By Niggy Binkles
Recently, a friend told me that her daughter had taken a break from a lucrative job abroad to return and be a social media 'influencer', working in this capacity from her flat in a crowded city. She said that her daughter was earning much more as an ‘influencer’ than before.
Frankly, I had no idea whatsoever what a ‘social media influencer’ is. I hadn’t heard about it before, and so, I did a bit of research (Googling it up, naturally!) to know. Here’s a description that I found:
“An influencer is someone who has the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience. Influencers are usually active on social media platforms […]”
Now, small little me has, needless to say, never felt the need to take the help of any such professional ‘influencer’ to get my way about in the world. I’ve managed things, like most other folks have for centuries, by simply using my basic commonsense to deal with issues that arise as my life unfolds. But be that as it may, I now recognize that I have indeed been ‘influenced’ a great deal, by three cat-ismatic (ooops! I mean, charismatic) ‘influencers’ in particular as I will now call them. Do you want to know who they are? Hmmmm hold your breath and let me tell!
With a very fluffy tail, lovely green-brown eyes, an orange coat and a majestic meow that you can hear from a long distance away, the first of these ‘influencers’ is Ginger, a Garfield lookalike, who roams around the block where I presently live. He comes around punctually between five and six for breakfast. Ginger has influenced me simply by the way he is. He is easily the friendliest cat I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. He just loves being with people if they are kind to him. He comes bounding up to you when he sees you, as if he’s some little jungle leopard, demanding to be cuddled. I’ve learnt a lot from him, including not just from his pure love but also from his disciplined food habits and his penchant for getting up even before its dawn, which makes me wait for him at a rather early hour every morning to serve him his breakfast, for otherwise he’ll likely wake up the neighbours with a really loud roar.
Mickey, another such wild cat, is the second of these ‘influencers’ in my life. While I have no idea where he roams about during the day and sleeps at night, he comes over early in the morning for a snack. He announces his arrival with a rather un-cat-like squeak, sounding almost like a magpie, which teaches me that you don’t have to be loud and noisy to make your presence felt and that one’s natural squeak is enough to be heard in this noisy world.
Kitty Ole, a cat with a patchwork-like coat, is the third of these ‘influencers’. I just love her mellifluous and almost inaudible meow, which she emits with a dainty curl of her nose, so endearing that I just cannot resist but serving her when she’s around. This tells me that when one feels ruffled and things seem overwhelming, it isn’t that being rough and pushy will greatly help. Rather, in such situations, gentleness can work wonders. As Kitty Ole engages in a noiseless catwalk, she patiently passes time waiting for me to open the door and give her food. After she’s over with her meal, she sits by herself, observing silence as if in deep meditation, and watching the world go by, till the sight of Ginger and Mickey makes her take the first available flight to safety!
So that, in brief, is about how these three furry folks—Ginger, Mickey and Kitty Ole—have been key cat-ismatic ‘influencers’ for me. As I see them, these charismatic creatures are surrendered completely to the Divine, with no fear of the future or burdens from the past: free, pure and very beautiful souls.
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