Mental Health Blog, Day 8: Wonder and Awe

We are born from the stars; we are the energy and matter of the universe itself, and as such we are a part of this cosmos. ‘The cosmos is also within us. We're made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.’ We are both the energy and physical matter of the universe temporarily becoming self-aware, and able to perceive itself in one of its infinite forms and expressions. We are the universe itself waking up, gaining consciousness, and enjoying appreciation of such things as scatters of light waves, and particular vibration frequencies of air molecules, and perceiving beauty in these things. The universe has found a way to exist in this human form for a time, how will you spend your share of that time?

‘Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be so very grateful every day, for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides’. Death is simply a return to the cosmos, ‘just one of the journeys we all must take’, to be transferred back into the atoms we were before we started this life, and to return to being one with the universe literally. We are an every-flowing river of existence. Every few years we have replaced every single cell in our bodies, and exist anew with different atoms, and yet we believe we are still the same person? We are ever-changing, an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. We were never just one set of atoms in the shape of a human, we have always been an extension of the cosmos, a part of it and we will be a part of many things to come.

"We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy, which is one of billions of other galaxies which make up a universe which may be one of a very large number, perhaps an infinite number, of other universes. That is a perspective on human life and our culture that is well worth pondering." "Everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives,"…"On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

All of the matter in the universe is one, and we are one with the universe. 'We are all connected; To each other, biologically, to the earth, chemically, and to the rest of the universe atomically.' I believe we are all one, connected, and that all life on earth is a single entity expressing its existence through an endless stream of shapes and forms. It is self-regulating and adaptive, and yet without thought; it forever recreates its ‘artwork’ with extinctions and evolutions with infinite novelty and imagination, yet it is simply the continued existence of whatever can be, to suitably fill the open window of possibility. This universe is an opportunity for expression, and so are we, so expressing your creativity is a reflection of the divine; to create. Whether there has been a single abiogenesis event, or many in the depths of Earth’s oceans, life is connected in a literal sense through it’s ‘inherent software’; DNA. To see that the trunks, branches and twigs of trees resemble that of arteries, veins and capillaries is an example of our common ancestry. The mitochondria that exists across the tree of life is further evidence of our extended family tree with all life.

Even more amazing, life is also connected with everything else in an even more fundamental sense, through it’s atomic structure, which also expresses many various forms. Our iris’ are tributes to the stellar dust patterns and spiral galaxies of the beyond; reminders of home, so that when we gaze at one another, we can appreciate the beauty of our true form. We are each constructed from atoms formed in the nuclear hearts of dying stars, so when we look up at the night sky, we are seeing our origins, our birthplace, and our destiny. The idea that Earth and Space are separate is an illusion, Earth is a spaceship travelling at great speed. The idea that humans and God/The cosmos are separate is also an illusion, we are of course, one. The 'kingdom of god' lives within us all. Seeing the beauty in every day life, in the trees, the stars, in people, animals, nature, and in ourselves liberates us to a higher sense of belonging and understanding. We are each a miracle of the cosmos.

Norway Quest Travel Blog, Day 8:

I was still trying to figure out how I’d get to Trolltunga from this small town, so we went to the tourist centre and luckily managed to get all the information we needed – Norwegians were so helpful and polite. Also, while we were in Norway I noticed there was no litter there and everything was super clean and well looked after, I hope Britain can be like this one day! To build up some fitness ready for the big one, we hiked into Folgefonna national park today, with views of the magnificent glacier, waterfalls, and giant red ants that tried to bite my feet. Such a beautiful country, and it requires fitness to simply live there. So many peaks and steep gradients to the landscape. With this lack of flatland, there must have been a desire for more ‘agricultural freedom’. Perhaps one more reason for Viking exploration.