A little visitor

About a month ago, while working on my computer, I heard a loud tapping on the window screen. Looking over I was startled to see a large moth, looking straight at me. It was huge, bigger than any moth I've ever seen before.

I called Bob to come and take a look. He right away recognized this "little" visitor: it was a luna moth, one of the largest moths in North America. I grabbed the camera and took some pictures which I'm sharing now with you.

Learning more about luna moths, I found out they only live for about a week. "The Luna moth has a wingspan of between 8–11.5 cm (3-4.5 in) with long, tapering hindwings, which have eyespots on them in order to confuse potential predators. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna moths are considered common. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week." (Wikipedia)

With such a short life span, why was this little beautiful creature wasting her time visiting me? Obviously it was attracted to the light in my room. Mesmerized it clung to the screen, fluttering helplessly in her futile attempts to enter the room. I turned off the computer and the light, hoping she would fly away and follow her instincts to find a mate before her short stay on this earth was over.

I was excited that I had seen such a lovely, rarely seen insect. As I was trying to go to sleep, I couldn't help but wonder whether we humans resemble this lost little creature. Don't we also follow seemingly bright lights that pull us hither and dither, detracting us from our essence and purpose?