What I learned from losing my cat — and why stories matter the most

My kitten has been missing since Saturday 😢

I never thought I’d become the kind of cat lady who would go crazy with grief over their fur baby, to the point of losing her voice from all the screaming in her car and crying…

But there I am.

Spinning theories and hypothesis about what could have happened to him, but the worst part of all?

No story.

We have no idea what happened to him. He just seems to have disappeared into thin air. And that’s worse than knowing that he’s dead.

The Nazis knew this. They knew the absence of story could break people in a way that no other form of torture could. They created meaninglessness and disorder to break their spirit. And it was the ones who could create meaning and purpose despite all the senselessness and chaos who survived.

Story is literally the difference between life and death.

I’ve been listening to Angus Fletcher’s new book Primal Intelligence. In it, he shows how story training makes soldiers stronger, faster, smarter, more resilient - in a way that nothing else can.

In short, we are only as great as our ability to imagine, write and tell our stories.

So I console myself with story.

I tell myself the story about a time travelling cat who has simply slipped into another dimension, and has to solve quantum physics conundrums in order to get back home. In the meantime, he sends messages to his grieving cat mom via Bob Marley songs on the radio (this part is true), like something out of the movie Interstellar.

I tell myself that no matter what happens, we will be reunited one day in heaven, and I can already see him skipping across clouds toward me with his raptor-like purr/bark that he always welcomes me with, before he rolls over for a belly rub.

And I keep going.

These stories heal me, and give me hope. They create possibilities and pave ways to move forward. And that’s why stories matter.

So story on,

Cat

PS: Reading Primal Intelligence reminded me why I do what I do – helping people shape the stories that bring their ideas, experiences, and purpose to life. Because story isn’t just how we make sense of the world – it’s how we change it. Whether that story becomes a book, a brand, or a new direction, it’s how we turn what happened to us into something that can happen for others.

If you’re ready to discover your story – or bring it to life in a bigger way – I’d love to help. Let’s connect →