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The Moon's A Mystery. Both of Them.
The moon has always been mysterious… hovering between absence and presence…waxing and waning...through endless time.
Its light is borrowed of course, but that reflection softens the world and blurs the edges of certainty. To look at it is to feel both comforted and unsettled, as though it harbors secrets it will never fully reveal.
Across the centuries, storytellers, alchemists and poets leaned heavily on the moon’s mysteries, while scientists have chipped away at them.
The first full moon of January is known as the Wolf Moon. Storytellers and priests used these seasonal full-moon names to mark the passage of time before modern calendars.
Alchemists thought the moon’s phases shaped intention and catalyzed growth and release, which lent rhythm and power to their rituals.
Carl Sandburg said, “The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to," and poets have long positioned the moon as a silent companion to both love and loss, asking it to bear witness to emotions too tender for Day’s cold light (see a wonderful example of "moon poetry" at the end of this post).
For all of us, the moon doesn’t explain the world. It reminds us how much remains unknown, which in turn inspires us to reach to reach to the heavens, to know more.
Scientists rarely take not knowing about something lying down. They have been chipping away at the moon's mysteries for some time.
They used their powers of observation, data, and physics to land on it. And they didn't stop there. We now know the moon is not just a dead rock after all, but has water and has even been buffeted by volcanic activity.
Don't worry, the moon's still keeping plenty of secrets. The side that faces Earth is covered in large, volcanic plains, while the far side is higher, rougher, and heavily cratered. No one knows why this extreme asymmetry exists.
The scientist in me likes dogged investigation and learning, but the artist in me is pulling for the moon, hoping the song was right, and that we never fully catch the “Midnight Rider.”
For my part, I know nothing with certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. ~Vincent Van Gogh, Letters to Theo.
The "Other" Moon
Now what about the other moon...no outside, no inside...the moon in you?
That inner sense that feels like your essence, the deepest part that seems impossible to describe. The part that, when you look inside, feels like, for lack of a better word, what you call “me.”
This me is not the labels you casually toss out in conversation.
Not where you went to college. Not the alphabet soup after your name. Not your stock portfolio. Not the many roles you play in your extended family. Not, please, your astrological sign nor Enneagram type. Not the number of followers you have…or views…or downloads.
It’s the part of you that, when you close your eyes, is always there and feels like it has always been there. The part that feels like it hasn’t really changed, even when everything around you, your external trappings, and the "physical you" has changed.
What is that?
It’s been there as long as you have. A feeling, a sensation closer than breath. Yet for most, it remains a mystery.
Of all the koans, I is the highest. ~Zen Master Ikkyu
Zen master Ikkyu said, “Of all the koans, I is the highest.”
Wait. I...is a koan?
Koans are short, often paradoxical statements or questions used as tools for meditation and insight. Koans are not riddles, but they act like them, designed to short-circuit the rational mind.
Some of the classic koans include:
· “What’s the sound of one hand clapping?”
· “What was your original face before your parents were born.”
· “What is the Buddha? Three pounds of flax.”
They are contradictions, puzzles, with no logical answer.
But how can…"I am hungry"…"I am sad"…"I am walking"…I am this or that be puzzling or koan worthy?
Well, what is that feeling of I, really? Is your indescribable "I essence" and the I essence of your friend…is it the same feeling or a different feeling? Why does your feeling not seem to change, though you clearly do?
That’s rather paradoxical, no?
They say increasing self-understanding can be part of the recipe for becoming a better leader. Could this be the final frontier of that inquiry?
As you put the finishing touches on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, consider adding one:
By the end of the year, I want to know more about this feeling, this I, that looks down at this list of resolutions.
There's a good chance it will take you more than a year, but there is no end to what you might learn, including that...no inside, no outside...your light is borrowed too.
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In a post about moons, poets--specifically Hafiz--get the last word:
With that Moon Language
Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to them, “love me.”
Of course you do not do this out loud,
otherwise someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?
Dennis Adsit, Ph.D. is an executive coach, organization consultant, and designer of The First 100 Days and Beyond, a consulting service that has helped hundreds of newly hired and promoted executives get great starts in challenging new jobs.
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