The Lunar Eclipse and Pleading with the Universe
As I sat at my desk, I was looking at the pile of emails in my inbox and the pile of contracts sitting there that I needed to process, I realized waking up at 3:00 am to see the Lunar eclipse did zero for my productivity this Friday morning. It did wonders for my mental health, but zero for my ability to want to process boring contracts. So I got up from my desk with my empty coffee cup and walked back into the kitchen to get another cup. Maybe this will help, I thought. I stood at the coffee machine, listened to the hissing of the coffee coming through the machine, and thought about the Lunar eclipse. I am an expert at waking up in the middle of the night and falling right back to sleep without any problems, so as I set my alarm to wake up at 2:45 am, I thought I’d have no problem going right back to sleep. Well, I was wrong.
I grabbed my coffee from the machine, added some sugar and cream, and took a sip of the liquid that was life-giving. I padded back to my office, sat at my desk, turned on some Van Morrison and looked for inspiration to open that first email. I could not find my motivation. Van Morrison was telling me to turn up my radio and made it sound like everything would be ok if I did, but I’m not so sure. Our world is so topsy-turvy these days. What should be up is down and what is down should be up. Things are on, then they are off and then back on again. And I’m very sure that the simple act of turning up my radio is not going to make everything alright. Last night, as I stood in an unfinished room of our house looking out the sliding glass door at a most spectacular sight, I realized I was just a tiny part of the Universe in the grand scheme of things. For years, the Moon has been moving into the shadow of the Earth, and the world is still turning.
Yesterday, I watched several videos on Instagram, despite my declarations of getting off anything Meta. There were all these rituals that one was to perform on the day and night of a Lunar eclipse. Wash your hands with salt to signify purification and renewal. You were supposed to avoid things like alcohol, cigarettes, meat, eggs, and seafood. Avoid travel or begin a long journey. You were supposed to perform spiritual practices like chanting, repeating mantras, or meditating. I didn’t do any of those things, except not consume cigarettes, meat, alcohol, or seafood, but that was 100% not because of the eclipse.
What I did do instead at 3:00 in the morning, standing in an unfinished room of our house, barefoot, and in my pajamas, was say out loud to no one in particular, “Thank you”. I thanked the Universe for my life. I thanked the Universe for keeping me and my husband safe and healthy. I thanked the Universe for keeping my chickens safe and healthy. Even though I didn’t feel worthy of asking the Universe for anything, I asked it to keep our world safe in these uncertain times. Then I took a couple of pictures and walked back to my bedroom. As I crawled into bed, I heard my husband breathing and felt calm. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the eclipse or just being awake in a quiet house in the middle of the night, but I decided I wouldn’t just wait for the next lunar eclipse to thank the Universe.
So as I sit at my desk with the emails still in my inbox and the contracts still in Dropbox needing some attention, I realize that even though I have a bit of a Pollyanna view of the world, the reality is, it is still on fire. The people who it is going to affect the most are still vulnerable. So I will continue to plead with the Universe to keep my gay daughter and her wife safe. I will plead to the Universe to keep all my gay friends safe and their marriages intact. I will plead with the Universe to protect all the Trans people who feel like they need to sell everything they own and move into an RV and be mobile. I will plead with the Universe to let all our allies return to us after four years. I will plead to the Universe not to make me learn Russian because that is our country’s new official language. I will just be pleading to the Universe for the next four years and hope it works. I might even try washing my hands with salt.
Be safe, keep your loved ones safe, look out for the less fortunate, and keep pleading with the Universe.
Photo Cred: Yours Truly