This post is also available in Spanish. Read it here
There are encounters that may seem minuscule at first glance, until we learn to see through the eyes of the heart.
It happened at my neighbor Luisa’s house. Quite unexpectedly, in the middle of her everyday routine, a small green creature appeared. It found its way inside without her knowing how, and later vanished in the same mysterious silence, leaving no trace behind.
Luisa wasn’t quite sure what it was. Taking in its vibrant hue and delicate shape, she initially mistook it for a tiny, exotic bird. Moved by gentle curiosity, she simply began talking to it.
And then, something took place that left me breathless.
Luisa looked at the creature and softly asked:
—Are you Matías?
In that very instant, the little visitor raised one of its front legs.
Touched by the gesture, she gently continued:
—Do you want to send a message to your mom, Nubia?
And, as if understanding every single syllable, the creature raised both of its legs.
Luisa captured the entire moment on video and sent it to me. Watching the recording, I found myself transfixed by its tiny body, its slender legs, and its wings crafted so closely to the likeness of a fresh leaf. But it was upon researching what kind of creature it was that everything took on an entirely sacred dimension:
It wasn’t merely a green katydid.
Across much of Latin America, this gentle insect is known simply as an esperanza—which means Hope.
How could I not hear in this the quiet whisper of the divine?
I do not believe in blind coincidences; I believe deeply in synchronicities. They arrive cloaked in languages our logical minds often struggle to interpret. Sometimes they come as free birds, as white doves, as blue blossoms blooming in unexpected corners, or as numbers recurring with quiet persistence.
And this time, the message arrived through a tiny leaf-like visitor that someone mistook for a bird, that entered without a door, that responded with uncanny precision to the sound of Matías’s name... and carried the very word Hope as its earthly name.
This is not a trivial detail. It is the sacred kind of moment that makes the heart stand still and exhale.
Because hope does not mean longing anxiously for the past to return. For me, true hope is the serene certainty that love does not dissolve when physical form transforms. It is trusting that those we cherish continue finding doorways of light to greet us, reminding us that they are far closer than our earthly eyes can perceive.
Sometimes, eternity only needs a tiny living leaf with the grace to lift its legs, just to remind us that we were never truly parted.