Indifference

Someone sends you a selfie and you can feel the work in it—the angle, the light, the smile that was tested in a mirror first. Then you see a cat and there’s none of that effort. The cat wasn’t trying. It was scratching its ear or staring at nothing when someone aimed the camera and caught something true.

That’s the gap. A selfie is a question—look at me, do you like me. A cat photo is just an answer. It’s just there.

I’ve spent enough time trying to take decent pictures to know the moment you start caring about the result, you’re finished. The cat doesn’t know how to care. That’s why the cat wins.