Welcome to the Jungle #001

Once upon a time there was a young cat named Oba. Now Oba, born and raised in the jungle, was no ordinary house cat. Curiosity had led her into many a decadently complicated situation and the tides of life had washed away more than a few of her lives. Being a naturally open hearted and reasonable being, Oba learned the hard way that things are not always as they seem and, although she enjoys nothing more than to dance wild and free with all the other wild things, she had realised she must first learn to protect herself.

The very first noticeable step on the path to liberty; distinguishing her instinct from the noise of the crowd. Instinct is a crucial element in the survival of all creatures although it usually doesn’t rear its head until things get to the crunch. If you’re not familiar with the crunch, try to incorporate more time in the jungle. The more time you spend with the jungle, the closer you’ll get to the crunch and the closer you get to the crunch the more space your instinct will have to move about.

Instinct, like most ancient and buried things, requires some love and attention to get it up and running smoothly. Upon first glance it may seem harsh, wild, uncontrollable, not to be trusted. And while I guess the first three hold true, the last does not. In fact this harsh, wild, uncontrollable nature is the most trustworthy guide one can find in the jungle, itself a harsh, wild, uncontrollable and glorious habitat.

One advantage to Oba's cyclic life; the opportunity to reflect objectively on how things went wrong and try again. Upon comparing the results she found that the successes had come to pass when she had followed her instinct, even when everything else was pulling in the other direction. This finding has given her the strength to maintain her course, despite the pull of the breezes, the currents, the quakes and the roaring flames.

And I guess this is where our story begins. The full moon shining, the sails billowing and the flames licking her heels as she ran blind. She ran and she ran. Snares grabbed at her ankles. Rain lashed at her eyes and soaked her through to the bone. Wolves howled just out of sight the long night through, some dressed themselves in sheep’s clothes and stepped out to serenade her. Following her instinct, the only thing she had left, she ran until she found herself alone and deep in a particularly ancient part of the jungle.

Wounded, charred and utterly exhausted she stumbled on as the wind died down and the air became light and cool. Walking slower now and able to breathe she began to assess the situation. She had never been to this part of the forest before. There were many wondrous new plants and creatures to see! A few tentative encounters left a bad taste in her mouth however so she pushed on, in search for the cure she could feel just out of sight.

One day, when she had all but given up hope, she stumbled across a lump. The lump grumped, rolled over and before she knew it she was eye to eye with a bear. Quickly recalling past encounters with bears she froze as he watched her. It appeared that she had waken him from a deep hibernation and she was a little worried as to how he might take it. She also did not know the language of the region and thought it best to be extra cautious so as not to alert the bear to her weak condition. After a long and silent stare down the bear finally spoke.

“Do you like music?” He asked carefully, in the language of Oba's own region. A glimmer of hope as music was a language she knew well, rooted to the deepest parts of her soul, and after taking all known information into account she decided to give the bear a chance to serenade her. Despite a lack of words to exchange they actually got along just fine and to everyone's surprise they danced the night away.

That’s not to say our story ends here, happily ever after. As in every good dance there were high points and low points and an unrealistic story line. You see Oba had once stumbled upon a proud lion, during another life spent deep in another ancient part of the forest, and knew too well that the expectations of such powerful creatures did not allow her to do what she needed to do. So before engaging in the dance she was careful to lay out a contract to ensure her safety.

The contract stated that she could under no circumstances offer him her heart, as it was currently under lock and key, guarded by a frantic, fire breathing dragon, and that she must be free to leave whenever she needed to. (Firstly because every cat needs to be free to roam but also due to her responsibility of the first born, to break a deep and powerful curse causing never-ending pain to her sisters, brothers, mother, fathers, aunties, cousins, uncles, lovers, friends.)

She could however accompany and assist the bear for a time (he had been hibernating for quite some time, secretly manifesting company & assistance) and was free to ask her to leave at any given time. And with this agreement in place, both Oba and the bear tightened their laces and engaged in the dance.

As it turns out the bear was an excellent dancer and as Oba always loved to learn new dances the pair soon became very involved. The bear worked away on her, scratching out rivers of tears to cleanse the soot. Tearing open old and ugly scars with his bare teeth, licking them clean. Sharing his most precious supply of honey to help Oba heal herself.

What the bear didn’t tell Oba is that this was also in no way the first time he had engaged in such a dance with a young cat, although her instinct had whispered it to her secretly and she had kept up her guard. He was also harbouring numerous gnarled and knotted scars. This realisation led her to take more care in how she treated him, knowing how much healing hurts and appreciating greatly his patience and strength in how he treated her.

Such fun they were having, such a journey of strength and discovery, such a wild adventure!

While Oba was always a great supporter of saying what you mean and meaning what you say, she had learned that unfortunately not many creatures of the jungle actually abode by this. So it was no surprise to her when she found that the bear had gone to his own measures to protect himself against her contract. To say she was not upset would be a lie, she had grown very fond of him. It did however turn out to be quite fortuitous as it took her straight to the crunch, breaking the illusion he had spun just long enough for her instinct to rear its head and settle firmly in her breast, creating just enough space through which to breathe.

Being a creature of the sun, Oba’s instinct did not lead her to run to hide in the dark of the ashes. It led her to bathe in mother nature and listen to her wisdom. As more and more pieces fell into place her resolve strengthened and her family extended to include all living things. Realistic in her view of the world, from the yin to the yang, the laws of the jungle suited her perfectly. For the time being she will continue dancing with the bear, since they’re having such a great time, however she hasn’t forgotten the moon or the sails or the flames at her heels.

And how to distinguish your instinct from the noise of the crowd? That's just one of those aloofly annoying things that has no one-size-fits-all guidebook.. meaning no-one can answer that question for you.. meaning each must find their own path.

I can however leave you with something to get started; slow down, look around, take some time to breathe.

xoxo - @_gitanna