Eclipsed

Like the moon, our lives have ups and downs, the phases of our journey carry beauty.

By: Miranda Ljung-Baruth

The earth rotates constantly, ever changing and evolving. This is you, this multifaceted, multicolored planet. A beautiful living and breathing thing. From the moment we are born, we spend our life cycle rotating, basking in the sun or reveling in the darkness. It's easy to think that you are only worthy in the sun, in the brightness of daylight. The sun is opportunity, it is fortune, and there are periods where it shines constantly. It's then that you are in your flow state, you have every thing and opportunity you could possibly want. You feel that everything comes to you when you let it, and you let it. You are go, go, go, you are on the move, and then…darkness. You are eclipsed. Someone or something makes a shift in the universe and covers your sun. Your energy, your power. However low it may feel, being eclipsed is natural and completely necessary.

It’s in those moments that it’s crucial to prioritize your well being and mental health. Our society can lack empathy and be opportunistic. It values productivity and efficiency above all else, and if you get sucked into that it is so easy to lose yourself. It is okay to grow and improve in a quieter way, a way that is personal to you and not so visible.

We move with the moon, we wax and wane. We can feel a kinship with it. When our power grows and we are bursting through life, the sun spills a little more light each day and we are mirrored in the moon's waxing gibbous. It builds up more and more until we reach our peak, the silvery full moon. When we feel our energy fading in the days that follow, when our spiritual body seems to be growing smaller, we can look up to its yellow waning crescent and see ourselves. We go through cycles. Each part of the cycle is equally important, and equally powerful. We can't be at 100% all of the time. Our strength wavers sometimes, and when it does, it’s usually a sign that we need a break. No matter how big or small you may feel, have empathy for yourself. While it feels like the sun is our lifeline, and being shadowed can feel all encompassing, life is all about transitions. Everything is temporary, and no amount of darkness or lightness will last forever.

Life comes with so much hardship, all of which makes our experiences feel so isolating. These phases of our life are parallel to the way we understand the moon to only have some nights of fullness. We, like the moon, cannot be consistently full. We are going to have moments of life where we feel that we are in hiding, or that we are only partially showing up whether that be for ourselves or others. It is important that even in those moments we not only recognize the beauty of that phase, but that it is just that: a phase.

The moon is in the sky always, but it shows up differently depending on the night. One thing we can always be sure of is that we always have ourselves, and with the right amount of radical self love and self compassion, we can learn to appreciate the fact that regardless of how we show up, we should always show up for ourselves. Regardless of what exactly we may be going through, we can find comfort in the fact that the moon too needs recharging. We can give ourselves grace for any recharging we may require in order to get us to our next phase. Waning is a natural part of your life cycle, and it's not bad in the slightest. You need to know who you are without the sun shining its brightest on you. If you learn to love yourself unconditionally despite any astronomical abnormalities, you can appreciate the sun more when it shines without living in fear of the darkness.

Understanding each phase in your cycle helps you grow into an independent, self loving person. Only after spending time in the darkness, shadowed, can you learn to support yourself. The shadowy parts of life are a beautiful opportunity to grow and evolve, as we are meant to. We live in a hustle culture, a society that glorifies overworking yourself to the point of total exhaustion. It is crucial to take a step back from that expectation and listen to yourself. As we reject those societal standards, we can become in tune with the raw rhythm of things.

The moon moves naturally, just like us. Our bodies go through all phases regardless of anything we do. Just as the world keeps on turning, and the moon keeps on waxing and waning, we keep rotating within our cycle. Nothing natural in this world has to overwork or receive any kind of outside validation to be considered worthy. The sun, the moon, this planet—everything just is. Would the moon care if we deemed it unimportant? Or would it keep on existing regardless. Does any other being or organism on this planet overwork itself for validation besides us humans? Just like everything else natural, we can just be. We are allowed to just exist.

Editor in Chief, Creative Dir: Pilar Bradley

Managing Editor: Nova Krasner

Editorial Dir: Nadia Adams

Senior Photo Dir: Phillip Lewis

Senior Fashion Dir: Monica Robles

Senior Beauty Dir: Gillian Tokar

Production and Set Dir: Luna Abreia

Junior Fashion Dir: Brianna Tirado

Models: Vivika Corona, Yealie Ulaba-Samura

Photographer: Anna Jewel Schluterman

Co-Stylists: Relly Lee, Shoshana Reichmann

Makeup Artists: Brooke Harry, Fabián J. López