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Hello friends,

I posted a picture of a cat on social media this morning with the caption “Sometimes we need to speak up.” It was a close up of the beautiful creature talking to me. Here it is:

But there’s a story behind that photo, one that relates to so many of us right now. The cat wasn’t just greeting me. The cat was asking me for help. Here's the story:

On one of my walks, I spied this cat watching me. I stopped and greeted it when it was still a couple of houses away. Once it figured out I was paying attention, it began to move rapidly toward me. I crouched down, figuring it wanted a head scratch.

As it got closer, I noticed the cat was lashing its tail. That usually means a cat is angry, but this one was clearly acting friendly. Then I saw a pale ring marking on the tail as it moved from side to side. What strange fur marking was that?

Finally, the cat was directly in front of me, meowing and lashing its tail as I scratched its head. And then I saw it…

The pale ring was not a fur pattern. It was a small clear alligator hair clip that someone had attached to the creature’s tail.

I reached back and slid the clip off, freeing the cat, who thanked me with head butts and purring.

Now, this was not a heroic rescue. It wasn’t an animal with its head stuck in a jar, or trapped under a beam. The clip likely wasn’t even painful, just annoying.

If the cat had been a human, they might have even thought, “Oh, this thing is irritating, for sure, and I really don’t like it. But it’s not so bad. Like, it isn’t cutting off my circulation or anything. I don’t need help.”

Well, isn’t that some BS?

We, like this cat, can ask for help even for things that don't seem life threatening. We can speak up when something has become a constant source of friction, wearing us down.

It’s okay to ask for help. Asking for and offering help is how communities grow strong. Be a cat. Speak up.

Best wishes — Thorn