This was the photograph (or close to it) that caught my eye as we wandered about in the atrium of our school. The teachers were engaged in a creative learning exercise, and we were told to choose one photograph… pages of National Geographic magazines were scattered along the walls, waiting to be chosen. I was drawn to this singular image, like space debris to a black hole. Yeah, sometimes I feel like debris. So I snatched it up and then tried to figure out why. Why was this suddenly my corona?

Contrary to what some early humans believed, having the sun blocked out in your part of the world (or in a temporary portion of your life), does not mean the end of the world… it is actually an opportunity for a new perspective… a chance to see what is not always visible in your life. The corona, the crown of the sun, is only visible during a total eclipse. Some opportunities or qualities in your life are only visible during the times of deepest darkness. And you know, often the life darkness does not last that long… just as in an eclipse, when you have only a few moments to see that shimmering halo around the sun, your moment of seeing in the dark can be fleeting. Get the most out of it.

One of our group members mused that she did not recognize it as an eclipse at first. It looked to her life an extreme close-up shot of an eye. The black circle was the pupil. Interesting how one thing can represent two opposite concepts. It is either the very solid moon blocking the circle of life, or the window to the soul; the pupil that, with its blackness absorbs everything it sees. An impediment or an invitation. So many things in life go either way. So many times, it seems my life could go either way… sucked down into the black hole and being absorbed into emptiness or absorbing everything that an eclipse of my life has to teach me.