Just Thinkin'
Yesterday I had the most amazing day. My family drove up to see the Total Eclipse in Carbondale, IL. I had watched a video about what to expect when a total eclipse happens, and I got so excited and decided I should go. I wanted my kids to experience it, as well. Also, it was my birthday, so that made it even more special. How often does the sun, earth, and moon align on your birthday?
So we went! And it was breathtaking. Moving. One of the most amazing moments I've ever had in my life. Looking into the sky and seeing the sun shining behind the moon... I've never experienced anything like it. I was near tears. I could hear voices around me shouting in jubilation. We had learned about shadow bands (shadow snakes), and we brought a white sheet to place on the ground, so we could see them, and we DID! I jumped up and down and squealed like a little girl. I was so excited! And to experience it all with my friends and family was such a magical moment. It was something that I want to remember forever.
Then, today I got on Facebook, and I saw a few posts where people talked about how the eclipse was nothing special. They were so over the eclipse, and they wished it was over already. They didn't understand why people were so excited about it.
And I was reminded that there are so many out there that never want us to be excited about anything. Being excited about something is silly. Just grow up already.
I've always been the type of person that gets really excited about things, but as I've gotten older, I've heard this a lot: "Whoa, Johanna. Calm down! It's not worth getting excited about."
So I stopped getting excited about things. Because people told me I shouldn't. I'm too old for that. It's weird.
Calm down.
Calm down, Johanna.
And what I felt was that my excitement was too much for people to handle. I was too much.
I read a book not long ago about being true to your nature, and I realized that I wasn't being true to my nature. I'm naturally excited. That's just how I am. And I had shoved it all down and was trying to be the mature "not excited" adult that I was expected to be. It was a hard realization, and I felt very down. I felt like I had let myself down. I had lost myself. So since then I've been trying to be me. I'm letting myself be excited about things.
And I was excited about that eclipse, dang it. I jumped up and down. I squealed. I nearly cried. I was overwhelmed by it all. And your negativity isn't going to bring me down or make me feel like I'm being foolish. Because being passionate about something is a lot more fun than being indifferent or negative.
It's been hard to let myself be me, but I'm glad I'm doing. In fact, I'm excited about it. :)
So we went! And it was breathtaking. Moving. One of the most amazing moments I've ever had in my life. Looking into the sky and seeing the sun shining behind the moon... I've never experienced anything like it. I was near tears. I could hear voices around me shouting in jubilation. We had learned about shadow bands (shadow snakes), and we brought a white sheet to place on the ground, so we could see them, and we DID! I jumped up and down and squealed like a little girl. I was so excited! And to experience it all with my friends and family was such a magical moment. It was something that I want to remember forever.
Then, today I got on Facebook, and I saw a few posts where people talked about how the eclipse was nothing special. They were so over the eclipse, and they wished it was over already. They didn't understand why people were so excited about it.
And I was reminded that there are so many out there that never want us to be excited about anything. Being excited about something is silly. Just grow up already.
I've always been the type of person that gets really excited about things, but as I've gotten older, I've heard this a lot: "Whoa, Johanna. Calm down! It's not worth getting excited about."
So I stopped getting excited about things. Because people told me I shouldn't. I'm too old for that. It's weird.
Calm down.
Calm down, Johanna.
And what I felt was that my excitement was too much for people to handle. I was too much.
I read a book not long ago about being true to your nature, and I realized that I wasn't being true to my nature. I'm naturally excited. That's just how I am. And I had shoved it all down and was trying to be the mature "not excited" adult that I was expected to be. It was a hard realization, and I felt very down. I felt like I had let myself down. I had lost myself. So since then I've been trying to be me. I'm letting myself be excited about things.
And I was excited about that eclipse, dang it. I jumped up and down. I squealed. I nearly cried. I was overwhelmed by it all. And your negativity isn't going to bring me down or make me feel like I'm being foolish. Because being passionate about something is a lot more fun than being indifferent or negative.
It's been hard to let myself be me, but I'm glad I'm doing. In fact, I'm excited about it. :)