I am awake, I am alive, and I am smiling as I look at this new little furball sitting beside me, a reminder that important lessons are everywhere if we are wise enough to see them.

Case in point – Stormy (my new furmate) is a black and white or “tuxedo” short haired cat. So was my much-loved and greatly missed previous furmate Oreo. But that is where the similarities end.

Stormy is male
Oreo was female.

Stormy is 8 weeks old.
Oreo was 19 years old.

Stormy has piercing eyes and endless curiosity.
Oreo had a beautiful face, one filled with calm and love.

But in the time since Stormy arrived, many have commented that “they are the same” which couldn’t be further from the truth. But then, you would have had to get to know each of them to realize that and that takes so much more than a mere glance and a classification of colour.

It is hard not to be reminded of just how often Indigenous people are assumed “the same” or Indigenous women or even specifically Ojibwe women. The same can be said for Finns or Italians or Greeks, for those classified as “black” or “newcomer”. Those assumptions about people are just as inaccurate as the assumption that Stormy and Oreo are the same.

And just for the record, not only is the assumption inaccurate but disrespectful, for both Stormy and Oreo deserve to be recognized and loved as the unique individual beings they are/were.

As do I. As do you.

The journey continues …
 

I love you! HUGSSSSSSSS
Sandi

#ibelieveinyou #ibelieveinme #celebrateandsurvive #repairingfeathers