Why I Still Talk to Animals

Every now and then, someone asks me, "After so many years, don't you get bored?"

The question always makes me smile because if anything, the opposite has happened.

The more animals I communicate with, the more curious I become.

People often ask me if this work ever becomes repetitive.

After all, I've been communicating with animals professionally since 2018. I've spoken with thousands of animals and taught hundreds of students. Surely, after all these years, there isn't much left to surprise me.

The truth is, I'm surprised almost every day.

It's not because every conversation is wildly different. In many ways, animals speak about the same things we do. They talk about family, relationships, change, fear, joy, purpose and love.

What changes is the individual.

Every animal brings a different energy into the conversation. They have their own personality, their own way of expressing themselves and their own way of seeing the world. Some are playful and cheeky. Others are thoughtful observers. Some answer every question directly, while others happily take you on a completely unexpected tangent before coming back to what you originally asked.

No two individuals make me feel exactly the same.

But somewhere along the way, I realised something else was happening.

I wasn't just learning about animals.

I was learning about humans.

Animals have an incredible way of holding up a mirror. They help us see the expectations we place on them, the assumptions we make and sometimes even the stories we tell ourselves. Just as often, they remind us of the parts of ourselves we forget to acknowledge. Our kindness. Our resilience. Our willingness to keep trying, even when we think we're falling short.

I still finish many communications thinking, "I hadn't looked at it that way before."

I don't think that feeling will ever disappear.

Curiosity is what keeps this work alive for me. Every conversation reminds me that there is always another perspective, another lesson and another opportunity to understand life a little differently.

I started this journey because I wanted to understand animals.

I never imagined that, along the way, they would teach me so much about humans... and about myself.

That's why, even after all these years, I still wake up excited for the next conversation.