Our 16-year old cat Bodhi has been slowing down, losing weight, and not in his body more and more of late. We’ve been well aware of the trajectory he’s been on.
So this morning, when he landed awkwardly after a short dismount and struggled to stand back up, it was a pretty clear sign that his body is not serving him well, and he’s ready to move on. We’ve made him comfortable today, and he’s even found his way to some decent walking, eating and drinking. But still, we know it’s time.
To that end, today was a day of balancing the human and the spiritual deciding the best path forward. When I connected with my Power Animals (two of whom are cats), they just bowed their heads in a sign of respect. The repeated message to me was that it’s my job to just “hold space” and allow the process. He’s at peace, and there’s not much to do.
Unsatisfied with that answer, I did a journey to ask for more advice.
I saw paw prints of golden light walking their way up and around a spiral. This spiral rotated from moving down to up to a horizontal position, looking like a crashing wave from the inside. On the far end of the wave-tunnel was this beautiful area of light. The tiny paw prints moved around the spiral wave towards this bright, warm zone.
I was reminded that each of us - human and animal - has our individual soul journey. Every moment of our journey is ours and ours alone. We may walk alongside each other for some leg of our individual processes, but in the end, our journey is solely ours. The past 14 years (for me) and almost 17 (for Liz) walking with Bodhi is but a small section of his entire soul’s journey. He’s now ready to reunite with his people, whoever they are. The wisdom “your loss is others’ reunion” rang loud.
One thing I have found over and over in journeys is that spirits offer wisdom that I’ve heard, and repeated to others, many times in the past. However, in a journey, what comes across is more than just the words. I feel the truth in them. Consider the difference between reading the text “I love you” and someone looking you deep in your eyes and saying the same words with feeling.
We’ve decided tomorrow is the day for him to make his graceful exit. Our souls know this wisdom and honor him and his process. Our humans are hurting. We’re holding them both.