Dublin Day 12: Full Moons and Rainbows

Sometimes, it’s just about looking up.

We spend so much of our day looking down, mostly at screens. Whether our smart phones, our car dashboards or our computers, we stare at these screens, blinding ourselves to the world surrounding us.  I often wonder how many of us today would make for good criminal witnesses? How many of us can recall any exact details of anything around us when none of us is looking around?

I am guilty of this. But not just with my cell phone. Also with constantly needing a beverage in my other hand. I’m no psychologist, but I have a theory that our addictions to smart phones and on the go beverages is part of some sort of primal toddler retreat  – back then we had our blankies and our bottles and today we want the same. We want, no we need, our sense of nourishment and security and today’s crazy, chaotic times demand an accessible return to safety.

And, yet, sometimes, we must stop coddling these things and open our eyes, look around us and realize that while the world is scary and uncertain, we’ll never balance it with the beauty and the good if we never look at the beauty and good.

Today, coming out of the cinema and after watching a JDIFF screening of Fellini’s Roma, I headed to the grocery store to purchase a bottle of sparkling water (it’s cheaper here than still water!). For one second, I looked up and I saw a rainbow! A rainbow in Dublin! How wonderful is that?

As I caught the spectrum with my eyes (and with the iPhone camera), looking around, I saw everyone else in the square taking notice, too – mothers with kids in strollers, couples on dates, men smoking cigarettes.  For one brief moment, our heads-down lives had stopped and collectively we all looked up.

A few hours later in the day, while discussing the series finale of Breaking Bad (which I just watched on Nexflix) with Alison, the woman from whom I’m renting a room here, I looked outside as saw a stunning full moon. But not just any full moon – rather it was the dramatic kind where the white clouds quickly fly over it, either showcasing or hiding its brilliant light. These kinds of moons always remind me of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

Alison and I then immediately grabbed our cameras, hers much fancier as she’s taking a photography course, and we began shooting the moon. Her floor to ceiling windows and balcony doors made the picture taking much more accessible.

I enjoyed both moments of extraordinary nature today. I know my neck did, too. But catching both on one day, within a few hours of each other, well, that’s something quite unique. It’s truly quite magical.

What else would you expect from Emerald City?

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