isolation and connections

Our eyes lock. My breath slows. Dare I breath? Dare I move?

A dark pair blinker back, with all the wisdom of those who have seen the depths, with all the joy of the young.

The galapagos islands are formed from volcanic lava flow which has resulted in the perfect ecological environment for wildlife to flourish. The reality of this translates to - A playground for all the birds and beasts, a haven for the hunted and a natural architecture of day dreams.

My companion on this day was a puppy of the oceans, a surfer of swells. To come face to face with a sea lion pup was like a step back to childhood - To frolic with abandon, conscious of the joy of youth and play being the only criteria on agenda.

The tentative nerves of that first meeting, I was approached with caution, debated, my threat being ascertained. When approval was reached, I found myself in a perpetual dance, being circled and circling to the point of giddiness. Having had strict instructions to look but never touch I found myself experiencing the glide of seal skin slipping past my inferior human casing - turning me to pimple-flesh and all of those mammal-hairs standing to attention. The lava tunnels provided a street for our parade, the anemones applauded our meeting, the schools of fish were our procession.

These creatures soar through their environment, catching a perpetual drift. Never before have my ten fingers and ten toes been so acknowledged. To be hindered by such design is to be human; yet it was unusual to find myself so poorly adapted. If only for flippers, if only for a snout. If only for that insulating blubber, we would have been there all day.

As it was, my humanness forsook me. To clamber from that ocean pool was to emerge renewed. For how often do we truly relish the current moment in life? To be fully present and mindful in the very moment we find ourselves in? As it was, a creature so foreign, one that had such little knowledge of my world above those waters, showed me what it means to be human.