This morning over breakfast, my middle child, who is 11 and wears their heart out on their sleeve, teared up and asked me, “How can we keep feeling like we felt yesterday?” I started to tear up too, as I knew exactly what they meant.
Yesterday, on what felt like a wild whim, we drove up to northern Vermont and experienced the marvel of totality. I had heard from friends and colleagues that it was special, but I had no idea just how incredible it would be. When totality hit and I looked up at the solar eclipse corona, my heart cracked wide open and tears came streaming from somewhere deep and wonderful inside—I was changed forever for the better.
If you experienced it yesterday, too, you may know what I mean. And even if you didn’t, maybe you put on glasses and got chills seeing the moon take bites out of the sun—one of life’s coolest magic tricks. Or maybe you took a walk and noticed the curl of a fern, the sniff of spring’s promise on the breeze, the brave flowers bursting out around you.
The Earth is just so incredible. It’s hard to find the words.
Seven Ways to Keep That Feeling
Reinforce the Experience
If you did experience the eclipse—or anytime you experience a marvel of nature—it can feel great to reinforce that feeling. For example, set aside time to look through photos or read accounts of the phenomenon itself and of how people and animals responded to it. Here are a few places with great takes on the solar eclipse:
- Photos of people viewing the eclipse across the U.S. (NY Times)
- Top reader photos from the eclipse (Washington Post)
- Photo slideshow from yesterday’s eclipse (The Picture Show /NPR)
- What young people remember from the 2017 eclipse (NPR)
- Satellite images of the eclipse’s shadow across the path of totality (NY Times)
Record Your Memories
Write, speak, or draw about it. Record your thoughts in a voice memo. Draw and write about what it made you feel or think. (Maybe this post is my answer to how to keep the feeling. Thank you for indulging me!)
If this feels good to you, consider starting a gratitude journal to capture any moments in nature that touch your heart. I try to do that every night, and it makes all the difference.
Set a New Intention
If you loved your experience or would like more of this kind of experience, look out for more — the skies keep offering amazing things. In fact, we’ll welcome the full April moon, often referred to as the “Pink Moon” in our part of the world. It reaches peak illumination in the evening on Tuesday, April 23rd. Find tips for how to enjoy it here. You can also just make an intention to slow down and soak in nature’s marvels big and small a little bit each day, or every chance you get.
Pass It On
On the way home from the eclipse, I chatted with another woman in line for the restroom. This was her third total eclipse, and she remarked about the smiles on faces. She was right. What would normally be cause for frustration (time spent in the restroom line was ~7 times longer than all of the totality) was met with joyful chatter. Even the 6-hour ride home was bearable given the post-marvel energy in our car.
Maybe we can pass that energy forward? When you get ruffled by an interaction with a friend, neighbor, or colleague, try to remember the feeling you have when you behold a natural wonder, and remember that we all share the Earth. Take a deep breath. Then, re-engage. Does it change how you feel about the other person? Does it change how you interact?
Donate Your Glasses
Our next eclipse in the US is decades away, and our safety glasses will expire in just a couple of years. Read more about how you can donate your eclipse glasses through the nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders.
Seek More
Moments like eclipses are great because they are so exceptional that they break through the distractions that swirl about us every day. But the Earth offers invitations to wonder in all shapes and sizes. Yes, grand gestures like yesterday’s total eclipse of the Grand Canyon knock our socks off. But, marvels are hiding out everywhere, even within the cracks in the sidewalk. Take a walk. Turn on your senses. Welcome in a little bit of nature’s magic each day.
Turn on Your Post Eclipse Playlist
Music provides its own special shortcut into our hearts, and I’ve found that thinking about what I experienced yesterday gets even better when I pair it with the right soundtrack. What songs touch your heart? Let them play today!
Here are just a few getting heavy rotation in my Spotify this morning:
- Morning Has Broken, Yusuf/Cat Stevens
- Life is Sweet, Natalie Merchant
- What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
- Across the Universe, The Beatles
- You Are My Sunshine, Elizabeth Mitchell
- Earth Worship, Rubblebucket (grownup ears only!)
An unusual approach to the sound of an eclipse, listen to how a composer turns data from a telescope into music on the Exploratorium.org site.
However your day goes today, may you carry forward whatever inspires you. Just know I’m so grateful for you and for the Earth we share.
