I find myself drawn to sea turtles. Maybe it is the experiences that I have had around them. Or maybe it is more about my vision of them and qualities that I want more of in my life.
I am a scuba diver. Divers are always on the lookout for animals, and spotting a turtle is always a dive highlight for me. My dad was a diver and would always talk about seeing the things he saw on his dives, especially turtles. My son, T, has an almost supernatural quality to draw in turtles. I have yet to do a dive with him that we haven’t seen at least one, even in locations that turtle sightings are rare.
There is a tranquil quality that sea turtles possess. I think you only realize it when you watch them under water. Tucked into a crevice in the coral, napping, a little bubble of air drifting up the only sign of life until it casually looks in your direction. It is a level of calm that rarely exists in my life, but certainly one I desire. Then they will slowly swim to the surface, take a few breaths of air, and casually swim to a new spot on the reef.
The greatest threat to the turtles is us. We continue to create obstacles and roadblocks, dangers and death traps. Some are intentional, some as a known byproduct of other intentional acts, and some through negligence of our own impacts.
I guess it’s a lot like what humans do to each other.
It might be asking too much to think that we are ready to treat ALL other humans with kindness and dignity. It would be a better world if we could. For now I think I will try to find a bit of a turtle spirit. Tranquil. Slow breaths out forming little bubbles. Casually swimming to a new spot on the reef.
That Jed 