There’s a scene from the 2013 documentary Antarctica: A Year On Ice that has always stayed with me, during which a woman recalls experiencing the northern lights for the first time. She describes falling to her knees and beginning to weep without realizing she is doing so because she’s completely overcome with the beauty and majesty of what she’s experiencing. Listening to her recall this memory, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have such an experience – one of complete awe and astonishment.
And wonder I did, that is, until this past Monday, April 8th during which I had the privilege of experiencing a total solar eclipse for the very first time. Knowing I had to be there, a friend and I drove 50 miles south into the path of totality the night before and stayed in a hotel so we could miss the day of traffic. We attended a viewing party on the lawn thrown by the local science center/museum and it did not disappoint. We set up our chairs and blankets on the grass, bought some T-shirts and other souvenirs, hit up the food trucks for snacks and beverages, and then we sat, waiting for 3:14 PM EST when the total eclipse was to begin.
As excited as I’d been about seeing an eclipse, and as much as we’d talked about seeing an eclipse, nothing could have prepared me for what it felt like to witness firsthand the moon completely obstructing the sun from view. Similar to the woman from the Antarctica documentary, I began to weep before I realized what was happening. It’s hard to explain why exactly, but upon reflection, I think it’s because I was overcome with a feeling of gratitude for being alive, for being in this human body witnessing something so utterly beautiful and magnificent. There truly are no words to describe it.
When have you experienced a feeling of such awe? (Please let us know in the comments below). It’s a feeling that I hope all of us will be able to experience at least once in our lives, even if not at the hands of a solar eclipse (after all, this earth and this world are full of breathtaking beauties apart from just the sun and the moon).
If there’s one thing I learned from my eclipse experience it’s this: if ever in the future I have the chance to witness something rare and beautiful – be it an aurora borealis, the Himalayas, the hills of Ireland, or anything else – I will do everything I can to be there.
It’s a part of being alive that I simply do not want to miss <3
