Enchanted by a Full Moon

A few days ago, I went outside at night with my partner and strolling around. Actually, to get our car washed. The weather was sunny with no clouds and rain.

I don’t expect to see anything. What possibly can we see in a car wash, anyway?

I put down my phone and look up at the sky. Turns out, there was a full moon.

That was so beautiful.

My phone is not a high-end one, and I think that’s bliss because I have no choice but to see the beautiful nature directly. This is so much better than trying to capture it with our phone.

The full moon was so enchanting. It was not covered by any clouds. The sky was crystal clear. Like, literally the moon shines around total darkness. During this pandemic, looking at the full moon feels so magical for me.

And the magic didn’t stop there. The next day, I went outside again to visit a friend and saw the full moon again. That day, some thin clouds were floating around the moon. The clouds make it looks more fabulous. And no, I am not under influenced by any substance or getting drunk 😀

Who knows looking at the moon can make us happier? It was so simple but yet so powerful.

Looking deeply at the moon, I recall some lessons from nature I read somewhere in books. Suddenly I remember the writings of Swami Ji, Harari, Thich Nhat Hanh, and other great authors simultaneously. I remember the lesson to respect nature, slow down, embrace the cycle of life, practice mindfulness, or be aware of the miracles of life.

But, the difference now is that I feel what I read. Reading gives us knowledge, while feeling gives us experience. Combine those, and we can learn some lessons that we only know.

The moon, like the other elements of nature like the sun, trees, ocean, is a great teacher for us. When we look deeply at the moon, we can learn so much knowledge from it.

Life is a cycle that needs balance

Besides looking to the moon is safer than the sun, the moon has a lunar phase that we can visually see. The full moon is the end of a lunar cycle (p.s. I’m no expert at this). 

Each end of a cycle remarks a new beginning. There is no ending.

Life is full of cycles, whether day and night, seasons of the year, birth and death, until the fertility cycle. Modern life also has cycles. Productivity and rest, product launch and obsoletion, corporate IPO and bankruptcy, or project research and completion. When one thing ended, the cycle resets and starts again.

Most often, we tend to ignore the cycle. The hustle culture that praises productivity above everything else disrupts our balance. 

The lesson I learned from the moon cycle is to balance our life. To balance productivity and rest. We’re so busy moving, hustling, or working and overlook the importance of rest. While ignoring it will only disrupt our balance.

Nature is a miracle

Looking at the full moon reminds me to realize the gift of nature. This pandemic forces us to be more creative and mindful of everything.

Around us, life burst forth with miracles … Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings.

When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.

Thich Nhat Hanh – Your True Home

The beauty of nature is always there. We’re so busy scrolling through our devices looking for something interesting. While nature is already beautiful and interesting. 

We become so accustomed to the fast-paced life. When was the last time we see a picture on our phone for more than 1 second? We scroll from pictures to pictures fastly, never feel satisfied, and always searching for a novelty. 

While, if we turn off our devices, look to the sky, and pause for more than 1 second, we can see the beauty of life. We can feel a miracle. We will feel enough. No need to search for new things again and again. No need to “scroll” nature (well, we obviously can’t). The longer we see nature, the more we can feel the magic of it.

The great thing about nature is that it always within our reach. The full moon can be seen anywhere in this world. We don’t need to travel somewhere far. We can see the stars, the clouds, the sun, wherever we are.