Welcome to The Darling Files, a project initiated by my friends and ; a time to share some of our forgotten words and give them new life.
I discovered this picture in my social media memories from January 2022. I’m finding myself in a season where every piece of writing seems to take forever, and once again, Myrtle brought me a bit of hope. It feels only appropriate to give her new life here, as part of The Darling Files. You can read more of The Darling Files here.
Large schools of fish rush by me in the giant tank but my eye is drawn to a large blob to the back right. I inch closer to the glass and see it’s an enormous green sea turtle lying on a coral reef.
“That’s Myrtle,” I hear the man behind me tell his son; “She’s like a hundred years old. She’s been here fah-evah.”
“She’s very still,” my daughter whispers; “Do you think she’s alive?”
“I do,” I reply; “See her open eyes? I think she’s watching the fish flutter by, noticing the way the anemones open and close their tentacles, maybe remembering what her life was like as a young sea turtle.”
We stand at the tank for a while and watch Myrtle do nothing. I’m a little envious of this giant turtle, who has nothing to do and nowhere to go. It must be marvelous to lie on your favorite piece of coral and contemplate the world around you.
The people behind me rush to the next tank, bored with Myrtle’s stillness. I marvel at the way people rush from tank to tank; I could stay here and watch Myrtle forever.
I long for a slow life; for time to be intentional, to get lost in my thoughts, to have an empty calendar and nothing but time.
And yet paradoxically, I hate the pace of slow. I don’t want to wait for results—I want them now. I want to be able to run a race tomorrow. I want to have the best yoga balance today. I want to write an essay and send it for submission and have it published immediately.
But as time goes by, I realize the best art takes time. Slow writing is a gift allowing me to sit on my favorite piece of coral and watch the world flutter by. If I grant myself the grace to slow down and keep my eyes open, the end result will be so much better. So much wiser. So much richer. So much more complete.
"bored with Myrtle's stillness" - I really like that scene.