What I learnt from The Moon!

"The Moon" is perhaps the most poetic scientific object that one may fathom. 

Think about it! To express immense love she may say, “I love you to the moon and back!” and to compliment her on her beauty you may hear him saying, “You look as beautiful as the moon!” 

To someone who is alone the moon is the best company. It is known to have a serene and calm effect and yet has the power to rule our lives – Lunar Calendar is the nest example. Astrologers believe that it is the bearer of feelings. And we all know that The Moon has the power to turn the tides.

Why am I talking about the Moon you ask? Well, a few days back my husband and I went for a nice night time ride and the sky was lit with this radiance that literally filled our mind and soul. For the first time, I did not pull out my phone to capture a photograph because it would have done injustice to the feeling of fulfillment we got looking at the full moon. It was the night of Kojagiri Poornima… a night that is dedicated to Indra - The Lord of Rains seated on his white elephant Airavat as well as to Goddess Lakshmi for bestowing her abundance on earth. It is the night that marks the end of Monsoons and Harvest season starts and so does the preparation for Diwali.

And that set me thinking… There is so much that this satellite hold in store… everyone, whether a Man of Books or that of Science venerate her. To a poet she is the epitome of beauty and to a married woman she is the God who will protect her husband. To some She is the Queen of the solar system and to some she is just a figure of speech… For me Moon is a feeling… it connects me to myself. Sounds poetic, I know. But it truly does. Many a times when sitting alone or trying to do something productive, I often look out of the window and when I see the Moon, I find a link to my own thoughts. It helps me think and as mad as it may sound, makes if possible to have a conversation – a rare conversation with myself. There is so much I have learnt while this (seemingly mad activity) from that cosmic friend of mine… She often teaches me that…

Light and Dark are both a part of you :

No one can be full of light at all times and similarly no one is dark always. You have both light and dark within you. You have positive and negative both… Yin and Yang are both yours and one cannot exist while the other ceases. Both are important parts of you. For the lights helps achieve the spiritual goals and the dark keeps you real. You need to respect both the aspects. More so, you need to attain the wisdom to strike the balance between the two. You have to imbibe within you the strength you get from the light and phase out of the shadow. 

The moon is a classic example of this balance… She takes in what makes her strong, the light from the sun and even though she is swallowed by the darkness, she find a way to show her radiance, not by killing the darkness but by illuminating herself. You too, like The Moon, should remember that the shadow will always try to take you over… this shadow is the negativity around you, the nay-sayers and the ones who don’t understand your choices are always there… but you also have the blessings of the well-wishers and your loved ones to give you strength. Both are a part of your existence. It is up to you to choose what makes you radiant. You have to decide what brings out the strength to illuminate the darkness around. So acknowledge both the Light and the Dark and show the world what you can do with each!

Wear your marks with pride – They make you beautiful.

There is nothing called as perfection in this world. Nothing is perfect and no one is flawless. Even Perfection has a scope for improvement. Given this fact, you or I or The Moon herself is no exception. She has marks all over her and yet she is considered the measure for a person’s beauty. Then why do we always strive for that visual and emotional beauty outside. 

I mean, we all have some or the other scars… I am not talking about the physical ones only, some emotional scratches or broken heart or a hurt conscience is also a scar that we carry. But these aren’t the ugly marks that we may perceive as. These are in fact the battle scars that should be worn with pride. It is the sign that you fought. It means that you heeded your stronger self. So what if you fell and scraped a bit? So what if those struggles made you bleed crimson and blue? So what if some people cringe at the scars? For they harbor such immense learning that no book can teach you. These scars are the lessons you have learnt from your failures and experiences. This experience, this wisdom, this strength is what enriches your life. It gives meaning to your existence. So wear your scars with pride… if anything they will only enhance your beauty.

It’s okay to go through phases

I kept the best lesson for the last… It so happened that last year we had a miscarriage and that threw me in a really bad phase… It started with blaming myself, finding reasons to deny that it was destiny and then a circle of thoughts that aimed at hurting my maternal instinct. Denial - this cannot happen to me… Self-doubt – am I not capable to be a mother… Anger – aimed at myself, my husband and the doctors for not being able to save the day… Irritation at everyone telling me it will be alright… frustration at anyone telling me I too went through this… all of this was becoming a routine. I know that everyone was there for me and they were trying to get me back to my feet. They were trying to get me to the point of logic that I seemed to have lost… and today I respect their intentions, but back then I did not want to acknowledge any of it. It was a bad phase. 

What brought me out was a friend telling me, “Go on… Feel everything that you want to… cry if it helps, have the outburst that you want to have, scream if you need to… its okay to feel every emotion and express it too. But once you have done it Move on… don’t linger!” and that was the best advise I got. That night I was at the window seething in my own pain and I there it was, a bright crescent that decorated the otherwise gloomy sky. The next few days she went on waning further till she was at the point of extinction… I didn’t see her till a couple of days later when she was back and then she took over the full face… That set me right!

It is okay to go through phases… it’s is okay to feel bad, low or even depressed. When feeling so, seeking help is not a sign of weakness but strength to have come out and acknowledged your feelings. It is okay to be happy and show it off… but once you have done so, move on! Don’t get hung on those feelings… feelings should have a flow… just like time they should change and so should your perspective… be like the Moon – Fade away, if it helps but remember to come back with all the brightness you have within.

Lessons Learnt :

There is so much we can learn from things around us – Nature, Science, Animals and People… everyone and everything has something to offer, you need to take it and find a meaning that makes you wiser.

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