Calvin, is the name of our white and gray British short hair kitten who is sitting next to the eight-year-old Leo, the big light brown one; pictured above. Before Calvin's arrival, Leo, the big cat, had an all-inclusive lifestyle; or as they call it in the cat world, buffet style feeding. Meaning, there was always plenty of food and water available to him at all times. He never meowed or begged for food. He was relaxed, kind, and spent most of his days sleeping or contemplating the mysteries of life, like why do birds fly?
After Calvin's veterinarian instructed us to feed them both at the same time and twice a day only; Leo’s behavior changed. I witnessed how avidity creeped into this gentle-natured cat. I noticed, he followed me more than usual, especially when he was hungry, and had this worried look about food in general.
This experience made me think of us (humans) and how our lives would be different if we lived in an all-inclusive world. A world where food, drinks, and even shelter was free of charge and unlimited. A world where we trusted that everything will be provided, and we did not ever have to worry. Something like Leo’s world before Calvin!
Can you imagine a world where nothing was scarce on earth but our time here? What do you think would happen if we had no concerns for our bodily needs? Would we all become philosophers? Would we become lazy and complacent or use our time wisely for the benefit of others? Would we lose our sense of creativity or produce the best art could offer? Would we lose our sense of joy, anticipation, and longing or we become less greedy and more human?
I don’t know what the grand scheme is, or why so many people keep competing over the same commodity, but one thing is for sure, in the milieu of this chaos called life, wonderful innovations have sprung simply out of a need to survive. Perhaps the fear of hunger is the vile necessity for us to create and evolve. I like to think life will provide for us like a mother to her child. As Simon Sinek once said: “Before we can build the world we want to live in, we have to imagine it.”. And I keep imagining…because everything you can imagine is real! (Picasso)
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