I have never been to Montana; nor have I ever seen an elk live and in person before. However, in spite of these two minor setbacks, I had many thoughts while watching this video of a gigantic herd of elk crossing the road somewhere in Big Sky Country—especially when suddenly a neat video about wildlife became an epic quest for one little elk to rejoin his brothers after getting caught on a fence.
Here, watch it:
Now here’s how my brain processed it, presented as a rough timeline:
- 0:03: “Wow. That’s a lot of elk.”
- 0:19: “I mean a LOT of elk.”
- 0:36: “Like, seriously. How many elk is that?”
- 0:56: “So. Many. SO MANY!”
- 1:13: “Awww, one of them fell behind. Poor little guy.”
- 1:22: “Is… is he really getting left behind? Have all his elk brethren abandoned him?”
- 1:36: “Come on, little elk. You’ve totally got this. You can do it without their help.”
- 1:54: “No, little elk! Don’t give up! You can do it! I believe in you!”
- 2:35: “GO, LITTLE ELK! GO! TO VICTORY!”
- 2:42: *Hums Cool Runnings theme*
I mean, seriously. Is this not the perfect metaphor for life? Sometimes, you get caught on some unfortunate snags, and no matter how hard you try, it looks like you’re not going to make it out of it this time. You try, and you try, and you try, but to no avail. But then, inspiration strikes: You back up, you get a little perspective, and you take a running leap towards the finish line. Sure, it may take you a little time to catch up to the rest of the world—but you’ll get there in the end.
Now go! Run free! Be like the elk!
Image: Austen Stonnell/YouTube
