I swear the sunsets and sunrises in MN have been more breathtaking than in the past. Vibrant pinks, oranges, yellows, corals, purples... Mother Nature has blessed us with rich beauty this Fall as the cold sets in, giving us something to marvel at while we prepare for the big freeze!
Chasing the sun is something I do really, really well. I may fail at many things, yet I’ve been successful at catching more sunrises and sunsets than the average individual. I get up early to make sure I see that first burst of light, and all the colors that precede it, and get outside in the afternoon, to watch that fiery orange orb fall gently into the horizon. No matter where I am.
The life I've chosen and the travels I've been on makes catching these times of day easy! Spending weeks at sea where all there was to do was watch the sea and sky, and breathe in their beauty. Constantly being on beaches with family, friends, lovers, or alone, to watch the magnificent sun set into or rise from the sea, or lakes. Hiking upwards into the desert or jungle to catch that first burst of golden light over a mountaintop. These are the moments in life to chase. These are moments to live for!
I was at a Memorial recently and ran into our old neighbor from when we were kids. A tall, handsome, Italian man with a German Shepherd named Sheba. He always thought I was a cute kid (with a big laugh) and I later heard he'd told my Mom as I was growing up, “Carole, she is just getting more and more beautiful as she grows older.” Anyway, enough about me aging like fine wine…
He and I were chatting and I could tell I made his day because I had simply remembered him. His smile was as big and warm as I remember, and looking into his eyes, I could see the spark of a young exuberant man even though he was in his 80’s.
I told him my Dad was also there, and his eyes lit up and he said, “Sunset? Sunset’s here?” I must have looked confused because he said, “We call your dad Sunset because he was always running off into the sunset.” I laughed that same big laugh as when I was a kid, which in turn made Mr. Scarelli laugh. A more appropriate name could not have been given to my absentee, romantically idealist and wanderlust father.
Sunsets are full of beauty and magic and withhold so much power in that little window of time each day. The air quiets down, the light on those we’re with is fairer (hello, golden hour!), the sky is painted with an array of colors that belong in their own “Sunset Hues” crayon box, and for a short moment of time, we are able to look directly at the sun to experience its power.
Beyond the incredible scenery our eyes witness in the vast sky, there is something more meaningful about the sun saying goodnight to us all. This is the time we get to reflect. To take time and give gratitude for the day and all that it brought us. To reflect on the good choices we made, as well as the mistakes we made. To give thanks for all the beauty we are witnessing, and for the gifts we were given throughout the day.
"Don't forget: beautiful sunsets need cloudy skies." -Paulo Coelho
Have you ever had a bad day? Have you ever had days where nothing seems to go right? Have you ever lost someone you love or been mishandled by someone you gave your heart to? Ever felt down, defeated, broken, or betrayed by someone you trusted? Yeah, me too. A few times. And following those experiences times can get dark, sometimes real dark, and it can feel like our whole damn story has ended. It can feel as though the sun has set on us forever, never to rise again. Yet despite feelings of downright despair, the sun, my beautiful friends, always, and forever, rises again!
The amazing thing about sunsets, and the darkness that follows, is knowing that the sun will always come up again, bringing new light! Similar to our own lives, no matter what life throws at us, we also will rise again. We will be happy again. We will find our passion again. We will find love again. We will experience joy, confidence, and purpose again. To witness the sun going down, bringing darkness for a brief amount of time, only to rise again bringing new light, is the best reminder that dark times are only temporary. No matter how bad our fall.
“At the moment that everything goes dark, the sunset in front of us becomes the whole story. But if we find courage to wait until tomorrow morning, we will suddenly come to understand that in reality, yesterday’s sunset was only half the story.” -Craig D. Lounsbrough
I almost always feel some sort of anxiousness, or anticipation when I am awaiting the sunrise. I’m like a kid saying (in my head of course), “Is it up yet, is it up yet, is it up yet??” I am completely aware of this when I’m “in it” and I am even more aware at the time that I cannot rush or change it. Kind of like anything in life, right? We can’t rush anything. We can’t rush love, or health, or wealth, or the future.
Being patient, still, to wait and watch the sun peak over that horizon is the best reminder that we get to relax, be still, breathe, and take in the calm and beauty of nature unveiling itself to us, in its own time. As hard as you may try, you will never, ever get the sun to rise sooner. Trust me, I’ve tried.
For every loss, there’s a win. For every heartbreak, there’s a new love. For every dollar lost, there’s a dollar found. For every misfortune, there’s a brighter day ahead. I firmly believe this and have experienced enough of the bad, to know there are always better things to follow.
For every sun that has set, whether the day brought beauty, joy, love, or pain, there is always, ALWAYS a sunrise to follow, bringing a fresh new day, a new beginning, new opportunities to conquer your goals and tackle your dreams, and manifest any damn thing you want.
So if you don’t already, I encourage each of you to get out there and experience as many sunrises and sunsets as possible! Wake up early to get outside and watch the sun give birth to the day. Use that time to take in the beauty of Earth waking up, and create the day YOU desire. And in the evening, make a point to be somewhere to catch that gorgeous setting sun, to honor and give thanks for the day you were just blessed with, whether it was a good one or a bad one, reflect on it all knowing the following day is a brand new start.
Oh, and Mr. Scarelli? Two weeks after I saw him he ran off into the sunset, forever. I find it so beautiful to have made him smile that day, to know that my joy gave a dying man the spark I saw in his eyes, and to have warmed his heart the way he did mine.
Until I run off into my final sunset, I'll keep chasing that beautiful sun going down, and coming up, as much and as often as possible, and I hope you do, too!
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