Blog Dis
Hissy bitch...
2026-05-26
The claws came out, the fur went up on the back, the haunches lowered and the eyes... well, the posture said it all, "Touch me, mother f'er, and I'll scratch out your eyes!"
To those who've loved and lost kitties, who've gone through this, and only those who harbor true, blue love for the kitty will understand what it means to take a terrified kitty to the vet. Not everyone loves the kitty, and history has shown that kitties were often vilified, accused of aiding in witchcraft, evil, notwithstanding the fact that historical hatred has typically occurred before Modern times.
My late, female kitty, Nutmeg, was the sweetest little girl 99.9% of the time, until she was removed from her element and brought into an environment that bombarded her with too much stimulation as a result of too many sights, scents and other furry creatures not unlike herself. Her vet visit for her vaccination shot to avoid rabies and the like rarely went smoothly, and sometimes left the vet with a scratch or two. I learned early on to never expect these visits to roll out w/o a hiccup. When I'd arrive at the vet, we could easily be greeted by an mix of other pets, such as one example: Himalayan Mountain dogs, large enough to pass off as Shetland ponies; one nervous Beagle; one cross of a Labrador and Hunting Dog, whose breed escapes me; two Persian cats and one tiny tea-cup pipsqueak of a dog that could fit into the palm of my hand but sure put up a brave front, growling at every other pet. My kitties would go ballistic with the barrage of animals and somehow manage to melt into the background of the carrying case. Mine were sibling kitties, so it made sense to bring them together. Nutmeg's brother was named Brando, who was the lesser intense of the two, and would resign himself to the fact that he had to succumb to the examination and the needle, whereas Nutmeg wouldn't give an inch. She'd hiss and growl at the vet, pretending she'd never seen him before, and behave toward him as though he was the real villain.
My vet was a kindly man, who'd been practicing for decades. He definitely had a way with animals, which isn't something to take for granted, when it comes to veterinarians. They're no different than medical doctors insofar that some doctors have zero people skills. This can be applied to vets, some of whom have zero animal skills, yet for some reason or another they decided to enter the veterinary profession. Luckily for me and my kitties, my vet had animals skills to spare. He was awesome to deal with and didn't believe in unnecessary procedures, though he was honest too, and quick to point out the following, "The females are the most vicious." 😂
Somehow our pets manage to survive the ordeal, only after, however, Nutmeg would hiss so vehemently at the vet that I expected at any moment for her to take a chomp out of my arm whenever I was asked to hold her still for her shot. Brando, on the other hand, was a sweetie-pie, terrified like a convict being walked to the gallows. He barely made sounds until out of nowhere came this low growl that made him seem menacing, more than he was, because, after all, the boy hardly weighed eight pounds. Who would be afraid of an 8-pound kitty? Nobody should, unless you've been blessed with common sense and would know to avoid going near cornered kitties in vet's offices with the door closed. There's no room for you to run if they completely lose it and attack.
Kitties are not dogs, obviously. Kitties do not like their element to change on a daily basis. In fact, kitties are truly creatures of habit and prefer their inner world to remain the same, if and when kept indoors, and they are most at home when prowling around late at night, when its dark, for those who allow their kitties to wander outside in the dark of night. I don't personally believe in this philosophy given that kitties are often victims of vehicular fatalities. I see the posters put up around town, every summer, looking for lost kitties.
We humans are not so different from our pets. As humans, we all have and know our preferred element, that place where we feel we belong, which permits us to relax and be ourselves. When humans are removed from their natural element, we begin to demonstrate qualities in our nature that would probably shock even ourselves.
Starting a new job is a good example of adjusting to a new environment. It can take much time to feel comfortable. I've personally maintained that when it comes to stepping into a new professional role, the golden 3-year rule applies. I mean to say that in the first year, a new employee will work in 'reactive' mode because they haven't experienced a full fiscal year cycle, and so everything is new to them; they react. Whereas, by year two, new employees may enter 'proactive' mode, where they're hopefully more seasoned, and able to anticipate what's expected of them, and quite possibly act ahead of rush requests, if you're lucky this'll be your second year. Finally, year three is what I call 'interactive' mode, where a new employee might make recommendations to the internal processes that could potentially impact their colleagues. What surprises me, however, are the ideals of many top Executives who don't think on this level, and who expect new professionals to hit the ground running, to have the entire work expectations placed on them to be cased, entirely mastered without there being any bumps along the way.
