It’s (not) Complicated

Long story short: People complicate things.

Long story long: I’m using my cat as a reference even though I’m not particularly thrilled about owning a cat.

The disclaimer is that Monie is basically the sweetest feline on the planet, and with the exception of shedding, somehow whizzing on the top of her covered litter box—parents potty training little boys, I feel your pain—and attempting to eat my fake trees, she basically does nothing wrong.

It’s not her. It’s me.

She’s so damn hairy and clingy and happy all the time. I don’t do clingy or hairy, and I’m much more Grumpy Cat than a purring Pollyanna. 

Wee! I’m fat and chasing a feather!

She just wanders around the house making little Gremlin sounds that are either of delight or a coded message of impending world domination, and no matter what happens she’s simply a peach.

My point isn’t to highlight the fact that my cat is entirely more mentally stable than I am—the fake tree she tries to eat would fall into that category most days—but rather to highlight how animals get those things right that humans continue to complicate.

They don’t have to work, pay bills or bathe on a regular basis—which could describe some humans I know—but as far as we can surmise, they live in the moment of “now.” They feel what they feel, they let you know and then move on to whatever is next.

Life is so simple for them.

Yes, let’s sleep on a shelf instead of your cat bed.

I was thinking about this the other day as I lint rolled the cat directly, my latest attempt at being proactive. As humans, we’re bombarded by vision boards, motivational posters and the reminder to manifest a constant state of motion in attempts to achieve more, do more, be more!

There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but from what to eat, what to wear and what to say, things that should be simple are now simply analyzed to death. Just trying to keep up with the next greatest “thing” takes away the time that someone could be actually creating the next greatest “thing” for themselves.

As a result, people today are so scared of missing out on something that they say yes to everything and then marvel at how they have no time to do anything.

See how we complicate things?

I’m included, of course, as I continue to be the stereotypical artist searching for  my Three Things. With each dead end I want someone to tell me how to do ALL the things so I can have ALL the happy emotions.

But much like me waking up to find I’ve suddenly grown boobs, that’s not going to happen. I can either obsess over it or I can be okay with where I am with the understanding that it’s not where I have to be forever.

Does this ease the frustration?

No, not really. But maybe I need to take a note from the cat. Eat and enjoy food. Play. Laze around in the sunlight. Don’t feel guilty. Be curious and not cynical. Forgive someone if they accidentally lock you in the sun porch for an hour or so.

Remember that yes, things can get hairy. But at the end of the day, wherever you are is okay.


Even if it’s on my reusable grocery bag, which coincidently, now lives there in my kitchen for her to plop on while I use another one I purchased to replace that one instead.

At least she’s not on the couch. 

You learn to pick your battles.

Lesson learned.

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34 responses to “It’s (not) Complicated

  1. I love your cat! And the fact that she has taught you so much makes her that much more endearing!

  2. I’m glad I made time in my crazy busy schedule to read this. Now I’m pondering if I really should start making dinner or just feed the kids dog food?

  3. Something else cats get right? If they need affection, they ask for it without shame.

  4. We have a dog, a 90 lb golden retriever, and 2 cats (technically, the younger one, Alfie, is a kitten, at 8 months old). They all do these things and I then use their sleeping/eating/bathroom habits to lecture/teach my 3 daughters why their ways are bassackwards, too.

    Then again, I just forgot to get my wife’s backcard and drove to the gas station then had to go back home to get it and thus wasted a half hour.

    pot-kettle= me

  5. I had to stop using those cloth re-usable grocery bags. It was just too embarrassing shaking out all that cat hair as I was handing them to the clerk to fill….

  6. At least once a day, I look at my cat curled up in her comfy bed and declare, “I wish I was a cat”.

    My cat doesn’t give an eff about anything; she lives each moment she is in, wanders around, eats, looks out of the window and then goes back to bed.


    I loved this post.

    • I know you love your cat. Lily is a very lucky feline 😉 As for the post, thanks. I don’t love it, but it was one of those “I spent time writing it so dammit I’m going to put it up anyway” posts. I promise something better next time. No cats!

  7. You talk like I think. Your cat may be one of the things which you love, irritates the hell out of you sometimes, and keeps you attached to planet sanity. I want to thank her for that. We need a lot more people like you, and rather less of the smugly unaware. Keep grumbling. I love it.

    • You’re giving me entirely too much credit in the cat love department. She’s a roommate that I tolerate, but she does teach me patience…just not quick enough 😉

  8. I need to put Gordon Labradoodle in more posts. He read this and he’s getting jealous. Such a diva. You’d think he was a cat.

  9. First of all, obligatory squee over your cat… she’s so pretty! And it’s so true, my cat has no qualms about making it clear when I don’t give her enough attention.

    I just read about this yesterday, I think it kind of applies to what you say about complications and being busy, but a new “trend” for this year (via Forbes maybe?) is JOMO, or the Joy of Missing Out. It sounds like something I could get behind…

    • Exactly, but minus the acronym, as it sounds too much like YOLO which sounds like Rolo and makes me want a a delicious chocolate caramel candy.

  10. My cat generally rules the roost. We had cod fried with batter for lunch, quickly put her share on a plate, then filled my plate, vinegar & salt on too. After a while she left her some fish on her plate, came beside me and purred like crazy. Yes, left her a few little bits which she couldnt eat fast enough, Cue 1 feline nap of about 4 hours. Wouldnt be happy without a cat, although I’d like a lap-cat next time!

  11. Do you want a completely non-affectionate cat? You can have mine. She might cuddle with me once a day if I force her to. Also, she’s a biter. I think she’s more full of angst than I am!!! I definitely don’t want to be my cat because she seems so neurotic and stressed out!!

  12. Aww this made me miss my cat, but in a nice way. My cat used to miss the litter box too and he was obsessed with my grocery bags! They provided hours of entertainment for him and me 🙂

  13. Great post! Watching animals really puts things in perspective sometimes. Everytime I get really frustrated, I try to remember to look at the dogs and see how happy they are in the moment. They don’t live in the past or the future. Humans can’t do that all the time but being able to do it just a little is a really good thing. Something else to work on.

  14. She’s so cute! I really do wish I could find the joy in the simple things like my dogs do, although I would wager I do get about as excited about eating as they do.

    • She really has no interest in food for anything more than survival, which is simply another indication that she’s totally adopted.

  15. I lint roll my two cats too. They are shedding something horrible and my vacuum is 1500 miles away in storage. They hate it, but it’s a slight payback for all the times they scratch me or destroy yet another roll of paper towels. Loved the blog tho! 🙂

  16. right now, when I am spending much of my free (heh) time on protecting Dad’s estate, becoming power of attorney and executor and… and… my brain is so full of what I need to do next (the insomnia which has me reading blogs at 4am is evidence) while trying to work and live life – I am SO GRATEFUL for my dogs. they keep me grounded, they keep me sane. I MUST take them for walks (as much for ME as for them), I must relax and spend time.

    my dachshunds are streamlined short hair, so… not too much fur around… I am a dog person rather than cat, but… this cat is SO sweet!

  17. Funny you should post this when I’m entering a life stage of “How do I simplify my life so that I’m doing more of the stuff that I want to do and less of the stuff I don’t?”
    I’ll keep you posted on my progress 🙂


    I am also going to take that lesson from your cat!

  19. I love your fat cat. I want to be reincarnated as your fat cat, now that I think about it.

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