The Moon Milestone

Seems like something cosmic is going on, at least for me. In the same short time span, our country celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, I launched my web page with the moon theme and the idea of "one giant step" and at the same time I was reading "The Last Lecture," in which Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who gave a dynamic speech before he died of cancer described in one part of his book the overall importance of the moon landing--that the expense and effort was worth it, because in his words, "When you're putting people on the moon, you're inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved." (I LOVED this book and will write more about Randy Pausch's look on life at another time, believe me).

I believe Pausch is right. If we can't dream and conquer, we're losing a part of our humanity that makes any goals seem doable. It's amazing what can be accomplished when our minds are set to it.

When I put this blog together, I hadn't been thinking about the upcoming anniversary of Apollo 11, and although there was a rocket ship on the front cover of "The Last Lecture," I hadn't gotten far enough into Pausch's book/lecture to realize how seriously he viewed and applied inspirational events in his life.

But putting all these things together makes me realize how wondrous the world really is, and what my role should be in it.

For me, the moon has been, as long as I can remember, a dreamy fantastic thing. I remember being a three year old, running from room to room in my home, peeking out each window to see that the moon appeared to be "following" me. Other objects, like the car in the driveway, etc. were best viewed from a certain window--but the moon always looked the same. I was both thrilled and a little scared that the moon could follow me! (Obviously, I hadn't grasped the idea that the moon was a lot further away than the car and this was a illusion).

Nevertheless, the moon had a mystic, comforting quality for me from my early days on. I remember seeing it at different times of my life. A misty moon shrouded by clouds looked spooky when we looked out the window from a friends' sleepover; the full moon on a spring night during a romantic date; the yellow harvest moon filling up the sky on a high school hayride; a moon that looked like an orange slice one Indian Summer night at Great America with my husband; watching the moon "rise" behind pine trees on a mountain with my kids on the last night of our vacation; gazing out at the full moon making the snow glitter like daylight one Christmas Eve as my children slept in anticipation of the following morning; the gorgeous half-moon I saw in the dawn hours the day I found out I was pregnant with my son; the sliver moon that looks like a Cheshire cat grin that delights my daughter. Heck, I was even married the night of a full moon. And there are many, many more moon memories for me.

Each memory is a meaningful reflection in my life, and the moon is a companion of sorts that has seen me through all of these events. But now with the idea of goal-setting and inspiration in my mind, perhaps I should start viewing the moon as a way to see if my goals have been reached, too. It would bring about a new way to look forward to each cycle of the moon.

This idea is nothing new; the ancients measured time, hunting, planting crops and many other things important to their societies by the pattern of the moon. Making the connection to another time and people feels intriguing to me.

Or, is it better to be mindful of the moon as I always have been--as a milestone keeper of things that simply occur in my life, without my choosing anything in particular to happen on the nights I see it. I certainly have many wonderful memories this way!

I'll give it some thought. One thing for sure--I feel blessed that I was able to enjoy this simple beautiful thing all my life. The moon has been an inspiration to mankind forever, whether it be for practical purposes like planting or hunting, romantic notions for writing love letters, poetry or songs, or as an inspiration for technology. You may have heard "stop and smell the roses." Well, stop and take a look up at the night time sky and gaze up--the eye of the moon is gazing back at you--and make your own memory, or set a goal 'til the next time you see that phase of the moon!