Look Up
I can tell you the moment. The moment I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. The moment I realized what had always been in the back of my mind, is actually real, but I didn’t care enough to fully pay attention.
I was laying in a field (as one does) and looking up at the sky.
And that’s when I realized.
I had never seen the stars.
Now in full disclosure, despite the fact that I mostly navigate through cities where light pollution is a thing, I have absolutely been somewhere where the stars are fully visible. But, what I’m saying right now is that I had never seen the stars. I never stopped. I never looked up. I mean, they were always there so I never thought twice about their existence.
They were beautiful. As the shooting stars danced their way across the sky, I felt weak. I felt like my eyes didn’t have the capability to even absorb the full beauty of a sky full of stars. I felt small. Why had I skipped past them my entire life? I took advantage of their existence.
They were always there.
They would always be there.
Me? I’ve been on this earth for a full 20 years. Them? They’ve been here for billions. That difference is significant.
I’m small. You’re small.
In the grand scheme of things, it is easy to feel big. I work, I laugh, I love, I learn. We have impacted so many lives even with the small things that we don’t give much thought to. You have left your mark on another person, they have passed that mark on to another person. You have a role to play throughout your life.
But, what will that mark mean in a couple of years? In a hundred years, who will remember the fact that you said something when you shouldn’t have, or that you couldn’t afford your rent this month, or that mistake you made last week. Statues can be torn down and erased so easily because they are tangible things. When it all comes down to it, the things that we think about now can easily be forgotten if we want them to because the only real lasting thing is here. Our home. This Earth. Billions of years from now and billions of years before us, this was here. You? Us? That’s a different story that has multiple endings.
We need to recognize our humble place on this Earth.
As I laid there on the ground, looking up, feeling the entire weight of the world on my shoulders, I humbled myself. This Earth that we live on, that we inhabit, that has blessed us with so many things that we take advantage of, is giving so much to me. Why should I deserve it? I didn’t take a second out of my busy life, running around doing trivial things that won’t matter in 30 years, to just look up. It takes one second. Look up. Look up and realize your place on this Earth. How everything you do, everything you have, is because of this home that was created for you. Love it. Cherish it. There’s so much to love. There’s so much to give love to.
Share with it your joys in life. Take a moment to take a deep breath and look around at all the small things. These little details were created for a reason, every crevice, every depth, every light. You. You were created for a reason. Love. Love your home. Love effortlessly.