January Wolf Full Moon

Today is the first full moon of 2022, and when I saw the nearly full moon last night, it got me thinking of how, when I was a kid, a full moon seemed like such a big deal.

I look back and think of how few full moons I’ve noticed as an adult. How often do I make a point of looking up anymore? Or take the time to wander around in the daylit dark when I’m calling my dog to come back indoors before I go to bed?

It makes me contemplate how the moon is really a sort of half-sister, a large mass that either collided with us or split from the earth in some cataclysmic event long before our time, a violence that put us both plunk into the “Goldilock zone” of planets habitable to life as we know it.

Tonight, I’ll take my time, I’ll tip my proverbial hat to the sweet full moon and her dazzle of sunlight held safe for all of us in the porous bone of night.

• Can you think of any “moon events” that were traumatic at the time, but that set you on your current trajectory?

• Can you spare some gratitude for your history, or note a sense of contentment at how far you’ve come?

• Can you make some time to appreciate something beautiful in nature?