Transcript
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All right. I know a lot of you who
follow this YouTube and especially those
who follow me on social media see some
of the posts I make about cats.
Sometimes I talk about the stray cats
who uh frequent the studio here and I
interact with them. So yeah, I I I have
taken an interest in cats and one of the
things I find interesting about cats is
that they teach you self-containment.
They teach you how to
limit your energy so that you don't
overwhelm them because cats have the
these really heightened nervous systems.
They have like incredibly uh keen
awareness of everything that can hear
like the creek of a floorboard two rooms
away. Um and they need calmness and
regulation. And they teach you calmness
and regulation. They they like that calm
energy. And uh I've learned a lot from
cats. Now I want to share with you this
quote that I saw from author and poet
Charles Bukowski. Now if you don't know
who Bukowski was, I'll give you like the
5-second version. He was famous for
being like a beat poet, but he was also
famous for being a raging alcoholic.
That was like part of his brand. Okay?
And I have I just want to share with you
this quote and then I want to talk a
little bit about how it struck me. So,
Bukowski said, "The more cats you have,
the longer you live. If you have a 100
cats, you'll live 10 times longer than
if you have 10. Someday this will be
discovered and people will have a
thousand cats and live forever."
Okay. So, first of all, I just want to
tell you how I got a little chuckle out
of this. That's real alcoholic thinking.
10 cats is good. You get a 100 cats. No,
no, no. get a thousand. [laughter]
It's very alcoholic thinking. Like if
something is good, then go all the way.
Actually, that's one of his poems about
go all the way. And it was this like
absurd extreme hyperbolic version of
everything. More, more, more, more,
more. Okay, that that just struck me as
funny. But
it's interesting to me
Bukowski was probably I mean they didn't
have these terms when he was active but
you know some type of neurode divergent.
You get the sense if you ever seen him
you know the way he he behaved in
interviews or on stage when he would do
his poetry readings
he had some type of like sensory issues
you know maybe on the spectrum. The
point is a lot of people who are I call
them sensitive souls who just find
reality too intense and they feel like
they're completely raw to this world.
They'll self self-medicate. It makes a
lot of sense. And one of the popular
forms of self-medication is alcohol.
Alcohol is incredible at numbing all of
that intensity. And people who have like
Ferrari engine brains who are constantly
thinking and connecting and jumping from
one thought to the next, when that gets
overwhelming, alcohol is really good at
like quieting that storm. Now,
unfortunately,
[laughter]
it destroys people's lives. So, it's
it's not without its serious side
effects, but the point is that there's a
there's a reason why people who like to
be drunk all the time like to be drunk
all the time. And people who are drunk
all the time, not to party and act crazy
and wild, but to act normal. They drink
in order to act normal. Okay? because
the only time they feel normal when the
all the craziness is quieted down so
they can function is when they're
self-medicated. So, it's interesting to
me. I mean, I known I' I've known
Bukowski was an alcoholic since I've
known about Bukowski, which is probably
since I was like, I don't know, 20 years
old. But I didn't realize the cat thing.
But it wouldn't have made a difference
because I didn't I didn't understand the
cat thing until this year when I started
interacting with stray cats and I
learned how stray cats or any cats for
that matter, especially stray cats
though because you have to win their
trust. You have to be super super
self-contained. Cats will teach you how
to regulate your nervous system. But
also they they teach you to regulate
your nervous system, but they also help
you to regulate your nervous system. And
that's why a lot of people really really
bond deeply with their cats because
there's this symbiotic relationship
where sort of the nervous system pairing
between the human and the cat where
we're neurologically helping each other
regulate. And there's a certain like
magic that's really um
it's almost like alcohol, [laughter]
isn't it? And I realized maybe that's
what Bicoski was doing. You know, maybe
he maybe he should have had a thousand
cats and then he wouldn't have had to
drink because you have enough cats
around you. If you're one of those
people who has a cat-like nervous system
that's constantly on, red alert at all
time. A lot of people become that way,
by the way, through trauma. Trauma will
turn the alarm bell on and you become
like cat-like reflexes, right? Um some
people are just born that way, what we
call like neurode divergent. I mean,
CPTtsd, complex post-traumatic stress
disorder, is also a type of neurode
divergence. At any rate, but the cats,
you know, the it's it's a real concept
of like emotional support animals. I
know it becomes like sort of a meme and
it's a joke, but if someone has a really
heightened nervous system, a cat,
specifically a cat, can help you to
relax.
And uh as far as I know, there are no
negative side effects. I mean, I guess
the litter box doesn't smell good, but I
don't think there's any really negative
side effects of having cats as long as
you can, you know, take care of them.
Don't step on them. You know, not saying
to have like a hoarding situation where
you literally have cats everywhere you
go. Although, now come to think of it,
maybe that's why some people do that.
Yeah. So, take, you know, everything in
[clears throat] moderation, even the
cats. But my point is I want to share
with you this insight. And um I'm not
telling you to go out and get a cat. But
what I am telling you is that if you're
a sensitive soul and you find yourself
distressed often,
uh restless, irritable, discontent,
if you know what I mean. Um and you're
looking for ways to self-regulate.
Yeah, there are many ways to
self-regulate, including
um a relationship with an animal which
will force you to self-regulate. But
there are many tools, and that's really
the key to it all is learning how to be
self-regulated
so that we can show up in the here and
now. Because I'm sorry, I'm get I'm
going to get spiritual for a second, but
our souls were sent to bodies for a
mission. Our creator in his infinite
wisdom chose our souls to come to this
world and have a human experience.
And that human experience is made up of
moments in time space. And even when
we're overwhelmed by those moments, it's
important for our soul's mission to show
up for it. And showing up for it means
not just our bodies, but our minds and
our hearts. It means to be lucid and
conscious and sober for all the moments
of our lives. And we should avail
ourselves of whatever healthy tools we
can to be able to remain
present. But especially uh spirituality
and God consciousness which really are
the
those are the tools
focusing on the idea of I'm not here for
me. I'm here for a purpose. Uh I'm here
to be of service.
That kind of stuff will make it much
more
bearable to show up in your embodiment.
So, I encourage you to continue to
pursue
tools for being present and lucid. If
you have any other ideas, things that
work for you, please share in the
comments so that uh we can all benefit.
