I haven’t been feeling effectively and have wanted to spend so much of time resting on the sofa. It will get outdated actually shortly as a result of there’s a lot that I need to be doing, particularly hanging out on the seashore the place I regularly see sea lions and harbor seals. However, till my physique feels stronger, it can stay on the sofa.
One of many issues I love to do to assist cheer myself up is to go to three of my favourite sea otters via an aquarium’s webcam. I’ve met all of them earlier than, and I really like having the ability to watch them after I can’t be there in individual. (They have been all rescued as infants and aren’t in a position to be launched again into the ocean, in order that they’re given pretty much as good of a life as attainable on the aquarium and so they all appear fairly content material from what I can inform.)
Anyway, yesterday I turned on the digital camera and noticed considered one of them (Oswald, I believe) swimming round. A pair walked as much as the viewing window, and I used to be excited to really feel their pleasure as soon as they noticed him swim proper previous them. (Not one of the otters pay a lot consideration to the individuals within the window – they simply swim on by.) Positive sufficient, as he received nearer, one of many individuals shortly took an image. I believed they’d then put the digital camera down and be so fascinated that they’d have a tough time tearing themselves away from the window as all three otters swam close to them so agilely and playfully. Nevertheless, they didn’t. As quickly as they received their image, they instantly left…onto the subsequent exhibit, most definitely.
Now, I admit that it’s very attainable that I’m projecting right here and writing my very own story that’s removed from the reality. I can’t probably know what was occurring of their minds. Perhaps they went to a special window and stayed and watched the otters from there. Or possibly they’d already been watching and simply wished another picture. All I do know for certain is that my coronary heart harm after witnessing this as a result of it was indicative of what I see so typically after I’m on the seashore, in a restaurant, or wherever, actually: the expertise itself takes a backseat to getting the image. Slightly than immersing ourselves in life, so many people have gotten into the behavior of taking footage of it so we will mark that we have been there after which share them on social media as proof. Slightly than totally absorbing the wonder and the magic of what’s occurring proper in entrance of us, so many are lacking all of it. And that makes me actually unhappy.
We’ve some buddies who advised us that they as soon as went to an artwork exhibit the place a reproduction of a well-known portray was made and put right into a separate room as a result of so many wished to take selfies in entrance of it, relatively than actually taking in the great thing about the precise portray. I bear in mind the primary time I noticed considered one of Jackson Pollock’s work up shut for the primary time, I used to be moved to tears. He’s my favourite painter, and the MoMA in NYC was showcasing lots of his work. This specific one was so grand that you just needed to step distant from it simply to take all of it in. I sat on a bench in entrance of it in full awe – mesmerized by the entire colours, the feelings, the strokes, the splatters…all of it. I don’t have an image of that second on my digital camera. However I’ll endlessly have an image of it in my thoughts. And after I give it some thought, I really feel the entire similar feelings and awe that I felt then, all these years in the past.
Now, I’m definitely not saying that we shouldn’t take footage to doc our adventures and moments from our lives that we need to bear in mind and share with others. I do that the entire time. However what hurts my coronary heart is when the documenting turns into extra essential than no matter we’re experiencing, taking a look at, having fun with. As a result of, for my part, the magic lies within the expertise itself, in permitting ourselves to totally immerse in it. After we do, we gained’t want an image to remind us of it. Will probably be etched into our brains endlessly.
My worry is that by placing the concentrate on the image as a substitute of the expertise, so many are lacking out on life…on magnificence. It’s true that Oswald the ocean otter doesn’t care whether or not somebody is fascinated by him and totally appreciates him. However I’d hope that if the individuals I noticed within the window had spent only a few extra minutes watching him, they’d have created a reminiscence that they’d always remember: seeing how sleek he’s within the water, watching him play struggle with Schuster and roll again and again collectively till considered one of them determined they’d had sufficient and swam off, seeing him dive to the underside to seize a toy or some meals and are available again up and put it on his stomach to play with it or to eat it, and seeing him vigorously clear his physique within the absolute cutest approach ever. In my thoughts, that’s what it’s all about. The image paperwork the expertise. However in the event you don’t enable your self to totally have the expertise, the image shortly loses its which means and will get blended in with all of the others.
I assume to me it’s about slowing down and actually being current within the second. Opening as much as it. Embracing it. Being in awe of it. Merely being in it. Making the time to offer myself the reward of full immersion and full appreciation. After which taking an image of it to assist me bear in mind this second in my life and in addition to have the ability to share this second with my family and friends.
As for Oswald, I hope to see him and his buddies in individual quickly. Within the meantime, I’ll preserve turning on the webcam and appreciating them as totally as I’m in a position to. They’re wonderful. This world we stay in is wonderful. Life is wonderful. And I positively need to soak as a lot of it up as attainable in no matter approach I’m in a position to. I want that for us all.
Hugs,
