POWER OF NINE

"What are we going to do with her." That is the question that I asked. “I'm a dog person but my little house is full. To quote that dude in that book, ‘There is no room at the inn.’ LuLu is a total attention whore not to mention she has a serious cocaine problem and gets pretty paranoid about the cat we do have. So who is going to take her?”

The answer I was given is that "She" would take it home ....and shoot it in the head (I know I have a tendency to be a bit dramatic, but this is not a joke). Now who is this she you may ask … well that is none of you bizness, should they find this blog then they will know it’s them, you on the other hand can call her Stephanie if you simply MUST give “She” a name.

It was around this point in the conversation that I lost all of my professionalism and questioned very elegantly "What in the fuck is wrong with you people". Out of the four people in this discussion (including myself and “Stephanie”) I was by far the most disturbed by her response. I know this is the south and people love their firearms but …. Really?! The reason for such violence was simply “She hated cats, we aren't permitted pets on the facility grounds and "She" was tired of dealing with it (AKA the problem) and "She" considered the cat an IT. In her mind the “winning point” "IT is just a cat, cats don't have souls."

I fuck you not. This is a conversation I had with grown ass people!

I wish I could tell you that "She" wasn't serious but this isn't the first time "She" and I have entered into this debate.

There are a few things that Golden learned as a little "G". Things that have been ingrained so deep, that I can't tell you why they are, they just simply are. Nine things that, as little Golden powered up into current Golden, keep repeating and reappearing like glitches in the matrix.

My power of nine list includes:

1. Everything is as it should be.
2. Life isn't fair.
3. Take elements of childhood and make it last an eternity, including the childlike belief in miracles.
4. We are all connected.
5. Be true to you. Even when it's hard. There has not been, nor will there ever be, another you.
6. Never stop learning. Learn everyday.
7. Breathe.
8. Laugh hard, Laugh often and always be the first person to laugh at yourself.
9. Harm none because at some point, some how, everybody has to answer for their actions.

I know these seem like dull principles. My list of family advice is much more interesting, but that is a post for another day. But even dull as they are, I find that if I get stuck in life I can default back to these nine and they apply pretty damn well in just about all of the life situations I have encountered. Some of these rolled around in little G's head, formed by parents, friends, teachers, and just life experiences, like little pieces of goo crushed by life and time into chicken nuggets of wisdom.

Although born and raised in the south my family are oddities they don't southern as well as some. They don't NASCAR, they don't rock the camouflage, and they don't hunt. Growing up I never thought anything about mom not eating meat. And my dad buys all the deer feeders and food possible to draw the deer to their hippy-esque sanctuary so that they will be free to roam without fear of hunters. Seriously.

So I guess it was how I was raised to be respectful of all life. I don't know. I don't have a scientific answer as to whether anything or anybody has a soul. So do cats, or animals by proxy, have a soul? I feel that they have the breath of life in them, and for that, have as much a soul as any other lifeform, including myself. It may just be due to my nine nuggets that I think this and may not be true at all.
 

But because I believe so, much in my power of nine, and after much persuasion kitty was successfully re-homed and tonight continues to have its own power of nine. Nine lives.
Sorry....that was cheesy as fuck, but the rest of the post is pretty profound, don’t judge it on this cheddar cheese ending!

golden (@theonlygolden)