finding our way in the dark: a solar eclipse + a new moon

it’s dark outside right now.

not literally, of course, because i am typing this on saturday morning and, though it’s cloudy, the sun is up and my apartment is filled with a soft, gray light. but, it is a dark weekend. dark because we have a new moon and a solar eclipse happening throughout these 2 days.

and even though sometimes the dark can be scary, this time it promises big changes. uncertainty + confusion, yes. but, big changes that can help us find our true path. 

during a new moon, there is no moon to see in the night sky. it seems as if it doesn’t even exist, but it is there. the hidden moon is often seen a symbol of new beginnings. which makes sense. after this weekend, the moon begins to reappear slowly in the dark night sky, one little sliver at a time until it grows into our next full moon in two weeks. the dark new moon sky is just the beginning of the journey toward the full moon. out of the darkness comes light.

a solar eclipse is that crazy cosmic experience that occurs when the moon moves in between the earth + the sun, making it seem like that sun disappears completely for a few minutes. this solar eclipse happened in the early morning on sunday, and most of us will not likely see it. it’s only visible from south africa, antarctica and locations in indian and atlantic oceans this time.

but that doesn’t mean that we won’t feel the affects of it.

so with the combination of the new moon (which means no moon is visible at night) + the solar eclipse (which means the sun is hidden), we will have magical energies swirling about us. new beginnings are happening. powerful, supercharged, and life affirming.

photo from here

and if we slow down just enough, we may see that things are actually changing in our lives. we may feel the shift. feel the power. it may feel amazing and scary all at the same time. but, if we can just find the courage to surrender to it… if we can just let go and let god, if we can just trust the universe + ourselves, if we can let ourselves patiently feel about in the darkness, then we will soon see that a whole new way of living is opening up to us.It’s been two weeks

i, for one, am experiencing just this.

since the last full moon two weeks ago, my life has had some major changes. some that i have shared (my new photography job and my meditation training class)) + some that will be shared in the next week or so. let me just reassure you, life is not the same for me at all. the past two weeks have been ridiculously eventful. and honestly, it is wonderful and scary – because i never imagined any of these things happening in the ways that they did. and yet, i’ve been planning and praying and hoping for them all in one way or another.  i am overwhelmed and grounded. and a part of me feels as if i am groping around in the dark right now. not knowing what comes next, but also knowing that everything is exactly as it should be. there is a quiet calm in my soul, even in the midst of all of the uncertainty + changes.

i was just talking with a friends last night about how often times in life, things rarely turn out how we imagine that they will. or even hope that they will. and that can be frightening and nerve-racking. but, trusting in the flow of the universe and aligning our lives with who we know we are called to be, will ensure that we are on the right path – even if at times it seems off course,  completely dark, or a totally different journey than we had planned.

looking back, i can always see that life has made some crazy turns, all leading me to the place + the moment where i find myself right now. and with that knowledge, i can let go. i can surrender. and i can trust that the energy that i feel swirling around me right now, though it is both uncomfortable + exciting, is precisely the energy that i need to take me to the next level, the next phase of my life.

while the darkness may symbolize stumbling + fumbling around, it is often in the midst of this darkness that we find ourselves.

why is that? perhaps it’s because it is here that we are the most vulnerable. it is here that we have no other choice than to keep on keeping on. we have nothing else to rely on but ourselves, and there is nothing else to do but forge ahead. somehow, in the dark, in order to survive, we find the courage and confidence to move forward. and that is the only way to go actually. we begin to trust in the present moment, because that is all we can see. and we find our way as we travel along, surrendering and trusting only the present moment. not worrying about the future because finding our way right now in the darkness is all we can do.

but, focusing on the present moment is exactly all that we need to do. one step at a time. one moment at a time. one day at a time.

the darkness shows us who we are right now. we can leave behind who we were. we can kiss goodbye all of the old ways of living and being, and look to our future. it is time to look towards the new beginnings that are waiting for us. the adventures of the journey that lie ahead. and, because of where we have been, because of the darkness of right now, we can courageously forge onwards and upwards.

life is changing fast. i’ll bet that if you look back on the past 3-4 months, you’ll see that you are not the same person at all. and while, what lies ahead is totally uncertain, there is something that is deep within that makes us feel grounded, secure, and excited about what is to come. somewhere along the way, we have learned to trust the darkness. we have learned to balance both the fear + the thrill of life.

this weekend of cosmic darkness just may be exactly what we needed to help us realize that we are embarking on a brand new phase of our lives. new beginnings are all around us. there is no time for pausing and reflecting, we are now moving into a season of action that has already begun, a path of truth and adventure that we are already on. we already know where we want to go, how we want life to be. now, it’s time to let it manifest. it won’t happen immediately, because all of life is that journey to becoming who we are truly meant to be. but, right now, for the next little bit of our lives, perhaps we have the opportunity to make a huge step in our journey, in our quest to live an authentic life.

hold on, my friends, it will not be dark forever. anything is possible and life is ready to take us for a ride. to give us a whole new perspective and truer way of living. out of the darkness + into the light.

 onwards + upwards!! xoxo