When I am feeling down, I think about the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees at CSNW and everything they have been through in their lives.
I am amazed and humbled that Jody, after decades of living in a small cage in a medical laboratory, after having seven babies taken from her, can still enjoy relaxing in the February sun, holding her feet:
and Foxie, who endured research protocols, five babies being taken from her, and periods of social isolation, can greet each day with the desire to play with her caregivers and her chimpanzee friends
and Missy and Annie, who spent years without each other, can decide to sleep in together, napping in the side-by-side nests they created in the playroom
When I think about my chimpanzee friends and their lives, I realize I have little to complain about. And, if I can remember to live for today as they do, each day should include relaxation, happiness, play and companionship.
How right you are Diana. It amazes me that the chimps can forgive and have a good relationship with members of a species that treated them so poorly. By all rights, they should hate all humans. Phillip, the primatologist at Chimp Eden once told me that chimps don’t hold grudges. I believe that is true. I also believe they are able to enjoy themselves now because they know the humans there can be trusted not to hurt them. We can and have learned so much from them. I wish I could forgive as easily.
Those are some really fabulous looking nests!
It’s good to take a moment every day to realize how lucky we are to just be alive. It’s amazing that we can breathe, and move, and process the world around us. Life is an extravagent gift.
I’m so very glad the chimps are in a place where they can *enjoy* it now.
Maybe it’s because chimps already know that holding on to a grudge is like swallowing poisen and expecting the other one to die. Or maybe they already know all of the stuff written in Eckart Tolle’s book The Power of Now. Seems like there are lots of examples in the animal kingdom for humans to learn from :-}
It is amazing, isn’t it? All we’ve done to them and yet they’re still so healing for us.
Those nests by Missy and Annie are SOME nests they look very comfy and I like that they placed them near the window.
Has Foxie progressed anymore toward building a nest with blankets? Last I’d read she’d surround herself with paper, a fire helmet and other goodies.
Non-human animals can truly be some of our best teachers, if we only let them.
I’d love for one of those gals to build a nest like that for me! Those look great…I’m ready for a nap in the sun right now!
I think the big reason chimps don’t hold grudges against humans is that they don’t have egos. Life is as it is. It was sad and lonely for them for all those years, and now its not. The humans that surround them now have given them a carefree happy life and that’s what it is. The past is done, gone. Now is now and it’s a happy now. And that brings happiness to those who care for their existence. The picture of Jody says it all. 🙂
Everyone has said it so well. Thank you Diana for reminding me of the simple joys of life and how blessed we are to have the chimps teach us. The pictures indeed brought a warm cozy smile to my face and a wonderful feeling of what a wonderful life we can have when we follow their example.