Perhaps you know it: you arrive at a place that feels so familiar as if you had been here a thousand times before. Or you meet someone for the first time, but it feels like you have known each other for a long time. I experienced a moment like this when I saw a sea turtle for the first time in real life.
It was the first time I was so far away from home. The scared girl I was when I was 19 had chosen the one place that was located the furthest away from Switzerland for her language course: the Australian continent. Over the Easter break I went on a road trip with my new friends. We drove up north, our destination: the outer Great Barrier Reef, because we wanted to go snorkeling and see the amazing sea life. I don't think I expected much from the boat tour, I had always been a water person, loving the ocean and just wanting to see the many colorful fish. When I jumped into the turquoise water, equipped with a snorkel and goggles, she didn't wait long. The most beautiful sea turtle caught my eye. I was completely enchanted and something in me clicked. For a moment time seemed to stand still, it was only her and me and I knew... I knew that I belonged to this sea turtle. She radiated an incredible force, I felt her immense wisdom and I knew that from now on I would have to search for the presence of this animal time and again. Which in fact I did after this spiritual event, that I wasn't able to fully grasp as a 19-year-old. All my bigger journeys led me from now on to places which allowed me to connect to my beloved sea turtles. From Hawaii to Panama and Greece where I got to know them much better.
The many encounters with the sea turtles confirmed what I had felt the first time in the waters of Australia: the sea turtle is my companion for life, my spirit animal, my soul connection. The intuitive wisdom of these animals inspires me so much. Freshly hatched they know instinctively that they need to follow the brightest horizon in order to find their home, the sea. They grow slowly and return, if they're a female, after twenty years to the same place where they had hatched, to lay their own eggs. Their intuition knows the way even if they are thousands of miles away and haven't been there since the day they were born.
It lets me think about the wisdom that is innate to us. It must be something very natural and deep down we also have this voice that guides us.
And if I don't feel my intuition, I take the little turtles as an example and just follow the brightest light. =)
Tony
This morning before sunrise I found you all alone on the beach of Kalo Nero. You were lying on your back under a small bamboo tepee. I know that this tepee means you were found weak in your nest and in order to give you a bit more time you were buried again, because the sand protects you from the sun and the predators. I almost didn't see you there, you were so small and had the same color as a stone. When you find a turtle you have to give it a name. I called you Tony. Again and again you lifted your head and looked for the sea. I supported you by digging a small trench that helped you find the right way and by protecting you with my body from the rising sun and the many stray dogs that wanted to play with you. But for you it wasn't a game, it was a battle. A full hour you fought your way with your tiny flippers through the sand, conquering the 10 meters to the sea. More than once you wanted to surrender, to rest your little body, and maybe also give up. But your instinct was stronger and finally you rolled into the water. A few times the waves brought you back to me, but then all of a sudden you made it. My gaze followed you when the waves carried you away and I wished with all of my heart that you would keep on fighting. That you would grow into a big and beautiful turtle and that you would explore the whole Mediterranean Sea throughout your long life. You gifted me with a wonderful memory, my dear Tony, with an hour of complete mindfulness and a heart filled to the brim with love.
Comentarios