Are you ready to meditate with Kori?
Are you ready to be still and quiet?
Lay down and relax your body.
Let go of your busy day.
Try and stay very very still.
Close your eyes if you want to while you listen to the story.
Heidi,
Cherry and Veir had gone over to their friend's house,
Trak.
Trak was one of the many guy friends that the cats had.
They actually enjoyed spending time with boys and with girls and they had lots of different activities that they did with boys and with girls.
On this particular occasion Trak was talking about his beliefs.
How he believes that it's good to be a minimalist and not have many possessions and many objects and things.
The cats were trying to get their head around this idea.
Trak's bedroom was very very basic.
Just a bed and a couple of objects.
Nothing special.
A place to put his clothes.
But like many other kids his age he didn't have hundreds of toys or video games or things like that.
He was just simple.
He tried to keep his world simple.
This is what his mum and dad did and he happened to agree that simple sometimes is very calming.
When you're surrounded by lots and lots and lots of stuff and objects and things that you own you can feel a little bit confused and overwhelmed and generally messy.
Heidi said I can totally understand the principle of minimalism.
I've read a little bit about it in one of my books.
It basically says that you live in a minimal way.
You just have what you need and really not much of anything else and that way you can travel around.
You're not stuck to certain objects or possessions or houses or cars.
Even though you can have those things you can still have a minimalist life and not over indulge in objects to try and make you happy.
Trak said that's exactly it Heidi.
That's exactly my point.
And also when you don't have too much stuff you really appreciate the things that you have.
Whereas if you have so many toys and so much stuff sometimes you forget what you've had or you forget what you've got.
You don't even see it half of the time.
It's like a year before you play with something.
That just seems like way too much.
Cherry was trying to act very sophisticated as though she totally agreed with Heidi and Trak as it sounded as if it was a good idea.
Oh I agree said Cherry.
I totally agree guys.
I agree.
I know for a fact that I am definitely a minimalist.
I know I am.
You know why I know.
I know because I don't have that much stuff.
I don't have that much stuff because I don't need that much stuff.
Yeah so I think I would definitely call myself a minimalist.
Is a minimalism something that's very popular at the moment?
Or because I see it a lot on social media you know.
All these people claiming that they like you know all they have is a broom and that's it and they live in a box.
Or like they only have one outfit and they just wear it over and over and over again but they don't have too many clothes that they have to wash and it's supposed to be a benefit.
But you know I think to myself how do they do it with only one outfit or like four outfits even.
This is like seven days a week and then you've got special occasions where you get dressed up and then it's like holidays where you like to wear your Halloween outfit and like your Christmas jumper and all that stuff.
I mean it seems very boring.
Oh no no it's not that.
I should say it just seems a little bit too simplistic.
She was trying to stay with what Heidi and Trak was saying as if she believed exactly the same thing.
But really Cherry didn't.
She just wanted to feel like she was just as smart or she was just as fancy or she just wanted to fit in.
But in her heart she actually liked all of her stuff.
Anyway,
Vea said,
Me thinks that I like my things.
Vea was being very honest.
Me thinks I like everything that I have and everything that I own and I appreciate it and it's a lot of stuff but I still appreciate it.
So I mean I understand what you mean when you can have too much but for me particularly too much is never.
No it's never too much because I still manage to be grateful and I still manage to appreciate my things and I don't feel messy at all even though I have very very very very very very very very lots of princess dresses and princess accessories and princess books and oh I do have lots of princess movies and I have lots of princess outfits.
Well there aren't just princess dresses there are other things and I have lots of princess jewelry and I have lots of princess posters that I like in my bedroom and I have lots of princess what else?
Yeah I have a lot of princess stuff.
Cherry said,
Wow Vea that's a lot of stuff.
I don't think you could call yourself a minimalism elast.
I forgot what it was again what was it?
Vea said,
Hmm minimalist.
Yeah that I don't think you could call yourself that you're definitely not mini you're more maxi you know on the plus size of things with all your stuff.
You know it's not good to be materialistic Vea it's not it's not healthy I mean it's not good for your mind is it track is it?
Track said,
Well no but Vea seems to be very in control of her stuff and she doesn't seem to be unappreciative of her stuff.
Cherry said,
Oh no you're just being nice track you're just being nice I mean really I am like a perfect example I mean I hardly own anything look at me I hardly own I don't know I don't know what I own I just know it's not that much and you know Heidi not throwing you under the bus or anything Heidi but I am I'm throwing you under the bus you have like hundreds of billions of trillions of books how many books can one cat need you have so many books Heidi so many so many topics so many books I mean you only get two pairs of eyes and you've got like 18 pairs of glasses do you really need 18 pairs of glasses I know like it's nice for them to match your face and different outfits and stuff but still I mean it's a lot.
Heidi said,
I do see a point but what about how many OMG t-shirts you have Cherry?
Cherry went a little bit more pink in the face I mean she's ginger anyway she looks orange anyway but this time she went orange and pink she was embarrassed she forgot about her OMG t-shirts and how many she had.
Oh yeah yeah I know yeah but you could take them away take them away right now let's do it let's do it right now give give give track all of your possessions Bea hand them over uh uh Heidi hand them over uh yeah Cherry I'm talking to you too I'm talking to myself Cherry hand them over.
Track said it's not actually a bad idea it's not a bad idea if you want to try and exercise in minimalism and you want to see what it's like and whether you can do it you can hand over all your stuff to me and I'll just keep it here in my bedroom and you can try and live without it for a couple of days.
