“Ooh, look at how pretty the moon looks today!” they all said. Seconds later you’ll find that one or two or three people have taken out whatever device they have——wanting to take a solid picture of the moon.

But then all you see is a little golden dot settled in the middle of a blue or black sky. It’s a classic.

It happened to me. In fact it happens all the time. This time I tried to take a picture of the moon with something other than my phone though. The picture above was taken by a cannon camera (not sure what kind to be honest)

But even with greatest, biggest, baddest, bulkiest, most focused camera, the view of the moon and the shivers you might get from its holy nature does not appear the same in a picture. There are some things that you have to see yourself. The sight of a beautiful moon is one of those things. The way the moon is perfectly sculpted into a spherical shape with one light half side and another dark half side is extraordinarily fascinating. It is our guiding light and the guiding light of our ancients who sought direction by the use of the stars and moon at night. It is a miracle, but it’s something that can’t be captured in only one instant. It can be captured in moments and in nights and in days and in months (the lunar calendar).

Our eyes are a miracle. The way we view things is complicated and not yet fully discovered. Contralateral processing. The pupil. Rods and Cones. Visual stimuli. It comes to show that our replicated cameras and smartphones cannot compare to a humans’ living lenses; adjusted to fit in between our skeleton and skin so smoothly and usually lasting a lifetime.

So tonight, look up at the moon and admire its beauty. Make yourself aware of the sky and maybe you could even try try and try again to capture that perfect image and give the moon its justice.

“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.” ― Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me