If you’re a cat, or a three-year-old, you do not mind repetition.
Make the feather fly again!
Start the Doc McStuffins DVD again!
Once you are a sensible adult, however, you tire of such tedium. You don’t have time for this frippery. And besides all that, it’s boring. There’s a reason ratings go down when series are in reruns. Been there, done that, ain’t nobody got time to do it again.
But maybe it’s no coincidence that we tend to lose the stars from our eyes right around the age when we tire of watching the train go around the Christmas tree for the 500,000th time.
Cats, even more than small and splendorous children, have a sense of wonder. Even the most lethargic, perma-coma cat is guaranteed, at least five times a day, to have a look on his face that can be translated as “IT’S ALL FULL OF STARS!”
Cats are experts at repeating the sounding joy.
This Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and New Year, I’m challenging myself to stay in the sacred just a little longer. I’m going to resist the urge to pick up my phone when the conversation or the Christmas pageant or the quiet moment gets too “repetitive.” I’m going to listen harder than usual, and I’m set on hearing that resounding joy.
It’s there, even on the darkest day of the darkest year.
It’s there, even when we try to armor ourselves in studied boredom.
It’s there, and the cats are sure going to relish its repetition. Let’s join them this time around.
Boots! Could be Santa’s Boots! And Divya and McNulty seem to be repeating the sounding joy! Happy Holidays to all of our beloved friends.