Cherry said well hold on a minute a couple of days I was thinking like a few hours a couple of days is a bit harsh don't you think steady on a bit steady on track steady on uh maybe one night maybe we'll do an overnighter maybe we'll leave all our stuff here and then when we have to go home tonight we'll go home bare-pawed nothing nothing in as paws at all we'll just be completely minimal completely minimal even more minimal than minimalist because we won't have anything we'll just go home and be like empty completely empty handed completely empty.
Bea you can take off all your princess stuff right now and you have to promise not to go into your princess room because you have to pretend it doesn't exist and there's nothing there.
Heidi you have to give up all your books and all your glasses and everything that you own and everything that you possess everything right now and then I I I will give track all of my OMG t-shirts I have so many they're so awesome I love them and I don't I don't feel very good about this but I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it I'm gonna show you all how minimal I am.
The cats all agreed to what track had suggested and they went home bare-pawed nothing in their paws nothing on their backs Heidi didn't have any glasses on Cherry didn't have her OMG t-shirt Veo wasn't wearing a princess dress just cats very minimal bare cats.
When they got home Cherry was trying to pretend that she was very cool with being a minimalist she wasn't she didn't like it at all.
Heidi was having a hard time not reaching for a book and obviously enjoying wearing her glasses so that she can read a book and Veo was just lost.
Me does not like this said Veo.
Me me doesn't like it at all I just don't feel like myself I don't feel special I don't I don't feel real anymore I I don't feel like I even exist I mean who I am I am I who am I if I don't have my princess identification and all over my princess objects and the princess things and all the things I love and I just don't feel good me me's not happy.
She walked away from the other two cats and slumped down on their big bed and just laid there looking very sorry for herself just white white fluffball with no princess outfit.
Heidi said I actually think this is going to be harder than I thought I didn't realize how much I liked my books how much my books make me happy how much reading my books helps me escape I actually escape in my books I go to another world a different place I get so absorbed in my books that I don't even realize what's going on around me and I didn't realize how bad my eyes were without my glasses I can barely see the furniture in this room.
Cherry said if we were doing the experiment right then we wouldn't even have furniture would we we'd be so bare so minimal so empty that we'd be empty there'd be nothing and I am particularly cold and I don't feel very good without my OMG t-shirt how's anybody going to recognize my personality I mean my OMG t-shirts say everything about me they're like they just say you see an OMG t-shirt because I'm so popular and so famous and so so like fancy and you know that's like social media if anybody's wearing an OMG t-shirt it's me it's me I know they're a fam I know they love me I know that somewhere in the world someone thinks I'm just as awesome as I think I'm awesome and you know what are we gonna do without that right now I'm just a cat I'm a cat I'm a plain old boring cat with like nothing no identification in her objects oh I get it I get it I know exactly what Trek's talking about I put all of my faith all of my trust all of my personality into a t-shirt and I mean really if you take that t-shirt away who am I well I'm sorry Trek but it didn't work it didn't break me down you know why it didn't break me down because I'm still me I'm still Cherry I'm still OMG I'm just oozing OMG it just comes at me paws comes out me ears it comes out me entire personality I don't need a t-shirt track I get it but I don't need it I don't need to be minimalist minimal minimal minimal minimalist don't need it because it's just a label it's a fancy label that these people use that think they're better than everybody else that has stuff well you know I am not judgmental like that and I say you can have stuff if you want or you can take it and leave it you can live in a box I don't mind I don't mind what you do just keep it to yourself no judgment on me for having 40 OMG t-shirts what's wrong with 40 OMG t-shirts absolutely nothing I say absolutely nothing fair you embrace your princessness you enjoyed your princess stuff enjoy your princess shoes you just be you in your princess stuff because guess what it don't matter because if somebody takes it all away you're fair you're still fair you're still fair the princess because you're princess you're just always princessness you're like fair oh she feels like such a princess fair oh you know when I think of a fair I just think royalty oh yeah that fair yeah that fair she always looks so like you know royal and queen like and princess like and you know she's just so pretty yeah see they are that will never go away because it's just your essence it's your is that right Heidi is that right do you say essence Heidi said yeah cherry that's right essence is like your flavor your personality your flair how you feel your vibe yeah essence is a good word I knew it I knew it said cherry my essence my essence is OMG be as essence as a princess and you Heidi you don't need books to be smart and you don't need books to escape you could just close your eyes and do one of Kori's meditations that'll help you escape anytime you want to let's face it you don't need books to escape and you know what's wrong with escaping absolutely nothing there's nothing wrong with pretending that there's other realities you can pretend that you're a banker you can pretend that you're a horse in the desert you can pretend that you're on a balloon in the sky you can pretend whatever you want because that's your prerogative and you know that's all of his prerogatives is that right is it a prerogative sounds right anyway yeah it's a prerogative and you know I understand what track says but take it leave it that's what I say I said take it or leave it do what you want do what makes you happy Heidi said I think you're speaking some very very wise words cherry they are said hmm me me me me agrees me feel so much better cherry we can take our stuff or we can leave our stuff can't we cherry said you got it fair you got it right okay so yeah let's go to sleep I love you both I'm naked with no OMG t-shirt and I'm still OMG I'm still OMG you can't take the OMG out of cherry out of me can you you can't so come on let's snuggle up let's get comfy let's relax let's do this normal thing Heidi play Cory put one of her meditations on let's escape let's escape this reality and just do what we want to do because we can do whatever we want because we're awesome and we're cats and we're just awesome and and and and we don't need a label so there the end cherry fell fast asleep very quickly and Heidi and Veya didn't take too long either they decided that they'd learned a very very good important lesson from their bestest friend track all about being a minimalist not being a minimalist whether it's important or whether it's not important and what they realized was at the end of the day you just be you because that's all that really matters the end