This isn't realistic. This is no different than bringing your pets to the vet, and expecting them not to panic, which is unrealistic, given that pets wouldn't willingly offer to go to the vet, to make your job easier. The same can be said of new professionals, who don't go out of their way to be bumbling, or to drop the ball. New employees sincerely and earnestly intend and want to provide to you stellar work, to reinforce the messaging that you, as the boss or the employer, had made a good choice in hiring them. It's simply a fact of life, however, that new employees have to overcome their learning curve, to learn how to adapt in their new environment, and to excel within said environment.
Traveling to an exotic country is another example. Take someone from the Western world and plop them into the Eastern world, like India or Pakistan or China, and suddenly their element is unrecognizable. Many avoid traveling for this reason. I'll never forget the first time I traveled on my own, as a young woman, heading to India in my late 20s, arriving into New Delhi airport at 3 AM and terrified of the unknown. It was either to my benefit or detriment that when I had checked into the airport for my connecting flight in the United Kingdom that I was upgraded to Executive First Class. What a thrill! All throughout the long 9 hour flight, and at every turn, the attendants couldn't fill up my wine glass fast enough, so by the time I landed in New Delhi, I was three sheets to the wind hammered, and this helped me to calm my nerves. It turned out to be a happy ending for me. I navigated the dirty, noisy, dusty airport, to hail down a taxi to my hotel room, without being killed during the ride on roads that were pitch black.
Again, when outside your element, you'll either succeed or you'll fail but you may just surprise yourself with the reservoir of survival skills that are buried deep within you... or in my case, you'll numb your fear.
Perhaps the finest example of venturing into an uncharted element is in navigating the fundamental traps of a new relationship. When it comes to the tricky world of relationships, there are land mines and pot holes, dead-ends and ripe, juicy wedges of plump fruit. You'll often feel off-balance at the outset until you've fully discovered the country of their body, mind and soul. And, at some point in time you might even feel like yourself, enough that you'll allow your new love to see the real you. Until you reach that point, you are nowhere near to being in your element. Some serial daters are masters at disguising their true selves. I'm of the mindset, however, that the truth eventually washes out with the dirty laundry and is inescapable. We each are subject to love blindness, and some call this state of mind limerence, a period that can last up to one year, when all we see is the best of the individual we're dating. There's nothing wrong with love blindness. I only discourage persons from wanting to take their new found love to the next level, to supplement those happy feelings by misleading yourself that changing the relationship will make it better. This often isn't the case. Take your time. Develop this new element in your life. You are worth the time, as is being careful, that you don't lock yourself into a nightmare.
As for my ideal element... this is a zone that is currently in a state of transition, given that I was laid off from my place of work in mid-January 2026. My body has been given the permission to de-stress, to uncouple from the expectations of a professional environment, and from having to remain in strict adherence to a rigid schedule. It's freeing and unsettling. I didn't realize just how tired I was until I stopped running on the work treadmill. Four months have passed since I left an office, and I've lost track of that feeling of work-brain, the state of mind you can occasionally find yourself in when you're worried about upcoming deadlines, the pressures that are not supposed to feel like a cage. I keep myself busy. I continue to work out regularly, to write my eighth novel, as well as to post this blog - all of which help to keep my brain active, and fired up.
Does anyone really know what the future holds, if this future has surprises in store for you? More than likely not. More than likely the new element will challenge you, until such time as you find your balance. To be sure, I've done the traveling routine, the new relationship routine as well as the new job routine. Can't really predict how well I'll get on once I jump into another new element. I can only reassure myself that eventually the balance will come back into my legs and I'll feel less like I am walking on flimsy fly-paper.
