I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the way cats and dogs seem to be treating me these days. The interesting thing I’m noticing is how they all seem to be very affectionate and unconditionally loving with me now. Ironically, these are also the very same two traits I’ve been demonstrating everywhere in my own life on a consistent basis. And it has led me to start pondering the question as to whether cats and dogs simply mirror our own energy?
If people can be brought into our lives to act as mirrors for us to see the areas that we haven’t been facing, then is it that far of a stretch to think that pets could be mirrors for us as well?
Let me use a person-to-person mirroring scenario first. A person comes into your life who is constantly negative and angry all the time. It really gets under your skin and irritates you incessantly that this person acts like this constantly. You find yourself regularly complaining about this person to everyone and are getting frustrated with them more than not. What you haven’t realized is how that person is only acting as a mirror for you to see your own chronic negativity and anger issues.
Now let me use a person to pet scenario. You have a friend who has a dog that constantly is barking or growling every time you come around. It really grates your nerves right down to your wits end. A part of you starts dreading the idea of being around this dog when you visit your friend so you start asking them to put their dog away while you’re there. But all you hear from the other room where that dog is closed away is the very same thing of barking or growling. You feel anger boiling up inside and you ask your friend if their dog ever stops barking or growling. They respond to you that their dog is not normally that way. Is it possible that their dog is only mirroring your own anger inside you?
A few years ago, too many dogs used to bark at me all the time when I came around them. And if they weren’t barking at me, they were putting their tails between their legs, especially when I tried to pet them. As for any cats that I came around, most would only hiss, scratch or bite me if I made any attempts to pet or hold them. During those periods of my life, I held onto quite a bit of anger inside with just about everything in life. I was constantly negative and lived in a tremendous amount of toxicity and darkness. When I met my current partner, I was just in the beginning stages of removing all of that energy. On my first trip to his home, I met his cat Driggs who hissed at my every attempt to get closer to her. I was swiped at more times than I can count and I started nicknaming her Cujo Kitty because of it. As time moved forward though, I continued to remove all of that toxicity and darkness from within me. As a result, many of my closest friends starting noticing I was becoming a lot more unconditionally loving in every area of my life. By that point, I had given up all my attempts on subsequent trips to grow closer to Driggs. On one of them though, she suddenly jumped up on me and started purring. Since then, I’ve continued on my path to grow closer to God and she seems to follow me everywhere now. In fact, it’s hard to find a moment these days where she’s not meowing at me to pick her up and place her on my lap. And if she’s not in my lap purring, she’s usually laying next to me doing it.
The same thing has been true of my sister’s cats. They used to run from me during all my addiction-crazed days. If I picked them up and put them in my lap, they would jump off me as quick as they could once I let go of them. On my last few trips to her house, I couldn’t find a moment where they weren’t rubbing up on me or wanting to be close to me like Driggs does.
I’ve noticed this pattern also with many other pets I’ve been around lately and each of them seem to be showing me an incredible amount of unconditional love. But it was only a few years ago when I was completely selfish and self-centered that I couldn’t get a single bit of affection from any animal I came around. Barking and hissing were the common denominators from them instead during those days.
All of this has me pondering whether cats and dogs simply mirror the energy of those they come around.
So do cats hiss or swipe at strangers because of how their owner’s energy is? Or maybe it’s only because of that stranger’s energy?
Do dogs bark and growl at strangers because of how their owner’s energy is? Or maybe it’s only because of that stranger’s energy?
Whatever the answers to those questions are, I just find myself noticing how different today so many cats and dogs are with me when I come around, as compared to how they all used to be with me. I’m grateful to God for this because I enjoy receiving their unconditional love when too many in this world don’t even know how to express it. It’s also confirmation of the spiritual growth I’ve made in my own life.
So the next time you find yourself having a cat or dog act unfriendly with you, I encourage you to take a moment, breathe, and realize that maybe they are just acting as a mirror for you to take a look at your own energy. Ask God to help cleanse and purify all your energy into love and light and you might just begin to notice how all those cats and dogs start gravitating towards you in a more loving way instead…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson