Curious Cat

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This week I'm on Cloud Nine. My eldest is here to share their thoughts on the dreaded dark night of the soul. We also delved into manifesting, and learn about empty-handed magic!
You'll remember Nora from their Season One conversation, as well as the art they created for both Curious Cat Podcast AND Cascadia! They have their own ethically sourced, meticulously created handmade art company, Solstice Eve. Find the links and add your name to the mailing list!
Hang on after the closing music for another segment of The Curious Queue! Find the links for those articles below!
Episode Sources and Links
Solstice Eve
Richard Simmons X (Twitter) feed
Articles Featured in The Curious Queue!
Truckers' Strange Encounters with the Unexplained

An Odd Case of a Creepy Abandoned Notebook, Bizarre Disappearances, and Strange Mysteries in the Woods from Mysterious Universe

Report YOUR UFO/UAP sighting here!

Bigfoot Sightings Reported by Month at BFRO dot net
LISTEN TO ONE OF THESE NEXT!
Talking Astrology with Nora!Forgiveness

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Curious Cat on InstagramCurious Cat on TikTokArt Director, Nora, has a handmade, ethically-sourced jewelry company!

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These are the top lessons I’ve learned in 2022.
Yeah, I know. I’m a tad early in kissing 2022 goodbye. Thing is, I love looking back. I’m addicted to it. It’s clarifying. The waning weeks of a year are the natural time to review and assess.
This time last year I was in a very different state of mind. It was more a sense of bitterness, like I’d somehow been betrayed by 2021. It was supposed to be better than 2020 and yet it took my father from me and left me an empty nester. I was unhealthy inside and out. No doubt about it, it’d been a year of loss and grief on all fronts. Growing pains. That’s the label I’d give 2021. 2022 was a mixed bag, personal growth was part of that mix, but there wasn’t as much pain. I’ve tried to discern why. Mostly, I have been less reactive, more proactive. I’ve learned to stay centered. Ditching news really helped me have early success. Then meditation. Then morning minutes. Those have kept me connected to the glory of the collective. I’m like that thick-trunked oak, whose roots spread out below the dirt as far and wide as the branches across the sky. On occasion I’ll get sucked into a current events drama, find my hands balled into fists and my cheeks blazing with red ire. Thing is, I catch myself faster now. I cool off and reconnect with the energy of the collective and soon fill with love.

This podcast, has given me a reason to dive head first into expanding my knowledge, stretching the bounds of what I believe. I hope it’s helped you look at life, the world, other people, spirituality, nature, magic, in a different way, too. I went through my notebooks and racked my brain. After reading upwards of 40 books to prepare episodes, I had a lot to sort through, and this is the result.

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Curious Cat on InstagramCurious Cat on TikTokArt Director, Nora, has a handmade, ethically-sourced jewelry company!

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This episode will inform your journey if you are facing an end of life time with your pet. They don't have words, so we will dive into how to assess their quality of life, their joy or pain, and how best to nurture them through their final days.
It's a subject I know intimately; I’m in the midst of this for the third time, and wanted to share the experience in case you face this in the future. Because our pets don’t have voices, we must make the best guesses we can about their pain, their will to live, and their desire to cross the rainbow bridge. I don’t have all the answers, far from it, but I’d still like to offer up my experiences so that you don’t feel alone when you face this.

I’m currently in the throes of pet hospice for our 19-year-old Maine Coon, Romeo. He’s been losing weight fast these last few months. His body has a tough time tolerating food. At his last check up, the just-out-of-vet-school-doctor couldn’t wrap her brain around end of life care. When she noted his feather weight and tooth situation she began to write down a litany of tests she’s recommend to get to the bottom of Romeo’s poor health. “He’s nineteen years old.” That didn’t sink in. We asked about quality of life. How, since Romeo can’t speak, do we know that he’s not suffering more than he’s thriving?
Show Creators and Social Media Links:Art Director: @NorasUnnamedPhotos (on Instagram)

Curious Cat on Twitter

Curious Cat on Instagram

Host, Jennifer Hotes, on Twitter

Show Resources and Materials:

https://www.lapoflove.com/blog/end-of-life-care-and-euthanasia/quality-of-life-assessment-a-critical-tool-for-your-senior-pet

https://www.cinderrockvetclinic.com/site/blog/2021/09/27/assessing-senior-pet-quality-of-life

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3760804/After-Bel-Mooney-revealed-dog-came-death-sceptics-ask-dead-pets-really-come-comfort-owners.html

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I was doing my morning minutes a few weeks ago and also thinking about AI. I'd brought up AI with members of my podcast network at a meeting and many expressed fear, and their ongoing attempt to keep a distance from this technology.

