Photos From the Force

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This is the most fabulous life I’ve ever had, but oh, my, is it busy! Sometimes I feel like Lucy Ricardo in the chocolate factory, juggling projects with both hands, carrying several in my teeth, dropping dozens. I suspect you know how this feels. In the age of speedspeedspeedspeedspeed, we’re all struggling to keep our balance.

But at least, I believe, we have some help.

Y’all know I left the company of dignified rationalists long ago, that I see life as a mystical adventure. The photo shoot reminded me of this, because recently, small miracles have been happening for me with photographs. Here’s one of them, which I’m telling just because it lifted my spirit.

During my April trip to Africa I decided to mentally “called” a cheetah, since I haven’t seen one for years. For a week, we saw no hint of cheetah activity; as Mark Twain put it, “no hair nor no next of skin.” Oh, well, I thought. The universe isn’t hostile. It’s just not all that forthcoming. Kind of like the post office.

At the very end of our final game drive, I finally gave up looking for cheetahs (the phrase “I gave up” is key: we manifest only what we surrender). We drove up a hill to take in one last view. As we gazed over the savannah, our tracker saw a tiny square of white about a mile away. It was the chest of a cheetah who’d climbed a termite mound! We tore over there and found the cheetah tucked in the shadows, looking reluctant, like a post-office employee.

I decided this did not qualify as a miracle, even a small one. I went to cheetah territory, asked experts to help me track cheetah, and they found a cheetah. A wonderful human accomplishment, but nothing magical about it.

Just then, another Land Rover zoomed up in a spray of gravel. It carried a single guest: my friend (and Teammate) Kelly Eide. Minutes before, she’d been sound asleep. Then a loud, persistent gang of monkeys began pounding on the roof of her room. She woke up thinking, “Oh my gosh, there’s a cheetah out there that I have to photograph!” She leaped out of bed, grabbed a camera, and ran through the lodge yelling, “Where’s a ranger? I have to photograph a cheetah!” The ranger she found thought she’d lost her mind, but he and Kelly got to our cheetah sighting just in time for her to snap some great shots. Now those pictures (including the one at the top of this post) are here to remind me: We really do have help.