This is my second post on stargazing and photographing stars at night, and it is a very close one to my heart.
My eyes fascinate at stars that twinkle over the darkness of the earth at night. Overshadowed by the sun’s daylight, stars are subtle and gentle while guiding us towards the day’s end. Next to the moon, they symbolize our need for respite and rejuvenation before the fresh start next day with sunrise.
I thank my Grandma for naming me when I was born. “Rohini” is the name of a constellation and its meaning started my awe-inspiring journey into “wondering” about the stars in the sky. There are days when I “wonder,” while completing a smaller task, why am I here and what is my greater purpose on planet earth? As I search for answers, I look up to the sky and instead find a rush of greater peace and happiness.
Seeing stars on a long drive alongside a ridge of mountains at night excites me about the grand universe we live in and our divine place in it. There is obviously no definite answer for how this sparkling canvas came to hover over us. Maybe stars exist to remind us that we don’t always need to have immediate answers to life’s biggest questions. In fact, if we had all the answers, life would not be so interesting then, would it? Stars instead pull our focus from the smaller stresses to the bigger picture. This brings my “Aha!” connection to finding peace: maybe happiness comes from the excitement of having no control, from uncertainty, from the vast unknown. In essence, we need to "let the stars do their work," and have us relax. ;)
The next time I feel the need for a greater reason or when I feel stuck in doubt, I will look up to the stars to feel my bigger and more fulfilling purpose. Each of us are on this planet earth for some unknown reason. Like shooting stars traversing the sky, we are meant to soulfully grow, but not look back. One thing I know for sure is that we are here so we can simply look up and reach for the stars.
“I’m on earth so I can look up and reach for the stars.”
- Rohini Chandra
"When the moon is not there to give us light, I know the stars are always there to shine."
- Author
