Optional “that” vs. obligatory “that”
May 4, 2022Something magical is on offer.
June 7, 2022
Epiphany
I didn’t get to choose my narrative. These words were the waves of change that struck me. I was as surprised that they came to my mind even as I was surprised at how personally truthful the thought itself was. One day later, I found myself thinking that now here was my chance to choose one, and so I have. It’s a new one. It’s radical. It’s different. And it’s my own.
I’m reminded of a section of text via the narrator in my novel What’s in a Name that describes a character’s decision about her future: “She could now hardly wait to prove that it [her name] would not [be a problem], just as from this morning, she could hardly wait for this chance—just this one. Now here was that one chance standing in front of her like one big opportunity.”
The waves of change have arrived.
Eclipse
Yesterday was May 15, 2022, the night of the super flower blood moon. I’d been anticipating this rare and “incredible natural phenomenon,” according to Nasa Science Live, which on its YouTube channel inviting people to watch the Total Lunar Eclipse also noted that “Earth will pass between the Sun and the Moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow on the lunar surface. Starting at 9:32 p.m. EDT (1:32 UTC on May 16), people with clear skies in the Americas, Europe, and parts of Africa will begin to see the Moon get bathed in the red glow of every sunrise and sunset [that is] refracted through Earth’s atmosphere.”
So what does the foregoing have to do with my own narrative? The answer is in two words.
Stipulate to create the waves of change
According to Merriam-Webster, the intransitive meaning of the word is “to make an agreement or covenant to do or forbear something.”
Capitulate to create the waves of change
According to Merriam-Webster, the intransitive meaning of the word is “to cease resisting.”
Decision
So by stipulating and capitulating, I will have arrived at what Melanie Beckler on her YouTube channel aptly said:
“We really only get contracted and get weighed down when we resist. And so let go of resistance, embrace allowing openness, gratitude, compassion and love. And ride the waves of change this full moon lunar eclipse to bring forth the highest divine possibility for you.”
I have learned that there’s a price to pay for indifference. Let my own narrative now begin.
Garie McIntosh
May 16, 2022
