August 29, 2022

Hello Everyone,

Someone has defecated on my Peloton. No, not someone, something. There are three suspects and it could be any or all of them. Their tiny, bewhiskered faces do not bely any guilt while they watch me on hands and knees with cleaning spray and paper towel. This litter of seven week old kittens has mostly mastered the litter box but aren't quite there yet. The requisite clean up time at the beginning and end of the day is beginning to add up but it doesn't even come close to the first time they looked up at me from their carrier at Orange County Animal Control. They were scheduled to be euthanized the following Thursday if no one stepped up. And that is why three kittens have done more climbs on my Peloton than me this week.

Why am I writing about this in a professional book club email? Because I want to talk about purpose.

The litter of three kittens that I fostered for two weeks gave me a sense of purpose. The shelter that I foster for always needs people willing to take on the task and open their home. I picked up those three kittens on a Sunday afternoon, two hours after I had dropped my previous foster kitten off at the shelter to be adopted. Tuffy was not socialized when she came into my care but after three weeks she was friendly, vaccinated and ready to go. For those three weeks, my mission was to get her to trust humans and learn how to be a cat. There was a couple waiting for her when I arrived at the shelter and they have sent me updates since bringing her home. Tuffy was my mission. She made me think of someone/something outside of myself.

My therapist wanted to know why I foster. This week I have a mama pitbull and her TWELVE puppies at my house. She gave birth to them Tuesday afternoon and I spend several hours a day with them, morning and night, ensuring everyone gets time to feed, weighing them and making sure mama gets love and outside time. It's a huge commitment. But I know that I saved their lives when I picked them up from the Riverside shelter and am helping ensure that they have a safe and happy life. I foster because the other foster volunteers mentor me and give me a sense of community. Fostering has a spiritual aspect for me as well. I believe that it's luck who and what we're born as in this life and that we are all connected, so taking care of those that need help is our duty and is also helping ourselves.

Another major thing in my life that gives me a sense of purpose is BOSLady. In this group, we share our stories and experiences, speaking away our questions, guilt, shame or doubt. We empower, we strengthen. We bring up the hard things.

The past couple of months we have taken a break from meetings and my emails have been more sporadic than usual, rarely hitting the Monday mark. Today I'm dispensing with the typical format altogether. Since our meetings have gone fully virtual, as so many things have since COVID, it's hard to get participants on screen after they've already had a full day of it. I miss our meetings and discussions, but am not sure how to inject new life into them.

What do you think we could do? I'd love to hear back from you and am open to any sort of suggestion.

Thank you for reading my lengthy and personal letter.

Wishing you all well,

Amber

(she/her)