Compassionate Ratties...
Dec. 11th, 2011 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cedar_groveFrom The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.
It seems the ancient Medicine Men understood that listening to another's story somehow gives us the strength of example to carry on, as well as showing us aspects of ourselves we can't easily see
Saturday 10th
Today, as many days, I spent some time watching the rats playing and taking care of one another through Skype. Mir and I were watching something on TV, but there were many times when she would move the camera to show the girls taking care of Lindsay, one of the other rats who is very sick and sadly probably not long for the world.
At some point whilst watching, and since then, in thinking about it, I started thinking about all the times the rats 'make happy sounds' at each other, to comfort each other or in times of stress, and I can't help but wonder just what it is that they're also saying to each other. What stories are they telling?
We've often joked, Mir and I, about the 'rattie conversations' that must take place in the rats room when we humans are not listening – and we're pretty sure that some do, because the rats seem to learn things from each other, sometimes without demonstration. I have no doubt they communicate. Yes, we anthropomorphise them, and 'pretend' what they might be saying, but in truth, I feel certain they must be telling each other stories of what is – what has been.
I read about recent studies where scientists have proven that rats are compassionate creatures. This is not news to me, or I'm sure to any rat lover, or rat parent. You only have to spend a short amount of time with any community of rats to see, demonstrated very clearly, that they care for one another. We've had some fantastic families where individuals have gone above and beyond the call of duty in looking after one another. Our rat Halling was an example of such a person – he was our 'nurse' rat... who looked after the sick and took care of everyone even when they were well – compassion was his middle name.
Perhaps we, as humans, should be more like rats... perhaps then the world would be a better place.
When was the last time you listened to the
stories of others?
--Question put to the sick by a Native American Medicine Man
It seems the ancient Medicine Men understood that listening to another's story somehow gives us the strength of example to carry on, as well as showing us aspects of ourselves we can't easily see
Saturday 10th
Today, as many days, I spent some time watching the rats playing and taking care of one another through Skype. Mir and I were watching something on TV, but there were many times when she would move the camera to show the girls taking care of Lindsay, one of the other rats who is very sick and sadly probably not long for the world.
At some point whilst watching, and since then, in thinking about it, I started thinking about all the times the rats 'make happy sounds' at each other, to comfort each other or in times of stress, and I can't help but wonder just what it is that they're also saying to each other. What stories are they telling?
We've often joked, Mir and I, about the 'rattie conversations' that must take place in the rats room when we humans are not listening – and we're pretty sure that some do, because the rats seem to learn things from each other, sometimes without demonstration. I have no doubt they communicate. Yes, we anthropomorphise them, and 'pretend' what they might be saying, but in truth, I feel certain they must be telling each other stories of what is – what has been.
I read about recent studies where scientists have proven that rats are compassionate creatures. This is not news to me, or I'm sure to any rat lover, or rat parent. You only have to spend a short amount of time with any community of rats to see, demonstrated very clearly, that they care for one another. We've had some fantastic families where individuals have gone above and beyond the call of duty in looking after one another. Our rat Halling was an example of such a person – he was our 'nurse' rat... who looked after the sick and took care of everyone even when they were well – compassion was his middle name.
Perhaps we, as humans, should be more like rats... perhaps then the world would be a better place.
