Sounds like a fluffy book filled with cat photographs, doesn’t it? Actually, Cynthia L. Copeland’s Really Important Stuff My Cat Has Taught Me is filled with as much solid advice as most self-improvement books, and more than some. In addition, readers do get all those wonderful cat photographs.

Copeland’s chapter headings offer advice, but the photos and accompanying text explain each chapter. “Be the exception” says that “Progress is achieved when familiar patterns are broken.” But, the author has fun with her own advice. As she says, and the cats illustrate, it’s “Just more fun to be weird than it is to be ordinary.”

Chapter two illustrates something we often forget as we rush through day-to-day life. It’s entitled “Take it all in.” Copeland says cats observe the world around them, and cultivate the time to be alone. She suggests that time for quiet reflection is necessary. It’s not just cats that illustrate the importance of alone time. Albert Einstein, Mozart, and Nikola Tesla are all used as examples of people who appreciated quiet contemplation.

I could explain all the chapter headings, such as “Let your mind wonder” or “Add whimsy to the world.” I could also quote cat lovers such as Mark Twain and Winston Churchill. But, why? There are enough hints to show you that cats are wise in the way of life and philosophy. Observations of cats would provide all of us with some wisdom.

If you get a chance, pick up Really Important Stuff My Cat Has Taught Me. I picked up my copy at the library, so maybe your public library will have a copy. Who can resist those adorable photos?

Really Important Stuff My Cat Has Taught Me by Cynthia L. Copeland. Workman Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781523501489 (paperback).

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FTC Full Disclosure – library book