inspirations from life with a cat
istanbul diaries / life notes
*
these last two weeks, I took care of a friend’s cat while she was away in the US. somehow, cats have a way of finding me in this city — he is the third cat I’ve cared for in istanbul, despite not being a turkish cat (which are generally more aggressive). the first was a street cat who followed me home one day, this past summer, and the second cat belonged to the host of the airbnb where I stayed, with whom I spent christmas and new years eve, alone. both cats were black. this makes sense to me.
in living with cats, i’ve been reflecting on how their presence radically changes the energy of a space — how their rhythms, their habits, their curiosity, their silence, their sound, their shape — transforms a life at home; makes a home feel more homey. this feels like a much deeper subject to open later - when I have my own cat. but for now, just a teaser:
a list of inspirations, in no particular order
mind games for cats - cats get easily bored, and if I were to play the same game of fetch with a dog, I would get bored (because I am a cat). thus, the best games to play with a cat are mind games which also exercise the body - games which befuddle. the goal is to amuse myself and the cat at the same time. cats like to hunt, and I like to architect a hunt.
inventing cat toys - most cat toys look juvenile, but cats are not children. they are animals. I find pleasure in discovering what kinds of games a particular cat enjoys - and what toys - in what shape, what color, what texture, what sounds. I think one day, I’ll be a handmade-cat-toy-maker. most cat toys are ugly and infantile. I would like to make a series of minimalist cat toys shaped like dead animals, out of yarn.
nap traps - another game I like to play. since cats like spaces which feel contained and safe (the undersides of furniture, boxes, cocooning, nest-like spaces and corners) I create pop-up nests around the house, and wait for the cat to discover it, and take a nap there.
cat alarms - since cats will not allow you to sleep in, they are like living alarms. there is something about waking up with a warm, furry thing crawling around the bed that makes you feel - cuddled, without needing a man. is there a way to set the alarm backwards on the weekends? clearly this involves — extra food.
cat rhythms: eat-sleep-groom-play - the rhythms of cat have a simplicity and cyclical nature to them that makes me feel more inspired to live in the body, in the tangible world, and to embrace tides of energy, rather than expect myself to work linear, set hours. there is an essentialism to this life, and I think to myself: could it be as simple as this? eat/hunt. sleep. groom. play?
the silence of cats (especially in the dark) - I think one of my greatest pleasures is to search for a cat, and to find him looking at me from a corner.
the open door home life - having a cat in the house means that all doors must be open. cats are like a breeze - they move through all rooms of the house, including rooms I don’t normally go to.
animal presence - is so different. this is all I will say for now.
chaos machine - you turn it on and you don’t know where it will go, what will happen, and when.
an interspecies intimacy - perhaps, in the end, it is not that I am taking care of a cat, but a cat which takes care of me, just as much. there is an interspecies affection, tenderness, and trust - which is a completely new experience to me - all communicated through the body, through movement, through sounds. it is the presence of a living thing which moves - that reminds me I am alive.
nap trap #6