Canal Tao #03

Canal Tao #03 — The Cat Who Did Not Need an Audience

I was sitting on the lock bank this morning, with yarrow growing around me and the dog and cat wandering through the grass.

Merlin had already hurried past the boxer on the black boat, keeping a respectful distance. He can be brave, but he isn’t stupid.

Then two men came towards us carrying lock keys.

Sabre danced around them and behaved himself. Merlin hung back for a moment.

One of the men stopped.

I turned round, watching the cat, because Merlin can be nervous with strangers.

But the man simply pulled out his phone and took a photograph.

And Merlin posed.

Of course he did.

He is probably one of the most photographed things on the boat. He sprawls across the roof and deck as though the entire Kennet and Avon Canal exists primarily to provide him with suitable lighting.

Then the moment was over.

He ran off to join us and carried on exploring the grass and hawthorn as though nothing had happened.

There’s something rather Taoist in that.

We spend a lot of time wondering how we appear to other people. Whether we are interesting enough, impressive enough, visible enough.

Merlin has apparently rejected the entire problem.

He doesn’t seek the attention.

He doesn’t refuse it either.

Someone notices him, he allows himself to be seen, and then he goes back to being a cat.

Perhaps there is a freedom in that.

Be fully where you are. Let people notice if they notice. Then carry on with your day.

Silveness