I set my cup of coffee down and swung my chair away from the news headlines on my laptop to look at Toby lounging on the fluffy throw on my bed. "Toby," I said, "I tried and tried, but I can't chillax."
"I'm not surprised," he said. "Look at what you've been paying attention to! One disaster after another, your species at each others' throats--it's like a catfight except for the hate part. Cats don't pay rent for some other cat to live in our brains."
"Yes--all that cortisol destroys brain cells. but go on..."
"Sure, we cats do get into a real fight once in a great while, but mostly it's caterwauling for boundary upkeep. Have you humans given up civility?" He sat up, licked his right front paw, and started washing his face.
"Hmmm," I said to lend myself a little time before attempting to answer. "No, I think most of us are still very social and want to get along. But a bunch of stuff people agreed on a long time ago so we could share the space, care for our homes and planet, enjoy harmony with everybody pursuing happiness...well, it's thrown out of whack. Sort of like an orchestra string section gets mad because the brass is overplaying their part so the strings play louder, then the wind section gets angry, and timpani thunders over it all, when just then the chorus begins their score in a different key, and that's when Maestro throws himself on the floor sobbing because it's no longer music and, guess what, Toby, it sounds like caterwauling."
"Wow, hurts my ears just to think about it!" Toby said. Then, he asked, "Well, what do we do now?"
"We need to find a way!!!" I got up and got another cup of coffee. Then sat down and said to Toby, "Okay...here's what I'm thinking...once upon a time we all agreed on a constitution and laws."
"I heard about that back at the barn when the loose wire picked up the neighbors' TV. What about all the heat-packing, Second Amendment stuff that's been going around with kids and people shot to death for no good reason?"
"Excellent point, Toby! We could do what Mahatma Gandhi and Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. did--non-violence. Gather and listen to each other to see what's on each other's minds, and sort things out together. Like you and me sitting here--discussing things and learning from each other."
"Yeah, I get it, you're a human and I'm a cat. We have differences and maybe sometimes get really strong emotions about something like 'Don't you dare take me back to that veterinarian again!' but that's the Kindergarten stuff of life. The big stuff --we work it out." He stretched out, relaxed, and then said, "Say! if we two of different species can get along--that's another thing-- EVERYBODY GETS INCLUDED! Not just your favorite color. We cats come in all colors but green. Well...maybe not red...nor blue... Still. You get my point."
"I get it, Toby! Here's something somebody I admire always said...'No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey...you are welcome here.'"
"That's the kind way, not the highway!"
"Yes! The respectful way, not the highway!"
"Compromise way, not the highway!"
"Tell me about those headlines you were reading when you set down your cup of coffee. What are they mostly about this morning?"
"Oh, wars, disasters, elections. Electing people to keep the machinery of our Democracy running here in the USA. It's pretty rough these days."
"Didn't you say a minute ago that most people want to get along? So, how's that going?" Toby asked.
"Not so hot. In the USA a bunch of people forgot something important."
"What did they forget?"
"Mostly, what we've been discussing."
"Did they forget the Constitution, laws, everybody gets included, and, oh no!" The hairs stood up along his spine and his tail was two sizes larger, "Are they violent?"
"Not too much since January 6th, 2021, when a bunch of them were trying to ignore voters' ballots and attacked the capitol of America. It was scary."
"Whoa, kindness and respect flew out the window that day, for sure! I wonder, is there any medical research on developing a kindness inhaler, or maybe a respect pill?"
I haven't heard of anything like that in development. Actually, I think nearly everyone knows how to be kind and respectful. Sometimes we just forget.
He sat quietly for a bit. I could hear his purr. Then, he said, "But let's go back to chillaxing--you could try a news holiday."
"That's a good idea! And you know what! I have an earworm going on...
...I think it might have an answer for chillaxing. Wanna hear it?"
"Sure."
"Here it is..."
We listened together. I could feel myself chillaxing.
After a little while, I said, "I'm gonna go down the hall and see if I can spread a little kindness and respect."
Toby said, "I'm gonna go pursue some happiness and see what you put in my food dish."
***
Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life,
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,
If we keep on the sunny side of life.
***
