We are sentient beings capable of pondering the imponderables in the midst of incredible complexity and connection. Picture: WPR.
Bruce Kasanoff urges us to pause from the minutiae of our daily lives and contemplate our special place in an infinite universe.
Where are you right now? An office? Your house or apartment? A coffee shop?
Perhaps you are tempted to say Denver, Mumbai, Tokyo or wherever your mail gets delivered.
Such replies may be factual, but they also obscure a larger truth.
You live among trillions of stars and countless galaxies. Each twinkling star is a sun, many warming planets far different from ours, but still capable of supporting life in one form or another.
Your own galaxy, a majestic pinwheel of 100 billion stars, is a mere dot in a larger cosmic tapestry – woven together with dark matter and energy and punctuated by black holes so massive they devour light.
Now, return your gaze to your immediate surroundings. You are not separate from that grand cosmic ballet, but rather are an intimate part of it.
The calcium in your bones and the iron coursing through your veins come from the hearts of long-gone stars. The atoms that constitute your being have partaken in cosmic events unfathomable in scale.
When you ponder a mathematical equation or marvel at the beauty of a painting, you are essentially part of the universe realising its own majesty. You are anything but alone – or mundane.
You are an assemblage of cosmic history, a sentient being capable of pondering the imponderables. In other words, you are in the midst of incredible complexity and connection.
So the next time you find yourself thinking, “I am bored”, think again. You are a vital and inseparable part of a universe rich enough to keep you entranced and excited for billions of years.
Europe, 1985: that was the last time I took a month off to wander around the planet. Now it’s time to wander again.
Why has it taken me so long to book another extended break? I don’t know. The truth is I don’t work that hard, but I always work.
This trip mainly came about due to my fear of being a hypocrite. I believe we gain perspective and insight by stepping away from our work, but I haven’t been doing it.
For that reason, I’m not even bringing my laptop to Europe. (My hands shake as I type those words.) No work. Period.
See you on the other side.
Bruce Kasanoff is the founder of The Journey, a newsletter for positive, uplifting and accomplished professionals. He is also an executive coach and social media ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. He can be contacted at kasanoff.com.
This article first appeared at kasanoff.com.
