I was most startled when I read.... (Class)

I was startled when I read….

CLASS:

Although I will post a blog about what startled me most in the texts we have been reading in class, I want to say that I am most startled by the thought provoking blogs of my fellow classmates.  The depth of contemplation, ingenuity of ideas, and honest discovery imbue within me a hope for the future that was previously dormant.  With citizens of your caliber on the planet, there may be reason to hope after all. 

Thanks so much to you all for:

Jonah’s willingness to bare his soul in honesty about what he needs for validation and his wise commentary on clichés, Brooke’s discussion of the significance of our insignificance, Brady’s exquisite elaborations about our circular paths, Yasmin’s awakenings to the web of coincidence we live with, Alaine’s brave foray into asking “Why are we here?,” Katie Chamber’s collection of quotes from Annie Dillard, Calder’s ability to introduce Buddhist concepts,  Rose’s curiosity about whether the connections we are creating are fabrications or “real”, Joe’s understanding of quality and authenticity,  Spencer’s correlation of the relationship between jealousy and irrational decisions, Katie Neal’s fearlessness in the face of death as a daily occurrence,  Logan’s depth of knowledge of literature that he is able to share with the class, and Matt’s contribution of art/photos supporting our class readings.

Who are we and why are we here?  If answers bring death, these questions will surely keep us alive.  Simply asking those questions remind us of our significant insignificance. 

I am enthralled as I watch science programs or look at Hubble Telescope images.   My favorite lucid dreaming excursions are soaring among the stars and exploring the majestic planets.  I imagine myself in the immensity of the universe and know that I am nothing and everything. 

We --- and all that we know, literally everything, --- were born from exploding stars!  Truly we are children of the stars!  The ground we walk upon, the gold upon our bodies, the chemistry that gives us life has its origin in the stars.  Because a star dies, we live.  Now there is a cycle of life worthy of mythology.  For me, the mere fact we have the ability to contemplate such mysteries increases the awe inspiring nature of it all. 

I agree with Brooke’s sentiments about our place in the universe.  Knowing we are less than a blip in all of the galaxies of galaxies for only the briefest breath of time does not render me depressed.  Instead I am filled with gratitude that I had the splendid gift of walking on Earth, understanding the vastness of space, and appreciating the unique beauty of each atom that coalesces with others to become a “thing.”   Overwhelmed with the “magic” of it all, I can understand why creation stories are prevalent in all cultures.

Warning:  the following is me rambling on in a exploratory, journaling style that I use in my personal journals.  No, I am not stoned – unfortunately—although it may sound that way.  Just thought I would put my day’s “deep thoughts” (subject to bullshit ideas) out there so I would have a record of them later.  You are under no obligation to continue.  I just wanted to thank you all in this post.   

In Montana, we have an increasingly rare opportunity to see the stars wink at us as we journey along our path below them.  When I lived in Kansas City, I became increasingly depressed and unnerved because I could not observe the stars, the origins of my existence.  Light pollution severed my connection with the heavens and therefore, my connection with Earth.  I  became ungrounded, floundering in a sea of concrete and light.  Where was Orion?  Casseopeia?  Pleides? Just as the ancients used the constellations to guide them, I need them to guide me so I may understand my place in the world.  I need them to give me the perspective to ask “Who am I?  Why am I here?”

Gazing at the same stars that my most ancient ancestors worshipped connects me to the tapestry of humanity.  

We are all part of a cycle as ancient as the Beginning of All Beginnings.  We live.  We die.  Our birth and death are the covers to our book of life.  

What will we write upon the pages?  Nothing is new under the sun, but if our pages are filled with gratitude and appreciation, we leave the world a better place for having lived.  As Calder explained that one can see the clouds in the blank page, as I see my planetary brothers and sisters, I see the stars and know we are eternally connected and linked. 

 In Chemistry, we learned about the Law of Conservation – energy cannot be destroyed, it only changes form.  How do we know a person is alive?  We can hook them up to a machine and their energy is registered.  When the body dies, where does that energy go?  What is it converted into?  The energy fills our bodies has been here since the beginning of time and continues to exist after the body deteriorates.   The particles that make up our bodies originated in the singularity that exploded as the Big Bang.  Following the quantum physics hypotheses that particles once connected are always connected, even if separated by vast distances,  lends me to believe we are ALL threads interwoven into an eternal tapestry. 

Does this connection allow us to communicate with the “dead?”  If the body is dead, does that mean the energy of our “Being” is dead also or have we just changed form?  Does the fact we don’t understand how to communicate with dead mean it is not possible?  Before the telephone, we didn’t have the knowledge or equipment to talk to people when there was a physical distance.  Obviously, it was possible with the right technology.  Maybe our communication with other entities in other realms will one day be made possible with the appropriate mindset. 

Einstein postulated that time isn’t linear, humans just have a need to experience it this way.  Time is affected by space --- time is NOT a constant, although we live as though it is.  If time is not necessarily linear, can we visit our past lives?  Know from whence we came?  What is déjà vu  --  a bleed through from one of the multiple universes our “other” selves live in?  Or a remembrance from a past life?  Or just the simple connectedness we feel from our common birth from the singularity before the Big Bang?

Please don’t lock me up, even if I do sound like I am a lunatic.  LOL!  Now, you all know I am a bit unorthodox. Surprised?  Didn't think so.   Hope you will still talk to me.  Peace!!!