The Solar Eclipse: Science or a Trend

When star-crossed lovers finally meet. Born to be apart but this one chance they finally reconcile lengths from civilisation - My love for literature and linguistic flexibility. I started this article with beauty in mind but then I remembered not everyone has the same outlook on life so I cannot always be so poetic and expect everyone to understand. 12th August 2026 solar eclipse; the largest solar obscuration seen from the British Isles since 1999. 

I think everyone was so fascinated with the idea of an eclipse. I can’t lie, I do think it was trendy-fied. As soon as one page spoke about an upcoming eclipse, everyone saw it, then healthcare professionals, media rolled out warnings to take care of your eye health when you look at the eclipse. Then solar eclipse glasses became a thing? The old 3D looking glasses were being sold to keep our eyes safe. I didn’t get a pair so I don’t know how effective they were. 

I feel like everything that happens today is based on a trend. I don’t feel like anything happens organically anymore, through word of mouth or through your neighbour experiencing a different walk of life compared to you. We see everything online and share it amongst friends. It is a nice way to stay connected but I feel like at the heart we’re really disconnected. We sit in rooms on our phones, talking about new trends or news from people online. I want to know what people from the Stone Age talked about with each other. 

Matcha, eclipse, leopard print, turkey teeth, red bulls, ChatGPT, polka dot, heatless curls. I’m not saying these are bad things at all. I use these and love some of them LOL. I just think nothing has substantial meaning in life anymore. People like things because other people like things, red-eye as my papa would say. I have grown up with my sister wanting things just because I had them and let me tell you it annoyed the life out of me. So I do have to admit whenever something starts trending I tend to run in the opposite direction or say I liked it before it was a trend. I like to be original and different because what’s the fun in being the same. 

Anyway back to the partial solar eclipse and trends - I think it is irksome that people are fascinated by something they don’t understand and don’t want to delve further or even have a conversation below surface level about a topic. Astrologers have probably been waiting on this for a while and felt so fulfilled that they have seen this in their career. They spend hours researching such events, use specialist equipment to read the stars etc. Inbaal Honigman says “The best things about eclipses are the sudden surprises, extreme new beginnings and radical changes, which let us update our path for our unique life journey”.

I think we need to bask in the beauty of things more and enjoy things because we find pleasure in seeing them or the emotions they bring. Not just because it would look good on your instagram feed or your family and friends might see it or might not. 

Personally, I love to see individuality and creativity. I definitely agree as a society we need more room to be creative and not just remain with a certain construct in mind because it’s safe and all we know. It’s hard when making a living comes in the way of creativity but there is always room for curiosity in the human species, it is how we have evolved over the years. It’s what keeps our brains sharp. 

Take a step back and be curious. Take life with a pinch of salt. 

Written by Lacey Martin