Recently, my daughter’s boyfriend sent her a picture of the most beautiful little furball. She showed up on the steps of the cottage he’s staying at and helped herself to his lobster fishing gear like she had an open invitation.
Make no mistake, this was no stray cat. We’re assuming it’s a female, she was not skinny, dirty, or even remotely stressed about life.
Honestly, she looked better put together than most people by this point in the week.
Which made it even funnier.
Out of every place she could’ve wandered, she chose the house that smelled like saltwater, rubber boots, gloves, and lobster gear. She walked up, settled herself in, and acted like she belonged there.
And maybe she did.
The thing I couldn’t stop thinking about afterward, when my daughter told me the story, was how simple it all seemed for her. No hesitation. No second guessing. No worrying whether she was welcome or whether she was annoying someone.
Meanwhile, humans will spend three days debating whether we should send a text message.
We overthink everything.
We rewrite messages in our heads before we send them, analyze punctuation like detectives and convince ourselves we’re bothering people. We stop ourselves from reaching out because maybe it’s a bad time, maybe they don’t care, maybe we’ll sound stupid, or maybe we’re “too much.”
That cat didn’t care about any of that.
She followed what felt right, found a spot she liked, and made herself comfortable.
There’s probably a lesson in that somewhere.
Not about showing up on random doorsteps beside lobster gear… although honestly, some days that sounds easier than being a person.
Perhaps the lesson is about trusting ourselves a little more and not overcomplicating every interaction or assuming we’re unwanted before anyone’s even had the chance to respond.
Maybe it’s about understanding that life gets lighter when you stop rehearsing every move before you make it and noticing how often we create hesitation where none is required.
Honestly, we need to realize that most people are not sitting there analyzing our every word the way we think they are.
That cat didn’t overthink the steps. She just walked up them.
Somehow, that felt like the most sensible thing I have seen all week.
The Other Side of Nice 