Total eclipse of the heart (in the heart of Central Park)
The moon feeds upon the sun, reflecting its light upon our earthly celestial body. But every so often, the sun seeks refuge behind its sister in the sky. She takes rest in a moments notice and signals a new direction in our earthly lives. A new beginning. Beginnings are also endings and one must surrender the old to give way to the new.
I was ready for some shedding. Jumping on my faithful bike, I pedaled through the heart of Central Park. Thousands of people gathered on this sunny spring day in Manhattan.
“What a time to be alive,” I thought. My path was painted with pink hues from the cherry blossoms in the youth of their seasonal bloom. I took a deep breath and continued to pedal through the lung of NYC.
I arrived at my destination, the Great Lawn. Nestled between the MET and six baseball fields, I made my way through the open pasture. My friend Riccardo waved hello at a distance. He had arrived from his hometown of Milan just in time to catch the eclipse. Joyful cheers filled the park as we braced ourselves for the astronomical event. We later realized the screams came from the six softball games taking place a few yards away. Nonetheless, I screamed along.
Everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.
─ Eclipse by Pink Floyd
At 2:10pm the moon began to cross paths with the sun. It wasn’t visible until we propped on our solar eclipse goggles I miraculously found at the dollar store a few minutes prior to arriving. Luck was on my side that day, as the cardboard shades were completely sold out across the city.
I didn’t need to see it to believe it, but I’m sure glad I did. My body certainly felt it, the pulling and tugging, almost like someone slipped a gram of molly into my BPA free water bottle. Heart pounding and mind groovin’, I pulled out my oracle deck and read two special messages from the Universe: one for me, one for Riccardo. It was exactly what we needed.
At 3:45pm, the solar eclipse was at its peak. An energetic portal for deep rooted transformation. My Soul felt magnetic as I keenly observed the dance between the two heavenly bodies. We journaled, smoked a joint, and talked about creative endeavors until I got a violent urge to take a piss. We picked up our belongings and walked to the nearest bathroom, after which we decided to get lost in the forest of Central Park. Small dirt roads took us from one sanctuary to another. It truly is a magical place. As we climbed hills, crossed bridges, and listened to street performers play majestic tunes, we took a pause in front of the large reservoirs. And that’s when I noticed
“Oh shit! My glasses! I must’ve dropped them.”
Let’s be clear. Losing anything is Central Park is a foolproof way of never seeing that thing again. But man I loved those tortoise eyeglasses the neon blue gradient at the bottom. They were oversized and chic. Not to mention I desperately needed them to see anything past three feet (I’m blind as a bat).
I retraced my steps, said hello for the second time to a Chinese man playing his erhu (a 2 string instrument that sounds similar to a violin), climbed back up a dozen hills, and passed two bridges until thirty minutes later I finally arrived back at the Great Lawn. Here’s the thing, there were literally thousands of people on the lawn that day. Even if I somehow pinpointed the exact location where we were sitting (which was a mission in of itself) there was the likely possibility that a stampede of humans and their furry companions hard trampled over my beloved specs. They could’ve also pocketed them as many New Yorkers tend do. “What’s yours is mine” is a philosophy many live by in this city. But every so often, by luck or good karma, someone will be kind enough to help a stranger.
Needless to say, the circumstances were not in my favor. I desperately searched the entire parameter 10 times over. It’s trickier when the thing you’re trying to find is the very thing that helps you see in the first place. The grass looked blurry and my glasses could have easily been camouflaged with the green pattern of the manmade meadow. After almost an hour of searching, I decided to sit down on the dirt and take a breathe.
It was such a wonderful day, I refused to let this unfortunate event ruin it. In that moment, I surrendered and uttered the following words:
I am grateful I got to see the eclipse.
I am grateful that the glasses were lost after the moon navigated over the sun.
I am grateful I lost my glasses instead of my phone, which would inherently be harder to replace.
I really love those glasses.
I would loved to wear them again.
Aaaand…
I also accept whatever lesson this is teaching me.
I let go with love.
There was a clear quartz stored in the left pocket of my jean jacket. I held on to it and tapped back into the magnetism I felt earlier. After contemplating the beauty that surrounded me, I grabbed my bike and started to walk towards the exit. Fifty footsteps later, I happened to glance at a tree and saw a blurry black something at the foot of its trunk.
“No fucking way.”
I leaned in closer and there it was. The little black case that held my esteemed glasses. I stopped and laughed before bending over and grabbing it. Inside were my tortoise babies, nestled next to the cardboard solar eclipse shades that had also been lost during this extravaganza. They were at least 100 feet away from where we were originally sitting. Which meant that I dropped them on my way out and someone had the heart to pick them up and put them to the side so when I came looking, they wouldn’t be stomped to bits.
First it giveth. Then it taketh away. And on very specials occasions, it giveth back again.
Mind you, there are over 18,000 trees in Central Park. Which meant that serendipity was also on my side because I damn near missed it. If I hadn’t looked at that one specific tree, they would have been someone else’s treasure by nightfall.
Lesson of the day: Learn to let go. Trust that you’re being guided. And above all, don’t let mundane circumstance cloud your bliss.
After all, the moon concealed the sun today.
And still the sun’s light shined though.
xo, Andy
PS: On my way home, I saw a man with his ass out fully jacking off on the train station. Disturbing? Yes. Unsuitably common in a place like New York? Also, yes. I couldn’t help but wonder: what the fuck was the lesson in that? Maybe to remind of life’s contrast. Of the polarities that exists in this earthly experience. Of the yin and yang. Or maybe the eclipse wanted to humor me at the end of a long day, knowing damn well that if I didn’t have my glasses, I probably wouldn’t have seen him.