That crazy moon: is it true or not?
It also hangs in my bathroom, the tear-off calendar from the Lexmond sisters. It's a kind of start to the day, just checking what the stuff in the space for me has come up with. Just like I read horoscopes and only believe them when it suits me.
If someone sleeps poorly, I always hear someone say that it must be the full moon . I always notice that the moon apparently doesn't have much effect on me, because I am a gifted sleeper, even with a full moon. The logic of scientists behind poor sleep during a full moon is that it is simply lighter outside, causing you to stay awake longer.
Last week, the moon was extensively discussed in the Volkskrant, because what is true about that silly thing? In any case, it is responsible for the tides on our planet, so it’s not that silly after all. The newspaper states that belief in the moon has now become almost mainstream, which I can also confirm. Maybe I briefly thought about buying moonstones in the form of coasters, which I could secretly place a bit closer to my window when it’s full, so my boyfriend wouldn’t notice. Maybe.
But what do we really know about that moon? It is one of the five moons that we insignificant people on this planet know about. The distance to the earth varies, but on average the moon is about 384,450 kilometers away from us. And aside from a lot of physical facts, that’s basically about it. Although there are some organisms on our earth that live with the moon, I don’t know them by name. They are and remain organisms after all.
Still, the moon occupies us much more than that, because countless studies have been done on the moon and the effect it has on us. I could have said ‘he’ here, but ‘she’ sounds nicer. Several studies indicate that we sleep worse, but many researchers also debunk this again. To keep it nice and clear, indeed.
What is said and thought about the moon is of a completely different order. For example, the cycle of the moon would influence the monthly cycle of women. You would sleep worse during a full moon. The new moon apparently is a nice moment to forge fresh plans. And don’t forget that people could suffer from moon sickness.
The Volkskrant provides a clear answer via astronomer Vincent Icke from Leiden University: “The influence of the moon on our lives has never been proven.” Look, and there you have enough room for speculation again, because there is indeed more that has not been proven. It turns out that we mainly need support in crazy times, so it makes sense that we look for it in these kinds of things. Well, if that’s the worst we do. *Tears off another page from her moon calendar.
