It’s unsettling how a normal day can tilt sideways in an instant. I was just crossing my living room, mind already somewhere else, when that “leaf” shifted. The saddleback caterpillar, bright and almost cartoonish, didn’t look like danger. Yet there it was, venomous and armed, lying exactly where my bare hand had almost landed. The shock lingered long after I’d coaxed it onto cardboard and carried it carefully outside.

What stayed with me wasn’t just fear, but a new kind of humility. I realized how often I drift through my own home on autopilot, assuming I’ve seen it all before. That caterpillar turned into a quiet teacher, reminding me that the world is sharper, stranger, and more alive than I let myself remember. Now I pause at every odd speck and shadow, choosing attention over assumption—a tiny act that might be the thin line between pain and passing by untouched.