People cry at total eclipses. Not because it’s sad, but because being that small feels huge.

Being dwarfed by something is not the same as being diminished by it. There is a particular feeling, with no good name, that comes from standing in front of something enormously larger than you and finding it a relief rather than a threat. For a moment you are not the main problem being managed. The tears are about scale, not sorrow.

Put yourself in front of something big on purpose this month. A canyon, an ocean, a sky with no city in it, a building that took a century. Stay longer than feels necessary, because the feeling arrives after the first few minutes.