erraticwisdom: Look up

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If you want something to really give you that “why am I here?” confusion, find yourself a quiet, dark spot tonight and look up. Finding a clear look at the night sky was especially easy for me as my area is suffering from one of the most dramatic power outages in recent history. My apartment has been without power since Thursday afternoon and doesn’t look like it’ll be restored any time soon (don’t get me started on why National Grid crews were working non-stop to get the nearby strip of car dealerships up and running while even a small survey team has yet to visit my apartment complex).

Back to the topic at hand, I can “preach” agnosticism and ridicule my more religious friends all day long, but all it took was an accidental glance at the horizon and my eyes were immediately drawn upward. I was stunned, I’d never before seen the sky in such clarity and I quickly laid back against my car to take it all in. The magnitude of everything around me suddenly became very clear and the purpose of my existence very vague.

The next chance you have, I urge you to do it: take a few minutes to look up.

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At: 11:41:52 PM
On: October 15
In: Skepticism
By: Tom Fadial

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There’s two parts to existence that make me feel small:
1. My size, my physical size and “personal reach” (people I know and interact with) in the world and universe today is so small.
2. My existence, about 100 years, in the big scheme of time, is fleetingly short. Like, snap of the fingers short.

At the end of the day, most people matter to the people around them, in sphere of existence 1, but made no impact in the big scheme of things, sphere of existence 2.

I want to do both. But there’s so little time left for any of us, and so much to do.

But the night sky, especially in the mountains here, is incredible.

I find geometric shapes in the constellations. And “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” talked about it:
“Sort of a swoop and a cross, Osidius the Emphatic.”
Christopher Bowns

Oct 16, 11:40 AM #
There is nothing so magnificent to me than to go up to the mountains and stargaze. I prefer going to the mountains because I live in the middle of the city, and there’s so many lights and a lot of haze, which makes it a bummer trying to see anything other than the brightest of stars.

The vast expanse of stars above, and the landscape below when on the mountainside is very awe-inspiring to me, and fills me with the feeling that I am just a speck of dust on the cosmic lense.

Whenever I do this, I feel like I lose myself. In my day to day activities, I think I have a clear idea of what my purpose is, and what I am supposed to do in this life. But when I am in the presense of the clear sky and deep ly encompassing presense of the stars, I feel quite the opposite… my thoughts become lost. I feel comforted, but at the same time so small, fragile and alone.
Tom Martin

Oct 22, 12:34 AM #
The most amazing star viewing I ever experienced was near Krueger National Park in South Africa. The Milky Way was clearly visible and we even saw a satellite cross the sky. I truly felt in awe. The intro to the movie Contact is also great this way.

I have a quote which captures this feeling we talk about…

“How insignificant yet precious we are.”

Atul
Atul

Oct 23, 02:16 PM #
You are absolutely right. The sky in the night can be amazing. Especially if you drive out of the city in the countryside. You will see there so many stars you have never seen before because of the light in the city. The milkyway is just awesome.
Michael

Nov 28, 07:38 AM #
I remember one incident when i was in millenium park of chicago. Generally this city never face a power cut but on that day , it went off for around 5 min. Then i looked into sky. It was full of stars. I never saw that earlier because of pollution as it is always around us.
Adriana Lima

Dec 5, 12:34 PM #
I am a sailor and I have had the pleasure of being alone on the deck in the night ; hundreds of stars being visible.Whenver the skies r clear the reflection of moonlight on the water looks like a silver road from the moon to my ship.
I feel alone (not lonely) connected to myself . I feel I am as much a part of this universe as all the other intriguing phenomenon. I then am able to appreciate my existance for i can see and comprehend the beauty of existance.
abhinav

Dec 17, 02:58 PM #
Atul, you are absolutely right. I love this blog.
Strafverteidiger Freiburg

May 2, 07:36 AM #