Eclipse of the Spirit

There was a hit song in the early ‘80s called “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (I sense a lot of you are smiling and nodding right now!). Last night, as I was watching the lunar eclipse, I thought of that song. Not only did I think about how our heart can be eclipsed, but I also thought how often we have an eclipse of the spirit. Lunar eclipses can be rather fleeting. Eclipses of the spirit, however, can be more lasting – if we let them — because, unfortunately, they are not caused by the rotation of a planet.

At various points in our lives, our moon will shine brighter than any star.  Other times, shadows will encroach upon the brightness. But sometimes, those shadows engulf all light, extinguishing even the smallest glow around the edges. Only we can determine how long our personal eclipse will last – and that may be difficult.

How do we try to find light when we are in a dark place? One way is to remember that lunar eclipse last night. If you looked up at the sky at a particular time, you may have seen a spectacular full moon. If you looked up at another time, all you may have seen is darkness. That’s the same way we tend to experience the snapshots of our life – all we can grasp is what we see at that moment. We can’t always see the trajectory of the planet rotating – moving us beyond the eclipse.

NASA says the total eclipse lasted only a little over an hour. In other words, it passed — rather quickly — and the moon eventually shone brightly once again. We just need to hold on and have faith – faith that whatever is causing our eclipse will pass as well.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” – John 1:5

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New Beginnings

The calendar on the wall says fall has arrived; however, my mind is contemplating spring. Not because I’m wishing for a startover of warm weather (although that would be nice), but rather because of a feeling that spring gave me earlier this year. Spring has never been my favorite, or even second favorite, season. But this year, something different was in the air.

In the early days of spring, I was sitting in the car at a drive-thru and my attention turned to some small flowers pushing their way up through the winter soil. I then noticed small colorful buds on bushes and miniature green growth on trees. Nature was starting to become alive again, offering a new beginning.

Spring is often associated with new life — new beginnings. So I started thinking about how I have viewed new beginnings throughout my life. They have usually been associated with the calendar – New Year’s Day, the first of the month, Mondays. I’m not talking about significant life events like weddings and babies, but rather that point when many of us are most likely to make changes in our lives.

It occurred to me that, all too often, we wait for the calendar to tell us when to change when, in actuality, we could make changes any day. We don’t have to wait until New Year’s Eve to make a resolution. We don’t have to wait until the first day of the next month to start looking for a job. We don’t have to wait until Monday to start that diet. We can choose to do it anytime – we just need to choose to do it.

How wonderful it is to know that every day we wake up, we have a new opportunity to change ourselves for the better. We can certainly set our goal for a major change like seeking a new job, buying a house, or losing weight. We can also seek smaller changes — being more patient, smiling more, offering an act of kindness.

I certainly have a lot of things on my list of changes to make. What changes will YOU make tomorrow?

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Carpe Diem

I was shocked when I realized that my last post was in May – nearly four months ago! However, I have a good reason. I was busy seizing the day.

Earlier this summer, I spent time at my sister’s cabin in the beautiful West Virginia mountains, not far from where I was raised. Because of the rural location, there’s no Internet connection or cell phone service. I won’t lie – the first couple days were hard as I went through a serious case of electronics withdrawal. Then a funny thing happened. I started paying more attention to my surroundings – the gentle crackling sound of small animals running through the woods, the rustling of leaves as breezes wafted through the trees, the chirping of birds and the music of cicadas. I started to enjoy not having a laptop and cell phone as body appendages. It was a feeling I would keep all summer long.

Here are some examples of what I was doing while I was “off the grid”:

• Enjoying visits from hummingbirds
• Rediscovering how much I enjoy jigsaw puzzles
• Sitting on the beach with lifelong friends with our toes in the water
• Playing on the floor with my grandson
• Napping to the sound of waves hitting the shore
• Eating brunch on the patio
• Traveling a favorite portion of Route 66 – not once, not twice, but four times
• Sharing laughter and tears with my children
• Staring in awe at beautiful, multicolored sunsets
• Driving on back roads with the windows down singing “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Sitting by a bonfire on the beach watching people light Chinese lanterns
• Going out for lots of lunches, suppers, and happy hours with family and friends
• Writing future blog posts in my head
• Watching thunderstorms move in across the lake
• Looking at clouds so crisp, fluffy, and white, it seemed like you could reach up and pluck one
• Holding my new granddaughter when she was less than two days old
• Hanging out at the beach bar or the pier with friends listening to music, music, and more music
• Sitting quietly with my sister in the mornings on her cabin porch or my patio
• Watching movies like “Animal House,” “Caddyshack,” and “Young Frankenstein” that never get old
• Closing my eyes, tilting my face to the sun, and feeling the breeze caress my face

Yes, it was a magnificent summer indeed. Not one day went by without enjoying it to the fullest. No Internet or cell phone needed.

I know summer is winding down, but no matter the season and no matter where you live, there are simple things in life that you can enjoy, if you just give yourself the time to do so. Start seizing the day – today.

Share the strength.