My good friend Alena Shminke who is also a therapist was trying to cheer me up this morning and wrote: “I think animals are basically happy because they just live in their bodies and that’s all. And btw, they don’t read Nietzsche.”
Since she lives in Estonia I thought it might be easier to talk to an animal face to face and see what he had to say. I met a woman who was feeding chickens and goats cookies and lasagna, which I thought was completely normal.
Al wasn’t interested, possibly because he was on a Keto diet so he came up to chat. Not knowing exactly what to say I asked: what is enlightenment? And he replied, when hungry, eat. When tired, sleep.
Knowing that this was the truth, I thanked him and asked, then what? He told me to come back at the golden hour, use a wider aperture, low ISO and get the color right which pissed me off. So I shot him.
Photography OCD 
Love this, Mike. And I know Alena’s work as contributors to Monochromia.
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Thanks Jane. I stopped there to get some goat shots for Alena and sent her one with lasagna all over his mouth and a big smile.
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Al looks a little bit like Monroe here 😄
He’s guru, we are far from him… By the way, is it ok to stroke a guru if he has a soft coat?
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You can’t stoke a guru because he is egoless. You can however put a quarter in the food machine and feed his body. 😉
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Damn! Then I will use my cat for that purpose before she reaches enlightenment!
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I don’t know Alena, Eckhart Tolle said he lived with several Zen masters-all of them cats. You may have to buy some kittens. 🐱
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Well, maybe she’s enlightened already but she likes being stroked.
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Oh you meant physically stroked? I thought you mean stroking her ego. Carry on.
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Well yes, I don’t know what this word means more, I meant to touch.
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To stroke somebody’s ego means to say nice things to someone to make them feel good, especially because you want something from them.
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Thanks for explanation, Mike! 🙂
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Hahahah…you do talk to the animals! Love it.
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The strange part was that he had a beautiful Scottish accent like Ewan McGregor. Go figure.
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Lol.
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haha…great story 🙂
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Truth is stranger than fiction. 🙂
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You should have said: I’ll packa your bags and we’ll go on an adventure.
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LOL! He has no bags or baggage, that’s why he’s the master.
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Maybe he has a bag but he’s not attached to it 😅
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Exactly, I couldn’t have said it better Kacha.
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You crack me up! Al seems to make some sense!
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Its been said that when the student is ready, the master appears. Yes.
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Anthropomorphism at it’s best. Although I would have just given the guy a warning.
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I was taught to shoot first and ask questions later.
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Heheh, brilliant. I wish you a talkative year. 🙂
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Thanks Mexi, so far so good.
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