I stood awestruck.
In part, because of the beauty I witnessed, and in part because of the shock of what it actually looked like!
I was staring up at the night sky, but it was a sky unlike any I’d ever seen before. And yet, it was the same sky I’d always looked at. How could THIS have been under my nose (better put, above my nose) all this time?
The year was 2003 and I was standing at the edge of a dock on the small island of Namale in Fiji. I was there for a week-long cleanse and retreat, Tony Robbins “Life Mastery” program. In the last couple of days, I’d been on a cleanse, juices, massages, day-long inspirational seminars so I was already feeling good.
I saw glimpses of the night sky through the dense forest in the nightsprior, but it wasn’t until I walked out on the long dock with friends that the reality and majesty of it overtook me.
I felt enveloped by the world and the sky.
Somehow, seeing the beauty of the Milky Way, bright stars too numerous to count, and the blackness of the sky assured and calmed me.
That there was more to this life than we can ever hope to understand, especially when we’re IN this life.
And perhaps most powerfully, the idea that THIS, this beauty, this awe, this splendor was and would continue to be above me &mdash above us — EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, and yet I had never seen it like this, was shocking.
How could this be? I’d been looking at light-polluted skies all my life, with perhaps a night or two thinking with some wonder about the beauty of it, but NEVER like THIS.
And to think that, every night, that wonder floats above us, around us… I’m writing this in the early morning, and that means last night, a normal Monday night for me, as I lay in bed sleeping, that awe-inspiring mix of swirling galaxies and stars and planets that I witnessed in Fiji was right there.
I just couldn’t see it.
And the reason I couldn’t see it? Even though I live in a wooded area on a hill, the light pollution from street lights, houses, buildings and more is enough to light up the sky and obscure what’s really there.
A pretty good metaphor for our lives, don’t you think? The wonder is always there. The awe. The inspiration. Love. Beauty. Truth.
It’s there all around us, at all moments.
But there’s just too much “stuff” surrounding it to see it.
So as you go through your day today, and into the evening, contemplate the wonder that is around us at all times, and look for small ways to experience it. Perhaps a walk through nature. And steal more than a glance at tonight’s night sky (it’s still impressive even with the light pollution!).
Find ways to notice, to reveal the awe that is around us at all times.
And if you really want an awe-inspiring experience, plan a visit to an “International Dark Sky” place. That’s right! The award-winning Dark Sky Places Program was, in their words, “started in 2001 to encourage communities around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting polices and public education.” Find a site near (or far from!) you here: http://darksky.org/idsp/
And finally, tell me…
Connect With Us on Social Media