Today was a sad day.   It was so difficult leaving Napo.  I felt as if a part of me was being torn.  My mind swirls as I try to reflect on all that we have experienced in the past five days.  I look through the more than 700 pictures I took and I still cannot articulate what it was like.  Sure I can speak about the awe and joy of being so close to birds, monkeys, insects, frogs, Caymans, snakes, a puma, and bats.  Or I could share about the trees, plants, flowers, the earth, wind, torrential rain, sunsets and sunrises.  I am sure you could imagine and I will post photos, videos and audios of the sounds to help bring it to you.

But what was most incredible is the palpable feelings of complete harmony and perfection in spite of the challenging and unpredictable conditions that are present every minute of the day.  There is a kind of flow, a sense of belonging in this complex ecosystem which allowed me to be in the constant cycle of one minute basking in sunlight and the next getting caught up in pouring rain.  There is no grasping or wishing for things to be other than they are.  The cacophony of sounds, starting in the evening and growing louder through the night, could have been maddening if we didn’t fully embrace our place in this ecosystem.  I even came to accept the millions of mosquitos hovering over me looking for some exposed space on my body to attack.  (Left with 3 mosquito bites and one very painful fire ant bite)

The life and death cycle of eat or be eaten, which not only exists among wildlife but also plant life, is a marvel as it brings rise to so much of nature’s beauty.  It is nothing short of a work of art.  The most fascinating is the ways in which all creatures use camouflage.

Can you see the animals in these photos?

 As I observed with great awe, over and over again, how the colors and shapes of the various animals and insects protect them from predators, my mind went to a new thought: we humans do the same thing. We camouflage our true selves to help us adapt and survive perceived threats, not from predators but from each other’s judgments.

In our case, however, this mechanism can be reversed once we become adults and recognize that, unlike the rest of nature, our survival does not depend on being someone we are not.  On the contrary, we humans have the special ability to break through our camouflage, discover and embrace who we really are and move beyond survive to THRIVE.

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