The Moth and the Brevity of Existence: Why a Tiny Life Can Instruct Us on Joy

The forest is a constant teacher about the importance of every moment

You might do this too: in the mornings, if you have a tub, you might find a spider, a daddy long legs or some other denizen which slipped down the precipitous, slippery porcelain to the bottom of your tub. Not much food to be found down there, and no way out.

You may feel pity. I do.

Since I live in a fir forest, and like to open my doors to the world early in the mornings, I get plenty of visitors. Not their fault they're drawn to light.

So I find a light towel, and with great care I lift my visitor out and release it back into the night where food is to be found. Or it becomes food. It's a forest.

Yesterday morning I wasn't so lucky. A moth had found its way in, my bath was full of bubbles. Before I could stop its progress, it spiraled headlong into the foam.

I swiftly rescued it, still struggling, and it re-launched itself. This time, it went right into the hot water. That was the end of it.

I felt a real sadness. About a moth, right?

That reminded me of this story:

I'm not Elina. Still, as I've aged, I have tried harder to be in the world and not try to control it. I don't mind spiders and critters, for they control populations of other critters I most certainly wouldn't want around.

The moth's death spiral made me think about stories I'd read about children whose incurable medical conditions meant an extremely brief life. In those cases, the family was determined to give the child as many experiences as possible in the world before leaving it.

Nature is full of such short lives. The shortest-lived thing that we know about is the mayfly, which exists all of 24 hours, if that.

Creatures which don't question their worth just go out and live. They eat, they mate, they are in the world.

Look at what we do with ours.

Compared to some living things, our lives are also very short. The Turritopsis dohrnii, or immortal jellyfish, can revert to its juvenile state if threatened.

We do the same thing (emotionally, anyway) but it doesn't give us immortal life. It just means that we are less capable of dealing with the life we're given, and less likely to live it in full.

Whatever you're doing, whomever you are with today, I hope in all sincerity your experiences allow you to enjoy to the fullest the moments you are given. In truth, we all have short and tiny lives. But they can be so very full.

Let's make them count.

Dear Walkabout Saga Reader:

Thank you so much for taking a few minutes out of your life to read my work. WalkaboutSaga is an act of love and devotion, and I hope that you found value in it.

If my work appeals to you, may I kindly invite you to consider joining those Patreon supporters whose generosity keeps the gas in my tank as it were.

Such articles take time, resources, research and effort. Even a small amount of support truly helps me keep this going. In challenging times, I recognize that even a small amount is hard. Those who can give, I appreciate it. Those who cannot, I hope my words are helpful.

My purpose is to Move People's Lives. I can do more of that with your help.

Thank you.

You can explore that option here.

However you decide to partake of my writing, again, thank you.