Animals of Earth

Aloha ahiahi! How is everyone's week going so far? Hopefully we're all getting things checked off our to-do lists so we can enjoy the weekend at its finest. Today I bring you some breathtaking images submitted to National Geographic and chosen as the "Photo of the Day: Animals" category. Below are a few of my favorites from the recent batch of photographs, perhaps you'll find a few that suit you.

When I look at wild animals I cannot help but feel a strange sense of calming centeredness. The very idea that these living beings can live free and pure, not bound by moral or social constraints like we humans, is really quite enviable to an extent. Would you not agree? They simply, Live. Have we forgotten how to do the same? And is this the fundamental basis for our divergence as a species from the natural course of human harmony with the living planet? Perhaps the "modernizing" human race (and a continuously evolving, if not already highly evolved, one -- in our own boastful minds of corrupted social priorities and incessant hubris) has almost fully transitioned from a symbiotic relationship with the Earth into a parasitic one?

Our human capacity to actualize our thoughts and seize our environment for our consumption has overshadowed our classic endeavor to master the art of simply being. What gives your life purpose? And how do you contribute to Life in this world? Deep thoughts, my friends. But as humans, this is our higher calling. Is it not?