A Love Story

I've been more aware of the power of love since I read that being in love creates oxytoxcin in the brain - that is the feel-good chemical that makes the sad and unsuspecting pay a lot for oxycodone on the streets.  That got me thinking about the Buddhist practice of metta, which involves Lovingkindness Meditation, a method or prayer or chant taught especially in America by Sharon Salzberg, though I know Pema Chodron teaches it in the Tibetan tradition, too.  Loving is a good way to do no harm.

American Street Cat was founded by a woman whose heart went out to the feral cats in her local colony in Brooklyn - her story is at the above link.  I don't live in New York City, you probably don't either, but it's a nice love story, an example of how our lives can form around some one we love.  Like me and many of my friends, she loves cats and didn't want to see them suffer.  She didn't invent Trap-Neuter-Release; Olwen Firestone, a lovely woman at my church who lives a life of service, went to a lot of trouble and expense to do it for the feral cats she fed on her back porch. They would not be touched, but used to follow her every morning when she walked.

The video above goes on to show pictures of many feral cats someone decided to love, and gave a name to, reminding me of The Little Prince.  (If you haven't read that classic, you can give yourself a copy for Christmas.)