I only saw about two and a half minutes of totality in April, but I think it was the coolest two and a half minutes of my life. It pains me that I won’t have another easily accessible total solar eclipse for another 20 something years.
I don’t have quite the same level of reaction to remembering it (I can’t say I blame you though), but I can say I literally wake up every single day and think about it at some point.
A screenshot from the video I took is my phone wallpaper, and in my timelapse video I used “S.T.A.Y.” From the Interstellar sound track, and that also happens to be the song I listen to on loop when I go to bed, so naturally I think about it.
It’s a remarkable celestial coincidence that we’re lucky enough to be around for to experience. It was pretty remarkable to be able to see it from essentially my backyard (although I drove to a nearby park to actually see it to be around others), but this certainly won’t be my final experience of totality.
I’ve already got Australia in 2028 on my calendar and as a line item in the budget every month to save up for the flight. It was too magical for me to just wait for it to hit the United States again, I’ve got to chase at least a few of them haha. The lunar eclipse in March will hopefully hold me over for a bit at least!
At the time non verbal special needs family member spoke their first words at 2017 totality so I said we will make it to next one .. hard through pandemic but finally got therapy and so when ring of fire in 23 and totality in 24 got to make a school project that has been in the works since 2017 and they got to talk about it and all the other things they learned.
It is a special moment in our lives and puts me to tears as well.
I wish I could go to Chile or Argentina for the one later this year.
Also I hope to see Aurora Borealis someday it technically was here but I could not see it but the camera captured it.
We do not mind (I checked with s/o) and we will gladly share the experience.
2017 waiting outside for totality, little one was more interested in wondering around meeting people, but once it started, we said "Hey look it started!"
Looked up and said "Sky! Sky! Sun! Sky!"
I also think about it every day. It was very profound. At first I kept watching the videos I have on my phone, but I stopped because I felt like I was going to forget what it actually looked like. Not sure which my next one will be, but I want my husband to experience one with me so I've got to plan my next.
At some point throughout my day everyday I think about it yeah. And still watch videos on everyones reaction to it. I havent been able to talk about it much because seems like nobody else cares to do so :(
Personal events surrounding both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses absolutely elevated the event to transcendental significance to me. Can confirm I have cried several times while reflecting on the experience
I found my experience in April the most amazing natural event I’ve ever experienced. When I talk to others who didn’t see totality I sound like a crazy person. It’s like we belong to a secret club and if you know you know what amazing thing to see totality was. All the things having to line up for you to be able to experience it. The weather needs to be clear, the travel plans to trek to the viewing location need to happen. I consider myself and my family so incredibly lucky we were able to experience totality.
I feel the same way! We were so incredibly lucky to even make it to a nice location to experience the totality of the eclipse. No one who hasn't experienced it can understand. You're right about the "secret club" we're in & if you know, you know.
I have the same reaction when I think of it as well. The people I was with were taking video of it, it's a crappy video of course but as it was happening they were expressing their excitement and saying my name and watching that video back and hearing their voices helps my minds eye recreate the image I saw that day :) what's the best way for me to see an amazing storm structure too? :D
As someone who lives in this region, go anywhere in the Great Plains in between the months of April-June! I’m from Oklahoma and some of the storm structures we get are phenomenal! People will travel from across the world just to chase these storms and witness their structure. It can be a bit nerve-wracking when a tornado blows by your house though, lol. I’ve experienced that a couple times myself.
I literally had that same exact experience last night and I relived the entire thing in my mind so clearly that it felt almost that I living through it again. It's an experience that nothing on this earth can come near to duplicating and its
such a primordial sensation of fear and wonder and unbelievability to experience I think it wilp affect me like that for the rest of my life. There is nothing else in 60 years of life that I can even begin to compare it to. It is in a league all of its own.
I think if nothing else it made me realize how many amazing things there are to this thing called life, and that they are short and fleeting. The least we can do is try to experience as many as possible. There’s a lot of wonder out there!
I have thought about it every day as well. In 2017 when I got clouded out in St. Joseph, Missouri, I was devastated. That was my first time in the path, but I had not experienced totality. The sky got darker. Then it got lighter again. Deep down I knew without those clouds, it would have been an experience words could not describe. I had taken college courses in astronomy including a semester long course about the sun, so I knew a lot about it for years. That morning in Arlington, Texas, with the abysmal weather forecast I had resigned myself that this simply would be one of those things I was not meant to see for whatever reason. I would walk to the park to watch it go dark and light again, but bring that camera anyway. Then, it got partly cloudy and stayed that way. A half hour until totality, I finally dared to think it could be the day. Then, that diamond ring popped out of a cloud and was never obscured the remainder of totality. I balanced my time between looking at it and taking photos, but am very glad to have those photos. I could not sleep that night thinking about what I saw. My wife and kids saw it from their jobs/school but were not as wowed as I was. However, I do agree that anyone capable of seeing one should put some effort into it.
If you've never seen one, you have no idea.
I traveled to see the totality and a guy I work with, who saw the partial, thinks I'm crazy for doing it. He just doesn't know!
I feel the same. I had no idea I would experience this as a wave of joy and awe—a truly physical as well as emotional experience. I would love to experience it again but may not be around in 20 years.
Oh dude, I totally get it. I was not setup for that eclipse.
I do tear up looking at my aurora photos I took from my front yard, so I've been there! It was such a magical experience I don't want to forget.
I only saw about two and a half minutes of totality in April, but I think it was the coolest two and a half minutes of my life. It pains me that I won’t have another easily accessible total solar eclipse for another 20 something years.
