Sodalite And Sympathetic Cats

Generally speaking, cats aren’t known for their sympathetic natures. For example… I have done one of my “Oops Mummy fell over a fairy” comedy falls and the cats present have looked at me as if I’m not right in the head…

I have been on the receiving end of one of Lily’s Murder Mittens that has left me tearful and bleeding…

“Charlie! Look what that little b*&%$ did!”

And I have received the reply:

“Well, I don’t think she really wanted the flea treatment…”

But also a sympathetic lick across my scratched hand. Unless she was just tasting my blood.

I do like it when you have your hand near a cat when they are having a quick wash and brush up – quite often you will find yourself on the receiving end of a sympathetic lick…

“Poor woman – hasn’t the first idea about personal hygiene…” (I do. Really.)

There have been times though, when I have been low or sad, and I would like to think that my girls realise this, and come to offer me sympathy and comfort with their furry purring warmth.

There is real sympathy, empathy and emotion between animal and human at these times, something to be treasured, encouraged and nurtured.

Sodalite can be used to promote these bonds of communication: as it is blue, it works with the throat chakra to bring compassion and emotional intelligence. It’s a good crystal to use in group sessions as it promotes emotional balance and understanding.

It itself, Sodalite possesses the inherent quality of sympathy as it works with you, gently encouraging self-acceptance without judgement, sympathy without pity, fitting neatly into the crystal rainbow repertoire as the metaphysical “Agony Aunt”…

And who hasn’t shared their problems with a warm furry comforter, and felt better?

Kindness

I don’t do unkindness. Not now. Not anymore. There was too much of it in my earlier life and I reached a point where I felt ill with it… like eating too many greasy chips. I thought I would hate to make anyone else feel as I did and had a quick prod of the old emotions – as you do – to see what I could do to feel better.

Kindness. I am not speaking about dancing around scattering glitter and flowers, and letting people liberties with you. Just little things. Like the opening of a door for someone; a pleasant smile and a ‘thank you’ can make all the difference to a day and make you feel that it is all worthwhile.

Un-kindness is unnecessary and very rarely justified. I saw something that made me so sad the other day as I was dusting in my son’s bedroom. I had the window open, and we overlook a park. A little boy, only about three, was walking with his mother who was on her phone and pushing a pushchair. He had some sweets, but dropped them and started to cry. Instead of comforting him, or saying:

“Never mind, we’ll get you some more,” the woman cuffed him across the top of his head and shouted:

“Now look what you’ve done, you little tw**! Well that’s it, you’re not getting any more!”

What was the point of that? How cruel and unkind a response to an unfortunate accident. The little boy wanted his sweets, he didn’t throw them away in temper, he wasn’t misbehaving. As I watched from the bedroom window, the mother seized the little boy and dragged him away, still sobbing miserably.

What did the child learn from that? That his earliest disappointments in life will come from his mother? Not a lesson I would ever want my sons to learn. That it’s all right to hit out in temper at someone who’s already upset? Or hey, life’s a bitch and inevitably something worse will happen when you’re already hurting?

Really, it wouldn’t have taken much just to comfort the little boy, or even say:

“Well, we can’t go back to the shop now, let’s go home and watch television and you can have some more sweets tomorrow.”

A pink rose, traditionally associated with kindness, love and gentleness

The ‘un’ kindness of the whole incident struck me as sad and unnecessary. However, I’m not judging the mother, perhaps she had a bad day… but there is always room for kindness, and a grateful smile from her little boy could have been her reward if the whole scenario had played out differently.

So. As I said previously, there’s no need to be unrealistic about the kindness you bring to the world, just think about what you do. You’ll feel better in yourself and you will have a better response from the people you meet. And, here’s a thought, be kind to yourself too. Give yourself a break.

(Thank you to Iman Refaat of Perceptions for inspiring this post and making me think about kindness. She’s a lovely person, check out her blog for inspiration, positivity and encouragement.) 

All featured crystals are examples of Rose Quartz, my favourite crystal. It is linked to the heart chakra and helps to promote love, compassion and empathy.

The Nature of Compassion

 

“Come the revolution they’ll all be dead,”
His father said and he shook his head.

The boy, he watched and inside he cried,
Cried for the innocents who had died.

He watched and waited,
He waited and learned
And vowed to help with the knowledge he earned.

This kind young man
He thought: “I can.”

Out on his own,
He flew to the zone

He tended the dying,
Wiped tears of the crying.

Then one day, the young man fell ill.
His last breath left him and he lay still.

His mother, she cried.
Part of her died.

His father raged and he shook his head.
“Come the revolution I’ll see the bastards dead.”

Words Copyright © 2016 Samantha Murdoch

Empathy for a Pepper

It lay on the road, as fat and round as and redly shining as Henry VIII on one of his better days. It was a beautiful example of its kind, the standard red bell pepper, its skin smooth, taut and unblemished, the sunlight striking a gleam off the perfect globes of its bottom. Its stem curved proudly upwards, strong and green, still bearing the mark of where it had been snapped from its mother plant. It was the very pinnacle of pepper perfection.

And yet it lay on the road. My son and I saw it as we were walking to my mother’s house and pondered upon its fate. Perhaps it had been destined to become part of a fluffy yellow omelette, shards of pepper glistening amongst the egg, like rubies cushioned on yellow velvet. Maybe the person who bought it was going to make a healthy salad for their family, dicing its firm flesh into symmetrical cubes to add brightness to the green of lettuce. Possibly it was bought to add mild heat and flavour to a curry, lovingly crafted by a woman for her husband, part of a carefully planned romantic evening for two without the kids.

And yet it lay on the road. I don’t know what cruel hand of Fate had plucked it from its carrier bag or why its purchaser had not stopped to retrieve it, only that its proud pepperness had not been diminished by this unseen turn in its destiny. I mentioned to my son that perhaps we should pause and rescue it, but both he and I had been very firmly taught from an early age that you do not pick food up off the floor. So we left it.

Later as we returned home, we noticed that the pepper had been run over by a callous car. Its insides were smashed into a foot long smear, fragments of skin embedded into the tarmac. Roadkill.

I felt awful and somehow guilty that I had not rescued the pepper and saved it from this undignified ending. It deserved better. Perhaps the moral of this is ‘waste not, want not.’ I don’t know. I only wish that I had stopped to pick the pepper up and let it complete its destiny in a more fitting way.

Rose Quartz – stone of the heart for infinite love and compassion

All photographs Copyright © 2016 Alex Marlowe