The Whole of the Moon
I was listening to “The Whole of the Moon” by The Waterboys the other day. I’ve heard the song many times over the years, but this time I was really present and listened. This was the message:
“I pictured a rainbow, you held it in your hands…”
We go around thinking what could be, what we want to do one day. One day when everything is perfect. How is it that other people just attain it? …Because they hold out their hand and believe it’s theirs. They don’t wait for that perfect future moment, when they are ready to reach for it right now.
“I had flashes, but you saw the plan…”
We keep our blinkers on, getting glimpses of what we could be, but we keep going along our same path, not taking the time out from our “busy-ness”, our set routine, to step back and look at the whole picture.
“I wondered out in the world for years, while you just stayed in your room…”
We go ‘out there’ looking for answers. We keep moving, searching, doing. The answers aren’t out there. They’re right here. Right now. We just need to be still. Stop. Listen.
“I was grounded, while you filled the skies…”
All the busy-ness makes us stuck. Spinning in one place. Unable to take off.
“I was dumbfounded by truth, you cut through lies…”
When we’re not paying attention, we’re not aware of the truth, it takes us by surprise. How could I not have seen that? When we’re still and present, we have vision, we can see half-truths, lies.
“I saw the rain dirty valley, you saw Brigadoon…”
Stuck in the trenches, we don’t see the possibilities, the opportunities, the village of true love where anything is possible, that might only appear once every 100 years.
“I spoke about wings, you just flew…”
We waste time talking, about what we will do… One day. While others, less heavy by talking and fruitless dreaming are taking off. Because they can.
“I wondered I guessed and I tried, you just knew…”
We waste energy questioning, trying this then that. Compromising ourselves, our dreams. When we could just follow our heart, our deep knowing, our inner compass.
“You climbed on the ladder, and you know how it feels, to get too high, too far too soon, you saw the whole of the moon”
But once you’ve done this, once you’ve experienced this — the burnout, the fall, the unhappiness — you know. You can stop. Be still. Go within. Listen. Be… Then you’ll see “the whole of the moon”.