It got me thinking about AI, and how it is being shaped, more specifically WHO is shaping it. If people like me, that lean more into crystals and astrology than, say, an accounting ledger shy away from interacting with AI chatbots, well, that means other more innovative, science-based people are doing the bulk of shaping AI, right? Well, that feels imbalanced, a recipe for disaster. And it led me to do an experiment. Oh, and spoiler? An AI chatbot helped me create this very special episode of Curious Cat!

Let's get into it!
There's a special message at the 32:00 mark (about) that came out of my pen from the Universe. If you only have time for that, it's well worth the listen. Thank you, Universe!Show Sources and Materials:
Be Free Where You Are by Thich Nhat Hanh
https://ourworldindata.org/ai-impact

https://eng.vt.edu/magazine/stories/fall-2023/ai.html

https://online.york.ac.uk/artificial-intelligence-and-its-impact-on-everyday-life/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-absorb-bias-from-ai-and-keep-it-after-they-stop-using-the-algorithm/

https://hbr.org/2018/07/collaborative-intelligence-humans-and-ai-are-joining-forces

Liked this episode? Listen to this NEXT:

The Ghost in the Machine: AI Truths and Lore

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Curious Cat Crew on Socials:
Curious Cat on Twitter (X)
Curious Cat on InstagramCurious Cat on TikTokArt Director, Nora, has a handmade, ethically-sourced jewelry company!

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Today’s episode is the first piece of an ongoing conversation about overcoming roadblocks to become more spiritual. I’ve tripped up, made major missteps, and fallen into potholes, but I’ve also achieved some victories. I hope by sharing my journey, I can smooth your path. The focus today is on how to cut out the spiritual middleman. It’s imperative in order to claim your power.
Soon after the death of my father, I spiraled into a deep depression. I didn’t want to be here anymore. It was a pain no one could solve, so I turned to the spiritual. If I could stretch the limits of my soul, could I catch a glimpse of Dad’s new zip code? Then maybe it’d be okay to keep living.
And that’s how my spiritual journey saved my life. Soon, though, as I dug into the subject deeper, I kept hearing this judgy voice asking, ‘Is that book godly? Is this knowledge dark magic?’ The exclamations came from some bible study teacher embedded in my brain, on and on she went. Dark, light. Good, evil. Sanctioned, damned. Heaven, Hell. Growing up, I’d been indoctrinated to believe there was no room for gray. And that’s how I was introduced to the spiritual middleman in my head. I had to evict him in order to take my power back. It was a boss battle. Gamers know what I’m talking about. A knock-down-drag-out-fight. But I made it and nothing would bring me more joy than if I can embolden you to do the same.

So what is a spiritual middleman? It is any guru, channeler, healer, teacher, shaman or religious leader that believes they have higher power, more worth, or greater status than those they teach or lead. In this episode I'll teach you what healthy spiritual leaders look like and what defines controlling, gatekeeping spiritual middlemen.
Show Pros and Socials:
Art Director: @NorasUnnamedPhotos (on Instagram)

Curious Cat on Twitter

Host, Jennifer Hotes, on TwitterEpisode Materials/Sources:
If you want to muck in the depths of religious condescendence, I’ve provided a link to the Catholic blog post telling you why you must not trust the Holy Spirit in yourself, but rely on the (gulp) anointed church leaders.

Bible Timeline – Including the organized church responses, rules, limitations, and all of its iterations and advances

Jesus – No Middleman! An article by Roberta Grimes

Is your spiritual teacher keeping you asleep? From Wake Up World! Website

Have you tried the GoodPods app yet? It's free and a fun way to share podcasts with friends and family! Curious Cat Podcast is there, and is sitting pretty in the Top 20 in Supernatural!
Curious Cat Crew on Socials:
Curious Cat on Twitter (X)
Curious Cat on InstagramCurious Cat on TikTokArt Director, Nora, has a handmade, ethically-sourced jewelry company!