I went to see a partial solar eclipse in London, in Hampstead Heath. It went exactly like I imagined it would: a curious thing in the sky, interesting to look at for about 30 seconds, and lots of people not really sure what to do with all these glasses (you need special glasses to be able to look at the sun and not damage your eyes.)

It was a good occasion to gather with friends and drink some beer. But the thing itself was kind of… boring? Uninspiring? I think most people around me felt the same way: they looked at the sun a bit, and then continued chatting to their friends. Everyone had a good time, and the eclipse was a nice touch.

Then a friend showed me a picture of a full eclipse he saw in Spain, and he was super excited about it. It looked much more interesting than our partial one. But when I saw it, I thought - would I travel to Spain to see that? Not use it as a reason to see friends or visit a new city, but for its sake alone? Probably not.

Then I thought - are there things I would go out of my way to see? I think so:

  • A tornado (from a safe distance)
  • An earthquake (a low-risk one? Not sure if there are any)
  • A destruction of a skyscraper or just a large building
  • A huge waterfall, view from below
  • A war zone, a huge forest fire, or a slaughterhouse ()

I expect all of these to profoundly change how I experience the world. The last one I expect to be a terrible experience, but maybe the one that can awaken me, remind me very strongly that there are things worth caring about.