If you’re reading this, it’s likely that the total solar eclipse is already underway. Hundreds of thousands including myself are eclipse chasing towards the path of totality to witness this once in a lifetime event. I’m headed toward my home state of Indiana, though I’m not totally sure where exactly I’ll end up.
The last eclipse I witnessed in 2017 was only a partial one, but it still felt momentous. I was in Bloomington just starting my senior year of college and it was also the day before my golden birthday. To me, the eclipse felt like an early birthday/graduation gift from the universe.
I can’t help but think about how much has changed in the world since then. We’ve been looking up at celestial bodies to mark significant moments in time and ascribing all sorts of meaning to them for millenia. We can’t help ourselves. It’s hard to ignore such a powerful metaphor like blacking out the sun. This time around, I’m not sure what the eclipse means to me. I think what I’m looking forward to most isn’t actually seeing the eclipse but feeling a warped sense of time from it. I hope it feels like time is stopping for a moment or at least slowing down.
The next total eclipses in the contiguous United States won’t happen until 2044 and 2045. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to look up at them and look back on how much older and wiser I’ve become.
-Angelo