Tip 12 — Pay attention to lessons offered
Linda Fortune Author of Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent Feline
Regal’s gift…my inner shift.
Tip 12: Pay attention to the lessons offered.
Welcome,
As I said previously, writing Regal’s life story turned out to be an incredible experience and offered me an opportunity of a lifetime. A profound inner shift has taken place for which I am very grateful.
This inner shift has been an opening within me. Not only have I come to a deeper understanding of animals, the variety and depth of their feelings, and the reality of their spiritual natures, but I have become more aware of the interconnectedness and magnificence of all life. I have had the experience of recognizing the divine that exists in all things. And, this did not happen through my mind but through the recognition of my heart.
I became very aware of this shift when I would come upon an animal while on a walk around the neighborhood. I came to look at animals differently. All mental activity in the form of judgmental thoughts simply ceased. Rather, a surge of love would swell from within. In essence, I became more present to animals than ever before. I have become more conscious of the oneness of all life and I have been changed because of it.
In short, because of my experience with Regal and writing her story, I see animals through different eyeglasses. My perception has shifted and I cannot think of an animal as “just a pet” anymore. Animals are great beings and deserve recognition and respect!
Next Entry: Tip 13 and Regal’s Passage
With blessings, Linda
Filed under Understanding Pet Loss & Grief | Comment (0)My take on California’s Prop 2 election vote
Linda Fortune Author of Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent FelineMy take on California’s Prop 2 election vote.
Welcome,
Before I continue with my blog on Regal’s gift….my inner shift, I just have to extend my joy and salute the people of California, The Humane Society of the United States , Oprah Winfrey, and all the people who worked on passing Proposition 2 in California. While this blog speaks to the profound impact that animals have on us, addresses the grief we can feel with their passage, and recognizes the gifts they bring, I am equally concerned about the mistreatment of any animal, their suffering, and the grief we feel with any abuse of animals.
Proposition 2, passed on November 4th by the citizens of California, will stop the worst abuses of factory farming. It will stop the confinement of farm animals to limited spaces for the duration of their lives. For that, I salute all those who worked diligently to pass this proposition. Let me quote directly from Wayne Pacelle’s blog on November 5, 2008:
“Giving farm animals a little extra room to stretch their limbs, to move like animals should, is a small matter for us humans. But it’s a very big thing for a hen who would otherwise be confined with a half-dozen other birds in a cage about as big as a filing cabinet for her whole life. It’s a really big thing for a sow who would otherwise be stuck in a crate so small she can’t turn around. It’s a way big thing for a calf who would spend life chained inside a miserably tiny crate.
Prop 2 will phase out those inexcusable confinement systems and usher in a new era. No state in the U.S. and no Agribusiness titan anywhere in the nation can overlook this mandate: people do not want their farm animals treated with wanton cruelty.”
I feel very deeply about how animals are treated in whatever setting they live with us. Having become acutely aware of animal feelings, intelligence, and spiritual natures as I was writing Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent Feline, I have come to an increased deep sense of responsibility, that we humans have, in the compassionate care of all our world’s animals. The passage of Prop 2 in California is a major step in the recognition of this responsibility. It signals a dawning in the raising of our human consciousness.
I totally concur with Wayne Pacelle again when he states “As a result, you’ve brought forth a new, more compassionate age.” I say, let us all continue this work of compassionate care of all animals and learn to see the magnificence of all animals as we learn to live more ‘in the present’ with them. This will not only enrich their lives but our own as well.
Next entry: Tip 12 and Regal’s gift…my inner shift.
With blessings, Linda
Filed under Understanding Pet Loss & Grief | Comment (0)Tip 11 — Regal’s Profound Impact on Me
Linda Fortune
Author of Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent FelineRegal’s Profound Impact on Me
Tip 11: Animal friends bring us incredible gifts!
Welcome!
Revel’s life and passage was very touching for me but Regalita’s life and passage seemed to be even more profound if that were possible. Maybe, the impact of her life was really more of a culmination of all the benefits I had received from all my animal friends. In any case, I am deeply touched by her presence in my life. The impact of it all became very apparent during the writing of her life story.
During the course of our years together, my own personal awareness and understanding about animals was growing and expanding. I reveled in the adventures that we had and in the deep bond that developed between us. During this time, an inner shift of opening was gradually in process, below the radar, even with my already open heart to animals.
Then, during the course of writing her delightful story, “Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent Feline“, I became acutely aware and more observant about Regal in particular and animals in general. I experienced an explosion of love within as I wrote her story that had me soaring for a period of over two years. It was an amazing experience during the intense time of coping with her passage and lasted for the duration of writing her biography.
Next entry: Tip 12 and Regal’s gift…my inner shift.
With blessings, Linda
