March 22, 2008
False Sense of Safety In The Box
Today Barry and I picked up some plastic storage boxes at Wal-Mart, and one of them had a small cardboard rectangle inside… I’m not sure what the purpose of it was, since it wasn’t cushioning anything, but it fit loosely within the perimeter of the container.
A low semi-box inside a box. Or rather, a low wall that didn’t separate anything.
Barry put the cardboard piece on the floor in the dining room… and Jupiter immediately decided that it was a good place to hang out.
She kept going in there again and again… sometimes just relaxing, and sometimes using it as a vantage point, hunting blind and launch pad to attack Mercury from whenever the latter happened to stroll by.
It seemed to me that she somehow felt this low box — this wall that doesn’t separate anything — was a place of safety and comfort.
And beyond that, she seemed to think that as long as she was INSIDE the box… nobody outside could see her, and hence Mercury wouldn’t suspect the upcoming pounce.
Of course, kids play these kinds of pretend games all the time… but when I saw my cat doing it, it made me think of how adult people remain in their comfort zones with a false sense of security.
What makes it worse when people do it is they don’t advance through life to their full potential because of this sense of security they have — whether associated with a JOB, a habit, or remaining with a life partner that is completely wrong for them because it’s “easier” and “safer” to do so.
>>> CONTINUE READING False Sense of Safety In The Box…

Yesterday Barry and I went to Medford… I had an appointment at the LASIK center (my eyes have now healed, but while the vision in my left is perfect, the vision in my right has gone back to where it used to be when I wore contacts — that’s good because it’s better than it has been the past month, and because I still have some contact lenses that I can wear while I wait another two months to get a LASIK touch-up!)
So yesterday afternoon we were playing roulette at the Circus Circus Reno casino when a girl walked up to the table with a big bear that she had won upstairs.
What does it take to make a life-long dog lover, who has always disliked cats, into a bona fide cat lover?

This morning Bear gave me a stuffed Monkster… Funny, I usually call him “Barry” when I write about him, but it’s always just “Bear” when we’re talking.





