Last night, I was conversating about stars and the expansive universe that contains them, which made me really think about my life in relation to awe-inspiring concepts I can barely comprehend. In comparison to space, I feel so insignificant. I am just one measly organism on one tiny planet within one single solar system ... it's almost laughable to even try to believe you really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Stars are basically just balls of old light, and when gazing at one of those flickering orbs from my gravity-enforced location, I often wonder how it's still burning, when it was created, how big it really is ... then my brain starts to ache from being wrapped around such exceptional thoughts. A star is just one anomaly of the universe that I can't even attempt to explain, but imagine what else is out there waiting to be discovered and analyzed. This concept reminds me of a fantastic book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, more specifically the excerpt, "the eyes cannot see what the brain does not know". I'm not trying to get all existential or anything, but I believe this is true, to a certain extent.
I look at the stars and wonder if I'm really seeing them sometimes. If I can only see what I know (and I don't know much about stars), then how much am I missing? It's annoying to realize that I am not only sizably insignificant in this universe, but my sight is hindered as well. Maybe not being able to see what we don't know is an ingrained defense mechanism. I think I might become insane trying to explain everything around me I didn't understand. It would be impossible. So if our brains only allow us to see things we are capable of comprehending, I guess we just need to accept that and succumb to the ignorance (which doesn't have to be a bad thing).
Regardless ... I'll keep staring at the sky, wondering about life and my place in it.
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