just about two months then. His eyes were the biggest I had ever seen. And just then, there was another burst of clamor. Bond whimpered.
Now, if Idee is worried and Bond is whimpering, what was I supposed to do? Soon there was more pandemonium outside. I was convinced by then that the world was coming to an end. I tried hiding inside my cave but still worried about Idee. What would Idee do if the world was ending?
Animal Reiki to our rescue
And then, just like that, I saw Idee smiling. She settled in between Bond and me. I could feel her relaxing. Now this was a very familiar feeling. We do this every evening. Idee calls it Animal Reiki. I call it that-yummy-thing. Idee gets so relaxed that I can sense that relaxation even if she were light-years away. Everything around Idee feels so silent and so still. And Bond and I, we join with her in that stillness. We hit a pause button, and the world stops spinning. I, too, hit a pause on my catnip toys, chasing Bond and wondering when the treat-time will come. That Diwali night, we hit the pause button on worrying. After having practiced with Idee, the pause came naturally that night. My oh-so-familiar that-yummy-thing. Why did Idee not think of this earlier?
The noise was disgusting and grew worse as the evening turned into night. But Idee was relaxed. That made me feel calm. Though I wish someone would do something about that din, and make it stop. I asked her, “Why don’t you do something, Idee? Make that racket go away.” She smiled and said, “How about we include all the street dogs and cats, too?” This, too, we have done before, and it feels like being a gigantic bubble. I reminded her, “The birds, too.” She said, “Of course, all animals in the neighborhood are welcome.”
That night, I understood that silence and stillness are much more powerful than all that spiky disturbing chaos and clamor. We sat in that bubble for a long time. Then I heard Bond snoring. That reminded me – why should Bond have all the fun? I am signing off too. I am pretty sure Idee joined us as well.
All was well that Diwali night. All was well.
