Witnessing the Divine Creativity of the Greatest Artist and the Amygdala’s Blessing for Survival
Behold the grandeur of the greatest artist of all, as he unleashes a masterpiece upon the world! With exquisite masterstrokes of light and colour, he paints a canvas that is radiant with an intense blaze of colours, a celestial symphony of unparalleled beauty.
Our safari vehicle comes to a halt, as we are awestruck by the magical scene before us. Fluffy clouds stand anxiously frozen in time, as if determined to maintain the chosen pattern of the heavens.
Sharp stratified rays of luminescence shoot out their final bursts of brilliance through the silhouetted clouds, bathed in this otherworldly glow.
This is a moment of true magic, a glimpse into the divine creativity of the greatest artist of all. This is the time of day when the sky acts out a dramatic exit of the sun from the Maasai Mara sky.
And to think that we may not have been alive to relish this moment if things had been a little different, just a couple of hours ago.
It had started out as a typical day on safari. We had driven out into the vast savannahs of the Maasai Mara in search of wildlife. It was a good day. We saw an amazing range of animals at close range within the safety of the safari vehicle. Watched thousands of wildebeest and zebras making the treacherous and perilous crossing. Manoeuvring up and down the slick riverbank and across the Mara River, while sleepy hippos lay on the banks away from this frantic scramble and commotion.
With evening approaching, we’re satisfied that we’ve seen the Big 5 of Kenya, and much more.
We are perched on a higher plane of land that offers us a panoramic view of the boundless stretch of plains. The pleasant evening’s swooshing breeze is abruptly galvanized by a sequence of grunts of a lion. From somewhere within the tall savanna, the heaving roars get more audible. The lion is nowhere in sight, yet we are already under attack – an Amygdala Hijack!
The term “Amygdala Hijack” was coined by science journalist Daniel Goleman in his book on Emotional Intelligence to describe emotional responses that we have which are immediate and overwhelming, and out of measure with the actual stimulus because it has triggered a much more significant emotional threat. It’s an automatic response to physical danger that allows us to react quickly without thinking.
When this almond shaped mass of nuclei located deep within the temporal lobe of the human brain sounds the alarm, our bodies respond with an instantaneous sequence of hormonal and physiological changes preparing us to fight or flee.
We may not run into predators on a daily basis, but our amygdala is ready, just in case.
Now it’s time to bid farewell to the Maasai Mara, the memories of this breath-taking landscape forever etched in our hearts and minds. The thrill of seeing majestic lions roam free, the wonder of witnessing a wildebeest migration in all its glory, and the sheer awe-inspiring beauty of the savannah will stay with us long after we have left this natural wonderland.
As we drive away in our safari vehicle, we feel a bittersweet sense of longing, a desire to stay just a little longer, to soak in the splendour of this magnificent place. Yet we also feel a deep sense of gratitude that the greatest artist of all, amongst all his blessings, gave us the amygdala to survive not just in the wild but also amidst the perils and hazards of the concrete jungles.
This disguised blessing is yet just another aspect of true magic, a glimpse into the divine creativity of the greatest artist of all.
Have you read my story on the urban dilemma? Here’s the link.
https://wordsoups.com/2022/11/28/urban-dilemma-to-smile-or-not-to-smile/
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