Alligator’s Stillness: A Moment I Carry With Me.

Over the weekend, my family visited the aquarium to celebrate my older brother’s birthday. It was a joyful day, many amazing sights were unveiled, and several opportunities to push myself to overcome obstacles were had. But one moment has stood apart from the rest. It was quiet, unspoken, and deeply grounding. 

While walking through the wetlands exhibit, I sat alongside an alligator. There was an unexpected stillness in him, and I felt it slowly making its way through each cell of my body and into my soul. It softened me, pulling me to experience the motionless water as it surrounded him. Everything dimmed, the world was muffled, and it was just us for a brief moment. We were there, watching each other, curious what the other was thinking and how we were both aware of it. 

His stillness reflected a deep inner peace I have long desired. It was larger than me, like the earth was pulling the thread that connected us. It reached through this one quiet moment to show me something I couldn’t have heard with words. 

It was a reminder that we are not separate from nature; we are within it. If we slow down and truly pay attention, the other beings who share this world with us will teach us what we most need to remember: presence, patience, balance, and belonging.

The moment I shared with the alligator was instructive; it was a reminder that stillness is powerful and connection is not limited to language. I carry the connection within me, as I always will.