03. A New Year 2024

Alonso I. Rodríguez de la Parra, explorer and documentary filmmaker.

I have heard that life passes in the blink of an eye, that the most meaningful moments last less than a second, and that in the vastness of the universe, seconds and time do not exist. The only thing that truly exists is the present, which, the moment it arrives, is already gone.

As I observe the ocean, which today, unlike most times, is not painted in turquoise or deep indigo, but instead carries a unique tone in my present, I realize what a gift it is simply to be here. I am sitting at the bow of the Galápagos Sky, heading toward Wolf Island, a place my exploration and work in the seas of Mexico have somehow led me to, here in Ecuador.

Everyone always mentions Darwin; in one way or another, he inspired millions to do what I am now doing. And like me, millions have explored these islands. So what is the point of coming here if so many already know them? Does this make me just another tourist, like many of my friends who call themselves explorers but are simply repeating what is already known? My biologist friends who come to study what has already been studied. Where is that space to truly generate knowledge, to leave something new in a world that already feels so explored?

Still, being here is a blessing. Perhaps I will simply become another human hard drive, storing this experience to one day share it with someone else, or maybe just to have lived it, to have filled myself with something new.

Even though I would have loved to, I do not have the skills or academic background to produce scientific knowledge. I do not have a degree in biology or any other science. I have a gift that I may have invented myself, because I do not dare say I am good at it. But I do dare to write. I dare to question the very thoughts I believe to be true, and within those truths, I always find a bit of doubt. In the end, my opinion is mine, and even if I share it with many, for others I may be completely wrong.

I know these waters are full of life, and even though sitting here at the bow I cannot see what lies beneath the vast blue surface, what I know comes from what I have read, what I have seen in videos, or documentaries I watched as a child. Through the stories of others, I feel as though I already know what exists here. As if what I have not seen with my own eyes could still be turned into words to defend an argument about these waters. Humans are simple. We listen, we see, and we retell stories as if they were our own. That is why I am here. I want to witness with my own eyes the stories others have told.

As I have heard before, I dare to say these waters are filled with sharks, including the iconic hammerheads, the Galápagos shark, and possibly even a few whale sharks roaming these blue waters that I still cannot fully describe. Just when I think I understand the shade of blue I am seeing, I realize it is actually the sky reflected on the surface, constantly changing with the clouds and the birds above. The moment I try to define it, it has already changed. It only existed in that brief instant of the present, now transformed into another story.

Seconds pass. A wave rises as the one before it fades. My thoughts drift, and I feel as if I could watch my entire life pass in just a few seconds while staring at the sea. In a single blink, with the first ray of light reaching my eyes, all of evolution could have happened, and in a snap, whoever created this world could have seen the simplicity within complexity and brought this perfect chaos into existence.

With my next blink, I decide not to open my eyes again. I realize I am entering the only place no one else can explore but me. My mind. One of the most terrifying places, filled with doors I have closed and do not wish to open. Even though it is so close, it requires a long journey of learning to truly reach it. And even when we think we know ourselves, it takes great effort to truly see who we are, with the good, the bad, the certain, and the uncertain. To see yourself as you are, or as you think you are, and to break that image apart until you realize that maybe you are what you think, and at the same time, you are not.

Sometimes it is easier to let others define you, even if they are wrong, than to build an honest image of yourself. Because we are what we think we are, what others see, and also what they do not see. We simply are.

Galápagos wildlife – Alonso I. Rodríguez de la Parra

What am I trying to say with all of this? I am trying to give meaning to what I do with my life, to feel at peace with my successes and failures. Am I creating something meaningful with this journey, or am I just another tourist with a profile full of beautiful photos and enthusiasm for saving the ocean? Maybe I am both. Or maybe one day someone will read this and it will help them in some small way, or inspire a great explorer, or be dismissed by others. What am I? Who do I want to be?

The year is ending, and 2023 has been full of events. Once again, I find myself on a boat, spending my savings, with few plans for the future, hoping everything unfolds before me. Hoping that when I open my eyes, a thousand years will have passed, and I will find myself in a great story, a legend, or a song. Hoping I will have answers about what lies ahead.

Because in the blink of an eye, life will pass. In the blink of an eye, it is already 2024. In the blink of an eye, the first day of the year is over, and here I am writing this, closing my eyes again, traveling back in time, realizing that it is only in the present that I can remember.

What has not been done can still be done. As long as I am alive and feeling… the present is infinite.

I open my eyes and I am still at the bow. Not much time has passed, but the island begins to unfold before me. A massive rock in shades of red and brown, clearly volcanic in origin, not because I know it, but because I believe I do from images and books I have seen. And that belief fills me with even more excitement for this first encounter.

I see the island as a living being, full of life. The birds, fish, and species surrounding it are all part of a greater whole. The island would not be the same without them, and they would not be the same without it. Wolf Island is a living entity that, although it took thousands of years to form, all of it happened in a single blink.

Because in the blink of an eye, life will pass. In the blink of an eye, it is already 2024. In the blink of an eye, the first day of the year is over, and I am here writing this, closing my eyes again, traveling to the past, realizing that it is only in the present that I can remember.

What has not been done can still be done. As long as I am alive and feeling… the present is infinite.