New Moon

A new moon teaches gradualness
and deliberation and how one gives birth
to oneself slowly. Patience with small details
makes perfect a large work, like the universe.

– Rumi 

As I watched the tiny sliver of a new moon make a rapid descent through a narrow veil of clouds last night I was reminded of just how fleeting these wisps of our lives are. Remarkably, it was the first time I’d really noticed what a thin slice of time these lunar landings take up. The moon was so razor thin. I could barely see it with my naked eye as it disappeared and then reappeared from behind the clouds, slicing into the silhouetted mountains like a bladeless scythe.

My life has been so filled with client Zoom calls, tech support queries, and design deadlines the last month, I’ve had no time for revisiting the photographs taken in Colorado. A kind of grief descended about a week ago which sometimes happens when my need for reflection and creating is eclipsed by everyone else’s requirements. This grief is peculiar in its bittersweetness – more like a sweet blossom of melancholy that floats down a river of gratitude for my clients and the skills set into motion to serve them.

I’ve deliberately willed this contemplative space into what could have been another spill-over working weekend. Because tasks must wait their turn while standing in the gradual yet fleeting paths of beauty. So often we fail to realize we’re always on one of those paths, which is why I’m seeking solace in the creation of daily ritual…to remind me.

The setting of the moon will always pass quickly, but it is in the day-to-day unfolding of self-awareness that we discover the real source of peace and beauty.