Essay and Eclipse graphic depiction by Jurgen Hess.
My epiphany of self came as I was in the Navy, standing at the bow of our 465 foot long ship at night crossing the Atlantic. No land in sight. Nothing but miles of ocean, sky, stars. It came to me that in the universal scheme of things, I am as small as an ant or the molecules of water the ship knifed through.
We humans get wrapped up in ourselves and our grand creations: the internet, Beethoven’s 9th, the Sistine Chapel, atomic power, Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, etc. But occasionally things come along to remind us of our place in the universe; things that should give us and our big brains perspective—thunderstorms, newly discovered galaxies, solar flares and now a solar eclipse.
I hope people get above the eclipse media hype. Become awestruck by spatial bodies, their movement, the immensity of the universe.
“Human beings are the center of the universe from only one perspective, and that is our own.” – J.B. MacKinnon
“We are the star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands.” – Carl Sagan
“I believe everyone should have a broad perspective of how the universe operates and our place in it. It puts our worries in perspective.” – Stephen Hawking
EnviroGorge staff checking things out.
Nora Roberts was being interviewed and was asked “Don’t you worry that your are going to run out of plot ideas?” Her response was better phrased than this but it was to the effect– We only have 26 letters in the alphabet…..