So pay no mind to me if I bear my fangs, from time to time, and hiss! Meow!
To those who've loved and lost kitties, who've gone through this, and only those who harbor true, blue love for the kitty will understand what it means to take a terrified kitty to the vet. Not everyone loves the kitty, and history has shown that kitties were often vilified, accused of aiding in witchcraft, evil, notwithstanding the fact that historical hatred has typically occurred before Modern times.
My late, female kitty, Nutmeg, was the sweetest little girl 99.9% of the time, until she was removed from her element and brought into an environment that bombarded her with too much stimulation as a result of too many sights, scents and other furry creatures not unlike herself. Her vet visit for her vaccination shot to avoid rabies and the like rarely went smoothly, and sometimes left the vet with a scratch or two. I learned early on to never expect these visits to roll out w/o a hiccup. When I'd arrive at the vet, we could easily be greeted by an mix of other pets, such as one example: Himalayan Mountain dogs, large enough to pass off as Shetland ponies; one nervous Beagle; one cross of a Labrador and Hunting Dog, whose breed escapes me; two Persian cats and one tiny tea-cup pipsqueak of a dog that could fit into the palm of my hand but sure put up a brave front, growling at every other pet. My kitties would go ballistic with the barrage of animals and somehow manage to melt into the background of the carrying case. Mine were sibling kitties, so it made sense to bring them together. Nutmeg's brother was named Brando, who was the lesser intense of the two, and would resign himself to the fact that he had to succumb to the examination and the needle, whereas Nutmeg wouldn't give an inch. She'd hiss and growl at the vet, pretending she'd never seen him before, and behave toward him as though he was the real villain.
My vet was a kindly man, who'd been practicing for decades. He definitely had a way with animals, which isn't something to take for granted, when it comes to veterinarians. They're no different than medical doctors insofar that some doctors have zero people skills. This can be applied to vets, some of whom have zero animal skills, yet for some reason or another they decided to enter the veterinary profession. Luckily for me and my kitties, my vet had animals skills to spare. He was awesome to deal with and didn't believe in unnecessary procedures, though he was honest too, and quick to point out the following, "The females are the most vicious." 😂
Somehow our pets manage to survive the ordeal, only after, however, Nutmeg would hiss so vehemently at the vet that I expected at any moment for her to take a chomp out of my arm whenever I was asked to hold her still for her shot. Brando, on the other hand, was a sweetie-pie, terrified like a convict being walked to the gallows. He barely made sounds until out of nowhere came this low growl that made him seem menacing, more than he was, because, after all, the boy hardly weighed eight pounds. Who would be afraid of an 8-pound kitty? Nobody should, unless you've been blessed with common sense and would know to avoid going near cornered kitties in vet's offices with the door closed. There's no room for you to run if they completely lose it and attack.
Kitties are not dogs, obviously. Kitties do not like their element to change on a daily basis. In fact, kitties are truly creatures of habit and prefer their inner world to remain the same, if and when kept indoors, and they are most at home when prowling around late at night, when its dark, for those who allow their kitties to wander outside in the dark of night. I don't personally believe in this philosophy given that kitties are often victims of vehicular fatalities. I see the posters put up around town, every summer, looking for lost kitties.
We humans are not so different from our pets. As humans, we all have and know our preferred element, that place where we feel we belong, which permits us to relax and be ourselves. When humans are removed from their natural element, we begin to demonstrate qualities in our nature that would probably shock even ourselves.
Starting a new job is a good example of adjusting to a new environment. It can take much time to feel comfortable. I've personally maintained that when it comes to stepping into a new professional role, the golden 3-year rule applies. I mean to say that in the first year, a new employee will work in 'reactive' mode because they haven't experienced a full fiscal year cycle, and so everything is new to them; they react. Whereas, by year two, new employees may enter 'proactive' mode, where they're hopefully more seasoned, and able to anticipate what's expected of them, and quite possibly act ahead of rush requests, if you're lucky this'll be your second year. Finally, year three is what I call 'interactive' mode, where a new employee might make recommendations to the internal processes that could potentially impact their colleagues. What surprises me, however, are the ideals of many top Executives who don't think on this level, and who expect new professionals to hit the ground running, to have the entire work expectations placed on them to be cased, entirely mastered without there being any bumps along the way.
