Mauldin was at "Annacarla," his composing and teaching retreat in northern New Mexico on the winter solstice, 2010, when seeing the eclipse of the full moon stimulated him to write this essay to refocus his thoughts about love, sacredness, spirit, beauty and art.

Mauldin wrote this essay for himself as a way to clarify the issues discussed.

Mauldin was invited to contribute this autobiographical essay to "The Spirit That Wants Me: A New Mexico Anthology," 1991, edited by J Dianne Duff, Jill Kiefer and Michelle Miller, and published by Duff, Inc.  An invitation was sent to creative artists who were non-New Mexico natives and who were willing to share how taking up residence in New Mexico had influenced their creative output.