I strongly believe in reincarnation and past lives. The way I see it, the notion that each of us has already lived multiple lifetimes just seems intuitively true.

However, I think some people get carried away with the idea and start claiming that they were the glorious figures of history we read about, like Alexander the Great or Augustus Caesar. It's more likely that most of us were somebody that we've never heard of; you know, just a simple, ordinary and average Joe or Jill who was born, lived a little and eventually passed away. It's really quite amazing to ponder the billions of undocumented human existences to grace the earth since the dawn of time and how very, very few people are ever remembered in the chronicles of civilization.

Anyway, I actually prefer to believe that I was an animal in my immediate life preceding this current physical existence. It's just funnier to picture yourself that way.

So I guess my open question to the TIG community is what kind of animal do you think you were in your past life? Or I guess in other words, what creature do you resemble most or have the most affinity towards? Examine your facial appearance, dietary preferences, eating habits, behavioural quirks and etc., and try to compare those traits to different species. I'd be highly interested to hear your unique answers. Who knows? We might even end up with a zoo.

As for me, I've always thought that I was some type of feline in my past life. I absolutely adore cats. They remind me of myself a lot, in all the categories I listed above.

Unfortunately though, my parents were always against having pets when I was growing up. It wasn't until the summer of 2006 that I had my first experience really bonding with any type of household animal and guess what - she was a cat! Here's a photo of the family cat of the Khmer host family that I lived with for a month in rural Cambodia. She had triple coated fur and was absolutely beautiful. While I was living with her, she had a male kitten and my host family kindly ended up naming the boy, "Yue-Kiu Jr." I wonder how he is now... oh, and I'll end with a meow.