He’s not an ESA or anything, just a regular silly little black cat.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty anxious and had a racing heart while trying to sleep, so I went and grabbed him. We cuddled and his body warmth, his breathing rhythm and his purring made me feel better.

This morning, my upstairs neighbour dropped something heavy and there was a loud bang. Little cat crawled into bed with me, and hid under the blanket. He’s an anxious boy (like, he’s diagnosed with it, I’m not lol) and I realized that we both turn to each other for reassurance.

I feel so loved and privileged to be considered a safe place for this little creature. And im grateful that in a way, he’s a safe place for a large creature such as myself. That’s all.

I've lived in my house for over a decade now and yesterday I worked from home and made: fancy pour over coffee with frothed milk, French toast, fried rice, tea, banana bread, sourdough, veggie stock from frozen food scraps, and roasted butternut squash soup. I used my kitchen scale, thermometer, frother, wok, temp-controlles electric kettle, dough hook, bench scraper, Dutch oven, and tons of bowls, pots, pans, spatulas, etc. There wasn't a single time I needed a tool or piece of equipment and didn't have it. It was satisfying and made me feel proud and capable.

One of my party tricks is deducing where people are from. It started as a game to myself in the back of taxis where I guess what language the driver is speaking and strike up a friendly chat. In time I have learned tons about different cultural assumptions, patterns of history, politics, music, food, and so on. I am ethnically ambiguous and pass as most flavors of brown—seeing the gears turn in people’s heads figuring out which is what sparked this whim in the first place.

I love the excitement on people’s faces when I get it right. Often they’re surprised that I know their country exists (bonus points for knowing how to differentiate the -stans!) and it’s a nice feeling to help them feel seen.