The Turtle

There was a time when I used to write lists for myself of things I absolutely had to do in life, or else it felt like it was not really a life at all.

Along with everything else, that list included a wish: to see a sea turtle in the wild. And it happened this time when I was in Bali. Of course, she was magnificent in her smooth movements and the way she weaved between the bright blue ocean waves, but that was it, just another check.

Only yesterday did I realize that most of those 'important' items I had so carefully invented and written down are almost meaningless. Events, observations, and encounters that happen completely unexpectedly turn out to be far more valuable and significant. Perhaps that is why they become so memorable and leave an imprint, like little rays of light reflected off objects in a photograph.