Aw, That's So Cute!

hmmmmmm - or is it?

Inside: The latest on the True Kinship With Animals Shop, if we humans are creating harm by placing animals in the ‘cute’ category, what you receive as a paying subscriber and other ways to support my work

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The latest on the True Kinship With Animals print on demand store

I am waiting not so patiently to receive the first samples. Meanwhile, I am having fun creating new products, including stuffed animals and a dragon series of stickers. What do you think?

Aw, That’s So Cute

Have you ever gotten into that Tik Tok Zone where you watch cute animal videos for hours, thinking each one is cuter than the last?

Been there, done that.

As a matter of fact, one of my favorites features Henry the donkey, he has the most adorable bray. ❤️ In the ones I’ve watched, I’ve never seen him with a companion animal.

During one of the community forums for the membership program Kindred, I happened to mention how cute Henry is, the way he always comes running whenever he’s called.

Sounds of silence. Then someone said “You know Janet, companionship for donkeys is vital. It helps keep them healthy physically, socially and psychologically.”

Oops. 🙄 🤦

What’s So Cute About Animals?

As I’ve stepped into the rabbit hole of finding a link between animals and cute, it occurred to me that it might be related to anthropomorphism.

• it may be a way folx experience their connection with animals to show empathy, interest and care for the animal’s well-being

• for us neurodivergent folx, it can be a way to get our dopamine needs met

• then there’s the colonized belief that humans are superior to animals

• or maybe it’s the colonized trends of dressing animals in human clothes or calling them a fur-baby. After all, they are our ‘companion’ animals and we prefer our companions to be like us

• 🙅🙅🙅

True kinship with animals decreases the need to experience animals like humans in animal form. They are not. They are their own species with their own agency

For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue recently posted about the dangers we humans can create when we forget an animal’s agency in the name of ‘cute’.

“You’ve likely seen— and possibly even shared— those cute viral photos and videos of domestic cats raising wild animals. Stories of cats raising wild animals are always adorable and heartwarming, but the sad truth is that most of these stories are fake, and most attempts to recreate them end in tragedy.”

If you’re called to do so, check out this post and others by For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue on Facebook.

What’s your cute quota when it comes to animals?

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This newsletter is energetically and freely given so that we see animals with different eyes, relate to them through a new place of understanding and reimagine a new way to be with them.

If you are called to contribute in reciprocity, thank you, and here are the links where you can do so. Reciprocity is always optional.

Other ways and places to engage in my work:

🐈‍⬛ Upgrade Your Subscription

🐈‍⬛ Join the online membership community Kindred

🐈‍⬛ Schedule a 1:1 consultation

🐈‍⬛ Shop the (soon to be expanded!) shop

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FYI: Paying subscribers receive the monthly teaching, journal prompt, monthly affirmation, altar suggestion, practice suggestion, occasional zoom events and occasional ‘just for today’ reminders.

This month the focus is noticing and accepting what’s right in front of you instead of making assumptions about how you think it ‘should’ be. And believe me, I am truly writing from experience when it comes to this. 🙄

Try a paid subscription for a month, see how it resonates with you.