Animals, Clouds & True Kinship — Oh My!

How many times have you defined yourself by what you do for the animals in your life? Maybe you call yourself their pet parent, their caretaker or their owner.

Now think about the roles you have assigned to the animals. Have you called them your pet or fur baby, or maybe your guide or teacher?

Our society demands that everything, including relationships, be pigeon-holed, an action that tends to create rigidity and exclusivity. While at the beginning of our journey this may give us some guidance in ways to be, it ultimately creates hierarchy and division. The result is humans having dominion over animals.

As an animist, my cosmology is:

• everything (even your laptop) is sentient
• all sentient beings are connected and thus can intercommunicate
• all sentient beings are equal and have their own agency

Now let’s explore role assignment with a being that doesn’t have a face — clouds. What would it be like to make a pet out of a cloud? How could you be the owner? What would it take to be a cloud parent? Does the cloud become your liquid water droplet baby?

I think it’s fair to say we are not in a conditional relationship with clouds — one that is dependent on what we can do for each other. We are interdependent with them as they are a part of our weather system, but we don’t own and control them.

Like with clouds, we are interdependent with animals. But the difference is we have domesticated animals, robbing them of their agency and imposing our human criteria and standards upon them.

When we look at animals through an interdependent lens, we are starting to alter the relationship from dominion over to true kinship with.

A question for you to ponder: What labels have you given yourself in your relationship with animals that now feel incongruent with your truth?

Here’s an invitation for you to join me on this path of true kinship with animals. My work is devoted to helping you show up in the world for animals from the fullness of your authentic self. I hope this encourages you to look at your relationship with animals differently so that a new place of understanding begins to open for you.

Just for today remember: We all do better when all creatures do better. Until next time, take good care!

Janet Roper is an animist, podcaster, intuitive practitioner, non-traditional animal communicator, mentor and educator and for 20+ years has helped people restructure their relationship with animals. Two of her most popular resources are her monthly newsletter and her 5 email introductory series to her signature program Deepen. Visit her website and give her podcast True Kinship With Animals a listen.