It’s time for Feline Life Lesson #7 – Embrace Looking Stupid.
When I do pole dancing parties we do what I call “poleoke” (pronounced like karaoke) at the end where the girls take what they’ve learned and play. I always ask them to pretend they are 3 years old. Three year olds don’t worry about how they look. They don’t worry about what other people might think of them. They just go for it!
That is what today’s Feline Life Lesson is all about. Embrace looking stupid!
As we grow, we start to get terribly concerned about the opinions of others. Most of us dress, act and even think (or try to) to conform to the “norm”, to the accepted, behave in ways that will get us into the group we want to be included in. One of the things we definitely want to stay away from is looking stupid. This will generate ridicule and possibly ostracization (yes, I made up that word!).
How often has worrying about what others think held you back?
How often has it kept you from trying something new?
How often has it shut your mouth and you didn’t something you thought?
Cats have no concern about this at all. I can’t even begin to count how many times my cats have done something that made me laugh because they looked so stupid.
- Jumping at the fish in the aquarium and smacking into the glass.
- Trying to make a leap and not quite making it resulting in a very ungraceful landing.
- Making a strange face when experiencing an unexpected taste.
- Getting stuck in a place they were sure they would fit.
- Leaping in fear at something silly like a sock.
Here are 10 minutes of examples.
The thing with cats is all of this stupid-looking, all of our human laughter doesn’t deter them from doing it over and over. This is how they learn.
- He never jumped at the aquarium again
- They learn how far they can actually leap.
- They know to stay away from that smell because it leads to that terrible taste.
- He never tried to get into that vase again.
- Well this one really never stops. (giggle)
Taking risks, and possibly looking stupid are how we learn as well. It’s also how we can have more fun. Without the possibility of looking stupid we hold ourselves back, keep ourselves safe and miss out on all kinds of experiences.
- New physical activities that you may look really awkward at at first.
- How fast you can run/jump etc before falling on your face.
- New tastes that may illicit a funny face with the first bit.
- What new experiences you’re good at and can learn from.
- What silly things scare you – and that’s always funny (to the rest of us).
Live Feline Life Lesson #7 – Embrace Looking Stupid on a regular basis. You’ll have more fun, learn more about yourself and others and make it safe for others to take risks.
Enjoy looking stupid!
Christie Mawer – The Bad Kitty
thebadkittyis@gmail.com