Finn Wagner
Staff Writer
April 25, 2024
Get Mooned - Millions gawked in awe as the moon blocked the sun for Indiana’s first total solar eclipse since 1869.
As the moon crossed the sun's plane on April 8, many of us were forced with a realization. For those of us not planning on leaving the United States, we will not see a marvel to that magnitude for another twenty years, meaning within the scope of our lives, we are not yet halfway there.
If I think back twenty years, I can’t. That’s probably because I was not yet born, I’m not sure though. Surprisingly, to think twenty years into the future is just as difficult. Each of our lives will change extravagantly and fundamentally, and many of us will be no more than an “Oh yeah! I remember them!” to those to whom we are so close now. This is not something to dread though, lives change, in fact, that may be the only constant we can count on.
College is rapidly approaching and our lives will come into their own. We will be placed into the corporate world and forced to juggle our fears with our Friday nights. In twenty years, many of us will have jobs, families, lovers, and live the ways teenagers can only dream of. Unfortunately, we can’t skip time to that moment, so we must build a healthy foundation as we go.
Getting through day after day can be draining, and nobody has ever disagreed with that. Luckily, that is perfectly okay, as not every day can we create worldly change, nor can we always do what excites us most. The moments between lay the foundation for our future excellence.
As time passes, we may not notice the seemingly inconsequential mundanities that plant the seeds of epiphanic flowers, which are not soon going to bloom into the gardens of our lives; much like the days passing now, bringing us closer and closer to our next extraterrestrial gazings. If we attempt to examine each day, it is impossible to find the cause of our greatest accomplishments (a line cannot be drawn between the shoes I wore today and words being typed into my computer) but a step back allows us to see the whole picture (if I never moved to Indiana I may have never found my inspiration to write.)
I remember glaring up through the thick, black glasses as the temperature dropped and darkness befell upon my surroundings. “This is what I waited for?” I thought to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was cool enough, and I could at the very least respect it; but as the time passes and I move closer to the next one I think: “That was what I waited for!”Appreciation for moments passed often does not come until we wear the 20/20 glasses of hindsight, but, as always, you must put forth the effort of placing them on your face first.