My life was in turmoil. I had been laid off nearly four months earlier and was having no luck in finding another job; my brother was embroiled in the midst of a major lawsuit and needed the family’s support; my friend kept threatening suicide; and I felt on the verge of emotional collapse.

 

To counter all of this, I walked. For miles, I walked. In all kinds of weather, I walked. It’s what I do when I’m stressed, depressed, angry, or just in need of a break from life. I walk. In rain, fog, heat, snow, ice, day or night, spring, winter, summer, or fall—I walk. Primarily, it’s because of my centering (moving part of emotional—I express my emotions through movement). So, I was out walking, probably the second or third time that day.

 

I walked up the hills and down, noticing very little, while my mind skittered from one topic to another. As my thoughts tumbled over each other, the shadows grew deeper around me, and the day, which had been so bright just moments before, was suddenly cast into dusk. I looked up amazed to realize that the sun was nearly gone. The sun was hidden behind the moon, with only the slimmest of its edges remaining, and even that was dimming rapidly.

 

That’s when it finally seeped into my consciousness that I was experiencing the full eclipse. I vaguely remembered hearing something about there being a full eclipse of the sun that day, but with my mind on so many other things it wasn’t a fact that I had fully noticed.

 

Now it was dark, as dark as late evening, yet it was only a little past noon. I reached skyward as if to pluck the dark cover from the sun, and felt, for a moment as if my feet had literally left the ground.

 

Startled, I dropped my hand and looked back at myself. I was still on the street, shadows gathered around me, and my feet firmly planted on the pavement. I looked skyward again, and once more, I felt a compulsion to release my hold on the Earth and fly.

 

I ran forward three steps and jumped, sure that I would find myself soaring through the heavens like some caped superhero. And in some ways, I did. Although, my feet never actually left the ground, I felt as if they had.

 

I was, somehow soaring miles above the Earth, racing with the clouds and looking down at the Earth from the heavens above. It was surreal, yet it felt as real to me as the body I wore. I hovered in a tree top and watched the world go by, then soared up into the clouds once again, to frolic with a flock of birds.

 

Just as the corona began to peek out from behind the cloaking moon, I saw a brilliant light before me. I reached out to touch it and it evaded my reach. I extended my arm as far as I could, and just when I thought I would never be able to reach far enough, I touched it.

 

My whole being burst with joyousness beyond words, and at the same moment the sun escaped its dark mask and the world, for me, was lit with a brilliance from both inside and out.

 

The next thing I remember was picking myself up off the ground where I lay at the base of a large old oak tree. I felt giddy and light-headed. I could barely maintain my balance, and my face was split by the biggest smile I could possibly wear.

 

I wanted to sing, to fly, to dance, to run, to twirl. I was blissful and ecstatic, and the feeling lasted for the rest of the day.

 

When people asked why I was smiling, I had no way to explain it. But it was infectious, because although I couldn’t explain why I was smiling, everyone I encountered ended up smiling, too. It was impossible for me or anyone near me not to smile.

 

All bad feelings went on hiatus that day. I had touched my soul and soared with essence, and I was sharing those good feelings with everyone I came near.