Cocoon

Yesterday came on the heels of the night before, when I had trouble sleeping. During yesterday’s daylight hours, I made up for the previous night’s insomnia. I napped a number of times during the day, for several hours at a time. After watching a short mini-series on television—the title and plot I cannot remember this morning—I went to bed early. I slept most of the night, though I woke around 3 a.m.; when I considered getting up to start the day, but did not. Finally, after 6 a.m., I got up; still tired and longing for more time in the bed that imitates a perfect cocoon. The chemo from last Wednesday may finally be taking hold of my my energy—shaking it out of me and replacing it with mind-numbing anesthetics.

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What would life be like if humans were taken as pets by creatures far larger and more powerful, yet gentle and caring and appreciative of our presence and the emotional support we would provide? How would we view the world around us? How would we see ourselves? If we depended exclusively on our “masters” to provide food and water and other such needs, I suspect we might constantly worry that our “owners” could turn on us at any moment—leaving us to starve or slowly die from dehydration. We cannot know with any certainty whether our pets have such worries, but I think we should assume they do. And we should do what we can to reassure them we would never abandon our responsibilities for providing to them their basic necessities. I think dogs are the common pet animals most likely to worry about such possibilities. Cats…not so much. Cats tend to be blackmailers. Extortionists. They pretend, on occasion, to value our companionship…provided we do as they demand. But if we do not meet their expectations, they have no compunction about abandoning us and seeking to control others…others who might be more malleable and easier to control. Fish, though…I think they are like zombies, their sole demands involving food and the ability to frighten other living creatures. Rabbits are just little balls of fear…not fur, fear. They can be nice to look at, but we frighten them by our mere existence.  The same way crocodiles showing up in our kitchens after watching films set in Africa frighten us.

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Rigidly enforced rules can help ensure compliance with critical processes. But complex requirements can add laborious steps to already demanding activities. And the stipulations they impose can be so overwhelming that, in frustration, such processes are abandoned or sabotaged. The simplest solution to such circumstances—yet often the one involving the greatest investment of time—is to ensure that everyone affected by them is fully informed about the reasons for the rules and their rigid enforcement. Equally as important is to ensure widespread understanding that they were not selected from among several arbitrary options. Instead, the message should be conveyed that they were carefully chosen to accomplish vital outcomes in the least onerous ways. Simplicity, though, can seem to mimic the most intricate and convoluted. Explanations must not come across as deceptive rationales for indefensible decisions.

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I am relatively sure I will have another piece of apple pie soon, after which I will fall fast asleep in my cocoon.