As I’m sure you know, we recently had an eclipse. I am fortunate enough to work at a university with a planetarium and the director is very passionate about his work. He created a wonderful presentation and sent several informational emails about the eclipse well in advance of the actual day.
Where I live was not in the path of totality. I was told I would be at around 92%. He strongly, vehemently urged us all to travel a few hours north to the path of totality to really experience the eclipse. My thought was that 92% is, well, an A so how could my experience be lacking?!
On the actual day, I planned some things around the time he said we would experience the eclipse in our area. About 30 minutes before that moment, I strolled outside with my approved eclipse glasses to experience the darkness, emergence of nighttime creatures, and all of the things I thought the eclipse would bring.
I was able to see the eclipse, and the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, but it was still so bright outside! How could that be, when only 8% of the sun was shining through? We all joked that we had seen more darkness during a rain shower than the eclipse on that day. Incidentally, we did have rain the next day and it was a much darker sky than the eclipse had provided for us.
What is my point? How powerful light and clouds are. 92% of the usual sunlight was blocked for me, and I really didn’t feel cooler and it didn’t look darker. 92%. Only 8% of the sun was shining on me and, if I hadn’t known about the eclipse, I may not have noticed. When it seems like there is so much darkness or gloom in this world, it doesn’t take much light to be a bright spot and keep others warm. On the other hand, the cloudiness of gloom can cover so much space and takes the light of goodness away.
There are so many days where I feel like a cloud. I’m having a bad day. I don’t want to take the extra energy to be nice. I just want to sulk and be cared for. When I do, my cloudiness blots out any positivity or joy that is trying to break through my mood. But if I would just let 8% of that joy or positivity in, the light and warmth would envelop me and hopefully burn off the gloom.
Image: https://bhamnow.com/index.php/organizer/christenberry-planetarium-at-samford-university/