Ok, I am in my invisible phase. If I step into the moonlight, there may be a pale blue shadow. As I type this, I am trying to describe the kind of week I have had. I am mostly an introverted person, completely forced out of my shell every day to go to work and interact with people. I put my best foot forward, and project my personality with the social skills and etiquette taught over the years, starting from my first days at school. My mother taught me during the early days to do what the other girls do. Later she advised me to follow my own mind. Confusing! Then I discovered astrology and realised that it is in my starsign, Gemini - I can be two people at once. One is the conformist, the other is the opposite "chip on my shoulder". These personalities can emerge depending on where I am. Sometimes I read too much into people's comments and my ego becomes wounded. Other times the chip digs in and I have to use criticism and sarcasm to express what my gut is telling me. Actually my real nature is to be calm and placid, and if allowed to be alone I commune with nature and animals, who by the way seem to appreciate me way more than humans do. They also seek a peaceful uncomplicated life, hassle free from predators and competitors. Once when I was particularly feeling blue early early in my life I confided to my beloved cat and she was so sympathetic, her beautiful eyes stared deeply into my and she conveyed her understanding without words. That's it! The missing link - communication without saying anything.

Animals are so good at this. I have observed their behaviour over the years following this first insight into their emotive connection with one another and I realise how clever they are. Imagine a life where you cannot speak to your caregivers except through a tail wag or twitch and a few coded miaaws or barks. Imagine too how much meaning is put into these few signals of hunger, discomfort or pleasure. And yet the message is always so perfectly simple and clear. They do not have time to make up stories, and there is certainly no hidden agenda resulting in hours of self analysis and comparison. Oh of course the experts will say it is because they do not have the brain power needed to be sentient beings, but anti- cruelty animal activists and animal lovers like myself say otherwise. Just because we do not know something exists does not mean it is not there. We have to accept our own limitations. Just as we cannot imagine another dimension parellel to our own, why can't these precious creatures be more clever than us, so much more evolved in fact that they have learrned quiet acceptance? Isn't that what losing the ego is all about?

Ah, yes, my beautiful rescued collie cross girl is staring at me right now with her "spooky eyes". She is a treasure and my blessed companion who will never judge me nor forsake me. I call that very intuitive and we have a fantastic bond. There is a need to keep it simple, and learn from the animals. My one question is "if animals are the eyes and ears of God, how do human beings score on a scale of compassion and understanding towards life on earth." Ask any animal, the answer is in their reaction to us depending on the feedback from above and a quiet acceptance that theirs is not to question why...dogs even to lay down their lives in the duty of protecting their owners. Thus in that pale moonshadow I offer a prayer to my precious friends who see me as an equal. And that is a privilege indeed. Humility is the key.... love from Eve