Some days the universe sends you profound wisdom. Other days it sends you a photo of a gorilla mid–high kick, and honestly? Same level of healing.

I recently came across an image that stopped me mid-scroll (a rare feat these days). A young male gorilla, deep in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda, caught by British photographer Mark Meth-Cohn after four days of trekking. Four days. For this. And it was worth every blister. The gorilla wasn’t brooding majestically or staring into the existential void like a wildlife documentary narrator might hope. No. He was pirouetting. Tumbling. High-kicking. Basically auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance: Jungle Edition.

Meth-Cohn described watching him as “pure joy,” and I believe him. Because looking at that photo which is goofy, glorious, and an unselfconscious moment,  something in me softened. Animals do that. They bypass our cynicism, our overthinking, our endless internal monologue, and go straight for the nervous system like, Hey. Remember delight?

There is something wildly comforting about quirky animals. They don’t perform joy for applause. They don’t curate it. They don’t ask if the lighting is good or if this angle is their best side. They just are. And in a world that asks us to be polished, productive, and perpetually composed, a dancing gorilla feels like a small rebellion.

The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards received over 10,000 entries from 109 countries this year, which tells me something important that across cultures, languages, borders, and belief systems, we are all united by one thing. Laughing at animals being ridiculous. This is humanity’s common ground. Forget geopolitics. Show people a gorilla kicking the air like he just heard his favorite song and watch what happens.

I can’t help but think how lucky Meth-Cohn was to witness that moment in real life. To be there. To see joy unfold without irony. I wish I were that fortunate. But maybe that’s the gift of these images. They bring the wild, playful, unscripted parts of the world a little closer to us especially when we need them most.

Sometimes healing doesn’t come from deep insight or hard-earned wisdom. Sometimes it comes from a gorilla who woke up and chose dance.

And honestly? I hope he never stops kicking.