What My Cat Taught Me In Lockdown

Or, 10 Lessons From an Experimental Year Living Like a House Pet

1

Today you will look out the window and not go out. Next week the door might open and you might go out, or you might not. You won’t know until then and today is today.

2.

Your bed may move. Your chair may move. Your desk may move. But you will adapt. You will find comfort in transformed spaces.

3.

If you need something, ask for it. The next day, ask again. Don’t expect others to know what you don’t tell them. Ask them first. Reach out to them first. Tell them, first, that you are looking for comfort.

4.

As the day goes on, the sun moves its rays across the floor. You will follow them and bask in their warmth. You will enjoy the change in scenery.

5.

A day culminating in a big meal means you will always have something to look forward to.

6.

Some days you will sit on the couch and not move for hours. The hours will blend into one drawn out daydream. You will think about how things were and what they will be like next week. You will think of things you would do if today you were outside, on the sidewalk, in the shop. You will think of brushing elbows with a stranger in a narrow staircase in a cramped cafe. You will doze off for a while.

7.

You may get in each other’s way. You may snap and swipe at each other. You may retreat to the furthest corners of the room and face away from each other. But you won’t be too proud to hold each other later.

8.

You will grow accustomed to seeing others through windows. Your world, framed like a painting. You will notice the subtle shifts in scenery, in the details of tree leaves, the shadows cast across your view by neighbouring buildings. You will notice beauty in textures and light.

9.

You will be bored. Or tired. Or restless. Or hungry. Or nervous. It can be hard to tell. It can change in a moment. It can look and feel the same.

10.

You will miss the summer more than you ever thought you could.