This isn't realistic. This is no different than bringing your pets to the vet, and expecting them not to panic, which is unrealistic, given that pets wouldn't willingly offer to go to the vet, to make your job easier. The same can be said of new professionals, who don't go out of their way to be bumbling, or to drop the ball. New employees sincerely and earnestly intend and want to provide to you stellar work, to reinforce the messaging that you, as the boss or the employer, had made a good choice in hiring them. It's simply a fact of life, however, that new employees have to overcome their learning curve, to learn how to adapt in their new environment, and to excel within said environment.
Traveling to an exotic country is another example. Take someone from the Western world and plop them into the Eastern world, like India or Pakistan or China, and suddenly their element is unrecognizable. Many avoid traveling for this reason. I'll never forget the first time I traveled on my own, as a young woman, heading to India in my late 20s, arriving into New Delhi airport at 3 AM and terrified of the unknown. It was either to my benefit or detriment that when I had checked into the airport for my connecting flight in the United Kingdom that I was upgraded to Executive First Class. What a thrill! All throughout the long 9 hour flight, and at every turn, the attendants couldn't fill up my wine glass fast enough, so by the time I landed in New Delhi, I was three sheets to the wind hammered, and this helped me to calm my nerves. It turned out to be a happy ending for me. I navigated the dirty, noisy, dusty airport, to hail down a taxi to my hotel room, without being killed during the ride on roads that were pitch black.
Again, when outside your element, you'll either succeed or you'll fail but you may just surprise yourself with the reservoir of survival skills that are buried deep within you... or in my case, you'll numb your fear.
Perhaps the finest example of venturing into an uncharted element is in navigating the fundamental traps of a new relationship. When it comes to the tricky world of relationships, there are land mines and pot holes, dead-ends and ripe, juicy wedges of plump fruit. You'll often feel off-balance at the outset until you've fully discovered the country of their body, mind and soul. And, at some point in time you might even feel like yourself, enough that you'll allow your new love to see the real you. Until you reach that point, you are nowhere near to being in your element. Some serial daters are masters at disguising their true selves. I'm of the mindset, however, that the truth eventually washes out with the dirty laundry and is inescapable. We each are subject to love blindness, and some call this state of mind limerence, a period that can last up to one year, when all we see is the best of the individual we're dating. There's nothing wrong with love blindness. I only discourage persons from wanting to take their new found love to the next level, to supplement those happy feelings by misleading yourself that changing the relationship will make it better. This often isn't the case. Take your time. Develop this new element in your life. You are worth the time, as is being careful, that you don't lock yourself into a nightmare.
As for my ideal element... this is a zone that is currently in a state of transition, given that I was laid off from my place of work in mid-January 2026. My body has been given the permission to de-stress, to uncouple from the expectations of a professional environment, and from having to remain in strict adherence to a rigid schedule. It's freeing and unsettling. I didn't realize just how tired I was until I stopped running on the work treadmill. Four months have passed since I left an office, and I've lost track of that feeling of work-brain, the state of mind you can occasionally find yourself in when you're worried about upcoming deadlines, the pressures that are not supposed to feel like a cage. I keep myself busy. I continue to work out regularly, to write my eighth novel, as well as to post this blog - all of which help to keep my brain active, and fired up.
Does anyone really know what the future holds, if this future has surprises in store for you? More than likely not. More than likely the new element will challenge you, until such time as you find your balance. To be sure, I've done the traveling routine, the new relationship routine as well as the new job routine. Can't really predict how well I'll get on once I jump into another new element. I can only reassure myself that eventually the balance will come back into my legs and I'll feel less like I am walking on flimsy fly-paper.
So pay no mind to me if I bear my fangs, from time to time, and hiss! Meow!
