Framing Experience

Eclipse viewing

In 2017, I walked up the hill behind our house to sit near the livestock barn in the tall grasses, content to silently enjoy the full eclipse that visited my state that year. I didn’t feel compelled to use term full totality or pay for a view spot in a prearranged location. I just sat, alertly allowing the darkening landscape to consume me as I was part of the experience. I wasn’t interviewed on the news, I didn’t plaster Facebook with smiling wine drinking photos, or brag about being at some upscale venue. I kept it simple, and that seemed to be enough. With the latest eclipse hitting the East Coast, I noticed an immediate uptick in how everything was perceived and promoted. There would be live tv coverage, and suddenly, morning hosts came to life with suggestions for viewing; I’ll be at Disneyland, I’ll be at the Indianapolis speedway, here’s the plane seat I’ll be viewing it from at 20,000 feet! It all seemed to become so corporatized and commodified, that we’d given up our ability to allow authentic, natural experiences to just happen without devising some road to profit. In fact, the evening after the event, the big quote on the evening news was: This year’s eclipse made more money than all of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour! And that’s fine, but I would like to point out that once we organize and package every inch of reality, we lose something, if not ourselves. I think we deserve more than being part of some trivial record. My two cents.