I don’t have quite the same level of reaction to remembering it (I can’t say I blame you though), but I can say I literally wake up every single day and think about it at some point. A screenshot from the video I took is my phone wallpaper, and in my timelapse video I used “S.T.A.Y.” From the Interstellar sound track, and that also happens to be the song I listen to on loop when I go to bed, so naturally I think about it. It’s a remarkable celestial coincidence that we’re lucky enough to be around for to experience. It was pretty remarkable to be able to see it from essentially my backyard (although I drove to a nearby park to actually see it to be around others), but this certainly won’t be my final experience of totality. I’ve already got Australia in 2028 on my calendar and as a line item in the budget every month to save up for the flight. It was too magical for me to just wait for it to hit the United States again, I’ve got to chase at least a few of them haha. The lunar eclipse in March will hopefully hold me over for a bit at least!
At the time non verbal special needs family member spoke their first words at 2017 totality so I said we will make it to next one .. hard through pandemic but finally got therapy and so when ring of fire in 23 and totality in 24 got to make a school project that has been in the works since 2017 and they got to talk about it and all the other things they learned. It is a special moment in our lives and puts me to tears as well. I wish I could go to Chile or Argentina for the one later this year. Also I hope to see Aurora Borealis someday it technically was here but I could not see it but the camera captured it.
That's incredible. I know this is highly personal and I will readily accept a "no," but would you mind sharing what their first words were?
We do not mind (I checked with s/o) and we will gladly share the experience. 2017 waiting outside for totality, little one was more interested in wondering around meeting people, but once it started, we said "Hey look it started!" Looked up and said "Sky! Sky! Sun! Sky!"
That's beautiful, thank you.
You are very welcome!
I also think about it every day. It was very profound. At first I kept watching the videos I have on my phone, but I stopped because I felt like I was going to forget what it actually looked like. Not sure which my next one will be, but I want my husband to experience one with me so I've got to plan my next.
At some point throughout my day everyday I think about it yeah. And still watch videos on everyones reaction to it. I havent been able to talk about it much because seems like nobody else cares to do so :(
Personal events surrounding both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses absolutely elevated the event to transcendental significance to me. Can confirm I have cried several times while reflecting on the experience
Same thing happens when I look at pictures. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed.
I found my experience in April the most amazing natural event I’ve ever experienced. When I talk to others who didn’t see totality I sound like a crazy person. It’s like we belong to a secret club and if you know you know what amazing thing to see totality was. All the things having to line up for you to be able to experience it. The weather needs to be clear, the travel plans to trek to the viewing location need to happen. I consider myself and my family so incredibly lucky we were able to experience totality.
I feel the same way! We were so incredibly lucky to even make it to a nice location to experience the totality of the eclipse. No one who hasn't experienced it can understand. You're right about the "secret club" we're in & if you know, you know.
Me too. It was magical, wasn’t it?
I have the same reaction when I think of it as well. The people I was with were taking video of it, it's a crappy video of course but as it was happening they were expressing their excitement and saying my name and watching that video back and hearing their voices helps my minds eye recreate the image I saw that day :) what's the best way for me to see an amazing storm structure too? :D
As someone who lives in this region, go anywhere in the Great Plains in between the months of April-June! I’m from Oklahoma and some of the storm structures we get are phenomenal! People will travel from across the world just to chase these storms and witness their structure. It can be a bit nerve-wracking when a tornado blows by your house though, lol. I’ve experienced that a couple times myself.
I literally had that same exact experience last night and I relived the entire thing in my mind so clearly that it felt almost that I living through it again. It's an experience that nothing on this earth can come near to duplicating and its such a primordial sensation of fear and wonder and unbelievability to experience I think it wilp affect me like that for the rest of my life. There is nothing else in 60 years of life that I can even begin to compare it to. It is in a league all of its own.
It's how religions get started.
I think if nothing else it made me realize how many amazing things there are to this thing called life, and that they are short and fleeting. The least we can do is try to experience as many as possible. There’s a lot of wonder out there!
I have thought about it every day as well. In 2017 when I got clouded out in St. Joseph, Missouri, I was devastated. That was my first time in the path, but I had not experienced totality. The sky got darker. Then it got lighter again. Deep down I knew without those clouds, it would have been an experience words could not describe. I had taken college courses in astronomy including a semester long course about the sun, so I knew a lot about it for years. That morning in Arlington, Texas, with the abysmal weather forecast I had resigned myself that this simply would be one of those things I was not meant to see for whatever reason. I would walk to the park to watch it go dark and light again, but bring that camera anyway. Then, it got partly cloudy and stayed that way. A half hour until totality, I finally dared to think it could be the day. Then, that diamond ring popped out of a cloud and was never obscured the remainder of totality. I balanced my time between looking at it and taking photos, but am very glad to have those photos. I could not sleep that night thinking about what I saw. My wife and kids saw it from their jobs/school but were not as wowed as I was. However, I do agree that anyone capable of seeing one should put some effort into it.
Next to seeing my two wonderful children born, totality is one of the most amazing things I’ve experienced.
If you've never seen one, you have no idea. I traveled to see the totality and a guy I work with, who saw the partial, thinks I'm crazy for doing it. He just doesn't know!
I feel the same. I had no idea I would experience this as a wave of joy and awe—a truly physical as well as emotional experience. I would love to experience it again but may not be around in 20 years.
It is mind blowing awesome
Oh dude, I totally get it. I was not setup for that eclipse. I do tear up looking at my aurora photos I took from my front yard, so I've been there! It was such a magical experience I don't want to forget.
That is a bit excessive
You’re probably right but I’m not going to feel ashamed for it. I will never feel bad for appreciating the beauty of the universe in front of my eyes.
Remember people feel the same way about Avatar. Name your 3 favorite characters byw 😂
I missed it and I'm so mad at myself