Every evening my cat Gracie and I have a ritual where she climbs to the top of her scratching post to receive her medication quickly followed by her favorite treats. As soon as the sun sets, she will even remind me that it’s time without me having to chase her down. However, less than two hours later, she will climb her post again and shake me down for more treats as she swishes her tail and intensely stares at me.
One evening earlier this year, instead of waiting an hour or
two, Gracie climbed her post again a few minutes later. I turned to explain to her that she can’t
have anymore and instead of her being in “shakedown” mode, she was gazing at me
with her slow eye blinks that let me know she’s happy and content. In that moment, I realized she was expressing
her appreciation to me in her own way.
One of the precepts followed in the practice of Reiki is to be
grateful and over time, I’ve come to understand gratitude as an embodiment and
not just mental lists you make about what is good in your life.
Animals can and do express emotions. On social media you can find video after video
of the full range of emotions from the grief of a mother whale over the loss of
her calf to the joy of baby elephants at play.
I recently saw a video of a struggling octopus that had washed up on a
beach and after a man managed to get it back into shallow water, the octopus uncurled
one of its tentacles and placed it on his shoe for a few moments before taking
off into deeper waters.
Then there is the injured wildlife that form unusual bonds
with the humans that rescue and rehabilitate them. They can be seen expressing their joy when reuniting
with their human rescuers years after being returned to the wild.
Articulating feelings through language can be very limiting
and often the story that triggers an emotion is what gets expressed instead of
the underlying emotion itself. When
reflecting on how animals experience feelings of gratitude, I’ve realized the
lesson for us as humans is that gratitude is an embodiment of joy through
pleasure.
While on retreat last summer, I encountered a dragonfly
dancing over a field in the morning light.
As I sat on a bench to meditate, the dragonfly’s dance became part of my
practice that morning. It would playfully
ride the breeze just like a surfer riding the waves of the ocean. When the air slowed down, it would glide and
turn flips like an acrobat in a circus with its wings shimmering in the
sunlight. Witnessing this creature fully
immersed in its element was a lesson for me on plugging in to the ever-present dimension
of joy.
This time of year, you can see the squirrels and chipmunks
eagerly scooping up the acorns in the park, harvesting what they will need during
the winter months. The other day I
spotted a squirrel giving the earth a few gentle taps after having just buried
some acorns, as if to thank the earth for protecting its treasure.
Gratitude is about being present to the goodness in life and
allowing yourself to receive the pleasure of it all. To see, feel, hear, smell, or taste the joy
with your whole being. That is how we
can learn about gratitude through animals.
Whether it’s a beloved pet taking joy in playing with you or its
favorite toy or an animal in the wild taking pleasure in the elements of its
environment, we can understand that gratitude isn’t just about positive thinking. Gratitude is an embodiment of joy through
taking pleasure in all the ingredients that go into making life feel good.
