Using the Power of the Moon to Inspire

Despite its distance in vast darkness, the power of the moon carries our minds back to reality. A reality where the bigger picture makes more sense, even within its own abstraction.

As a teenager, I used to scoot halfway onto to the trunk-end ledge of my Mom’s Honda Odyssey (or Mom van) and stare into nights so clear they revealed stars as bright as day.

They were so bright and encapsulating that reality on earth would dim. My problems, stresses, and doubts would retreat and my thoughts filtered themselves through the moonlight.

A beaming moon and star-sprinkled sky presented me the bigger picture — we all share the same sky don’t we? I would know there were others out there who also marveled the same dark palette, momentarily getting lost in the great beyond.

‘’What more is out there?’’ We might find ourselves asking. How can we know? We feel so familiar with the concept of night, day, dark, and light — but the commonplace night sky is still a mystery as to what else exists and what our purpose is.

To me, those realizations let me relax about life. My life, my path, and my perspective are all so tiny no matter how colossal they seem to me.

Unfortunately, in Philly I don’t have the star-spattered nights like I did growing up, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the views, the moons, and the few stars that make an appearance.

As of recent, photographing these scenes from my roof have been my muse — this gorgeous moon inspiring one of those shoots and this writing, in fact.

As a writer, coming up with what to write is not always easy and nor does inspiration always come. I may feel tired in my pursuits and wonder why I’m doing what I’m doing.

On this night though, when I looked at the moon, it reminded me that what I’m doing is great and that I should keep doing it because the bigger picture doesn’t care if we do what we love or not — all that matters is that we exist within it.

I’m not a committed follower of any faith, but I do believe in finding spirituality that motivates us in life. If I could sum up how the night sky inspires my being, it’s that if we believe in the moon, we exist among the stars.