Disney, Love and Cats

Hello beautiful souls! It’s hard to write a blog because my head is still buzzing with everything that was thrown at us during orientation. I could write about the physical and emotional experiences of moving to a new city, or I could write about the spiritual and emotional discussions we had about boundaries, race, and privilege we had on the second day of new student orientation. However, I feel like unpacking that right now would cause me an emotional headache; so in order to avoid that emotional headache, I will right about an interest of mine, movies.

Specifically animated Disney and Studio Ghibli movies. I love the way Disney weaves intricate morals and values into retellings of fairytales in family movies. I love the whimsical worlds that Hayao Miyazaki paints for us as if we are getting a glimpse into his dreams. These movies are pictures of fantastical wonderment; I feel like I enjoy animated movies even more so than live action movies. I’m an avid fan of Disney and Studio Ghibli because their movies speak to our heart language, or at least my heart language. Our heart language is rooted at the core of our heart, but is often forgotten because of the walls of insecurity, shame and fear we wear as armor. The emotional armor we wear is seldom taken off, but in life we have several reminders that we won’t be hurt if we remove our armor and listen to our heart language. I believe the magic of Disney and Studio Ghibli movies comes from the ability to reveal our heart language and allows us to listen to the life lessons that speak to it.

Growing up, the most popular Disney movie chocked full of life lessons that speak to our heart language was the “Lion King.” I mean how can it not be with the opening song being, “The Circle of Life?” You know it’s going to be a good movie with Elton John doing the soundtrack for it. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is after Mufasa rescues little Simba and Nala from the hyenas. Like any responsible dad, Mufasa has a father and son moment with Simba to show him why his actions were reckless. And like any little one in trouble, Simba tries to make up an excuse justifying his actions. Simba told his dad that he just wanted to be brave like him. The infamous Mufasa wisdom shines down on him when he tells Simba that being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble. In fact Mufasa says that he’s only brave when he has to be and he was in fact very scared when he heard that Simba was is trouble and thought he might lose his son. Despite his fear, he still engaged the hyenas because his love for his son was greater than his fear of losing him. Now any 90s kid that grew up in mainstream media dependent society will tell you that Mufasa could take on the hyenas in his sleep, so I don’t understand why Mufasa was afraid in the first place. Yet that is not the point, the point is that love is greater than our fear.

This life lesson is secretly engrained in our society outside of just movies. It is, in my opinion, a life lesson that connects us as humans. Humans are capable of miraculous beauty, but that beauty is only seen if we have the courage to take off our masks of fear. And it doesn’t have to be some great revelation; it can be even be the smallest acts of courage we do in the name of love. For me, the most recent small act of courage actually happened the Friday before I moved into my new apartment the following Monday. It was when Casper was recovering from surgery.

Casper successfully got neutered and declawed that week but I noticed that Casper was limping Friday afternoon. I waited a few minutes to see if his paw would heal but it still seemed very sensitive. I was afraid that his paw got infected from the surgery and that he would need to spend the night overnight at the vet or something of that nature. This would not be a problem if I weren’t moving to a new state Monday morning. If Casper needed to have something done I wanted it to happen as soon as possible so Casper would be healthy by Monday. I called the vet and they told me they could see us now since they had an opening. That would not be a problem if it weren’t for me being the only one home. I LOATHE DRIVING! Seriously, using public transit in LA was the best thing because it meant I didn't have to drive to places. That is really saying something about how much I hate driving since most people in LA hate its public transit but I love it.

Whenever I can opt to use the bus or Uber, I lean that way. The problem that day is that Indiana doesn’t know the meaning of the word, “public transit,” and I’m not sure what Uber’s policy on pets is. Wouldn’t be weird if I bring my cat inside an Uber car? Uber or driving were my only options at the time that I could think of under the mindset of “What is wrong with my cat?” I could have rescheduled an appointment for Casper Saturday, but would that be the best idea if Casper needed special attention and us being on a deadline? As much as I hated it, I had to drive to the vet for Casper’s sake. The whole time I was driving I kept thinking what if I take a turn to hard and cause his cage to flip over? My heartbeat raced and my palms became sweaty. Driving freaked me out and I didn’t want it to freak Casper out as well.

Despite my fear of driving, I stilled managed to briefly overcome that because of my love for Casper. I needed to do the best thing for my little kitty even if that means embracing my fears. Let’s just say that I now have a glimpse of what it is like for new moms when their newborns get sick, probably not to that extent and probably not as a meaningful experience to those who do not share a disdain for driving. Yet for someone who hates and fears driving it was a meaningful experience for me to set aside my fear for the sake of the kitty I love. Oh, and those of you who are wondering, Casper is doing much better. The limp was due to a slight fever, which he got a shot for. Now Casper and I are living comfortably in our new home. Casper is back to biting on my toes in attempts to get me to come play with him.