On April 8, 2023, exactly one year ago yesterday, we got an email from our friend Adam that started like this:
Dear friends who are interested in travel, wanderlust, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities…
Can you guess what he was inviting us to?
Yep, an eclipse watching party in Dallas, Texas.
I’m not sure I would have gone, but my husband, Jeff A): has severe FOMO and B): is an experience junkie, so he didn’t hesitate (or even ask if I was free!) and said “we’re in.”
He also said, Thank you for scheduling the eclipse on my mom’s 80th birthday. She’s in too!
Every few months we got an update from Adam on everything from the science of an eclipse, to a link to a TED Talk, to the schedule of events which included a taco tasting, the JFK museum, and a pickleball tournament!
As the day got closer, doubt set in along with the weather forecast – cloudy with a chance of eclipse. A few people canceled. We continued to monitor and monitor (obsessively!) the weather and tap into every technological advance to predict if this was going to be a bust.
And then a few hours before game time, I read an article in the Dallas News that made me understand what kind of experience could eclipse even an eclipse—and that’s the human experience of doing something together.
“Congratulations on winning a celestial lottery. Cloudy skies or not, a solar eclipse is happening today. You, lucky Dallasite, are among the 30 million souls who live along the path of totality, meaning this will be one of the most viewed eclipses in the history of civilization. Talk about a watch party for the ages…The forecast calls for cloudy skies, and we hope they part for the eclipse. But this, too, is a lesson in humility. While we like to think we can bend everything to our will, we are no closer to being masters of the clouds and the sky today than we were at the dawn of civilization.”
We decided to grab our cowboy boots and bandanas and fly to Dallas. And I’m glad I did! Not because the eclipse was so special but because it confirmed so much of what I know to be true.
Since there was no technological advance that could part the clouds, we had no choice but to put our technology “in its place,” put on our eclipse glasses, and connect with the people around us.
The article went on to say, “Few things dazzle us anymore. We humans are so caught up in our own vanity, our palms aglow with devices we made to carry infinite knowledge and infinite distractions. It will be good for the soul to peel our eyes away from our screens for a bit and lift them to the heavens.”
We got lucky. The clouds parted and we saw the entire four minutes of “totality” which I have to say was pretty cool. But spending the weekend connecting with people young and old was even better.
So next time you’re wondering if you should get out of your comfort zone, I say take the risk! Put your phone down, look up at the sky, and at the people around you.
Bring your human to whatever you’re doing. You’ll be glad you did.
4/9/24
