Were you emotional

[Anonymous]

While viewing the eclipse? I saw lots of people tearing up (including the newscasters) on tv. I watched it with friends and family locally in the DMV. We thought it was cool - but not in the least bit emotional/touched/overwhelmed... maybe you had to be in the path of totality to feel an eclipse of the heart?

[Anonymous]

That wasn't emotion. That was their eyeballs melting because their glasses were faulty.

[Anonymous]

I wasn’t emotional, but I was giddy. And that surprised me because I wasn’t that excited leading up to it

[Anonymous]

I was emotional but did not expect to be so that was odd. It was beautiful. I think if I had been among the crowds I'd have thought it was cool but I'd be too distracted by chatter to feel the stillness.

[Anonymous]

There is an enormous difference between the path of totality and not.

We were amongst tons of random people who had traveled many hours to see it. Everyone was happy, jovial, friendly, and there for the same purpose. There were people who literally baked cookies and were passing them around. There were scientists, environmentalists and other professionals who played hooky for the day, and were happily chatting amongst each other. People had roadside stands and streets, businesses, and downtowns areas were bustling. People were walking and setting up camp everywhere. There were all sorts of professional photographers who obtained their shots of a lifetime, of literally all phases. It was not in this area, so people were generally of a happy disposition. It was nice to be away from the Lake Woebegones.

People cheered loudly during many of the phases, because it is not something you can appreciate, unless you are there in person. Lots of living in the moment, for a change.

[Anonymous]

I looked at a bunch of pictures of people looking at it and almost everyone was smiling. This year and in 2017 I was viewing in a crowd and the crowd was pretty chatty, happy, buzzy. So not deeply emotional, but it seems o engender a happy, upbeat atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

No. We drove an hour north from where we live to see totality. It was cool and I loved how excited DS was, but it did not make me emotional.

[Anonymous]

Yes very emotional during totality, and it came as a big surprise. Couldn't stop the tears. I"m not even sure what was going on for me in those moments but it was powerful. The pre-totality eclipse was super cool but didn't have same effect.

[Anonymous]

No, but I’ve never seen totality. That might make me emotional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, but I’ve never seen totality. That might make me emotional.

Same, although I doubt it would bring me to tears.

[Anonymous]

I didn't see it because it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I saw an eclipse last year and didn't care.

[Anonymous]

I walked by my children's elementary school while they were all outside looking up. The eclipse action was covered by a cloud, and when the cloud moved, I was treated to a chorus of 500 kids yelling at the same time, "I SEE IT!!"

I wasn't overly emotional, but it was easily the best part of my day.

[Anonymous]

I got emotional watching the newscasters later in the evening. There's so much bad news and our country feels polarized in lots of ways. The eclipse was a nice way of everyone getting to experience something together. I'm in the DC area and it was fun to be outside with my neighbors chatting in the middle of the day and watching the eclipse together but I didn't get emotional then.

[Anonymous]

In DC, I didn't really feel anything. I sort of feigned enthusiasm because the people around me seemed really excited but I found it underwhelming.

When I think about the physics of it, it's cool. I love that kind of stuff. I like thinking historically about how people who didn't know what an eclipse was might have sought explanations for it. I am sure totality would be something to see. But as someone who did not experience totality and understood the mechanics of why it was happening (and therefore was not scare or surprised or alarmed), it was... fine? It was nice how it brought people together, but there are lots of things that bring people together.

[Anonymous]

I went to one of the NASA sites with 50k people for totality, and I didn’t see anyone crying. Lots of smiles and shared amazement.

I think the TV crying is sort of like Jim Cantore leaning sideways in a hurricane — an act. Normal people walk straight up, but it’s still a very very cool experience.