"The 'Magic' Words My Beloved Cat Gave Me: How 20 Years with a Rescued Cat Led Me to the TEDx Stage" Episode 6

"What 'Not Being Able to Eat' Taught Me: A Body That Rejected Meat and the Voices of Animals"

From that night on, something strange happened to my body.

The moment I tried to put meat in my mouth for dinner—

An overwhelming wave of nausea surged up.

"Well, maybe I'm just tired today,
it can't be helped, right?"

At the time, that's what I told myself.

But the next morning, the moment I picked up fish with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth—

"This is not food."

It felt as if my own body was telling me that directly.

Even though it should have been an ordinary daily meal, meat and fish looked like corpses, and just bringing them close made me feel nauseous.

Before I knew it, my body had become one that
would accept nothing but vegetables, fruits, and grains.

With my constitution having changed so suddenly, finding things I could eat became my daily routine.

Every time I picked up food at a convenience store or supermarket,

my eyes would first go to the ingredient label on the back.

I never imagined that finding items without meat or fish
would be such an exhausting task.

Around that time, I was planning a group exhibition at a gallery in Osaka with friends I had met through my creative work.

I was also serving as the leader of that group.

With everything being a first-time experience,

"What can I do to make this a good exhibition?"

That was all I could think about every single day.

The gallery owner was a woman with an American husband.

Although she was someone who would mercilessly throw harsh words at artists, she seemed genuinely worried when she saw me getting thinner every time we met.

Every time we saw each other, she would buy me various kinds of food,

"You mustn't lose any more weight than this."

She was desperate to fatten me up.

I hadn't realized it myself, but—

I might not have been obese, but I had previously been aware that I was overweight.

However, one day, when I happened to look in the mirror, I realized for the first time that I had become so thin that the clothes I always wore looked like baggy, oversized garments.

The exhibition was a success, and after that, I spent my days holding solo exhibitions at the gallery and entering competitions.

However, because there were so many things I couldn't eat, I couldn't go out to eat with my friends, and I kept being on the receiving end of thoughtless remarks—

Before long, I had started acting alone again.

There were other changes in my home as well.

When I was working on my art in my room...

Kuro was sitting on my lap.

I thought, 'Huh?' and looked again, but there was no one there.

I felt a fluffy sensation at my feet, and when I looked down, Kuro was rubbing against me with his tail held high.

My mother, who lives with me, also

would be surprised, saying, "When I tried to get cheese from the refrigerator,
Kuro was at my feet."

or seeing only a tail from the blind spot of the stairs.

Such mysterious phenomena continued for several years after Kuro passed away.

Through my studies to become an animal communicator, I learned that these were homecoming visits from pets who had passed away.

Around that time, a program called 'Shimura Zoo' was being broadcast on television.

Because of Heidi, who appeared on the show, I heard the term 'animal communicator' for the very first time in my life.

Somehow, this person—she's like me.

Feeling something similar to her, not in appearance or looks but in some vague way, I decided to order Heidi's book online and read it.

What was written there were Heidi's background and records of her past animal communication sessions.

While reading it, a story I had heard from my mother suddenly came to mind.

It was a story about the time when I was still a child.

I have loved animals since I was a child, and I was never once afraid of large animals that children my age would be scared of and cry over.

I once surprised the adults around me by becoming friends with a dog that was said to be dangerous because it would bite.

When I walked down the street, stray cats and dogs would follow me, which was a problem.

—I realized I had been doing animal communication without even knowing it.

I was suddenly struck by that fact.

When I was a child, I was often told, 'You're different from other people.'

My mother taught me that 'individuality is a treasure,' but I hated those words because I wondered if there was something wrong with me.

'You have to be the same as everyone else.'

I hated those words, too.

Even I think so now.

In the end, no two people are the same.

Perhaps that is why people are wonderful.

Episode 7