By strict accounting of cosmic abundances, our planet and the life we find here amount to essentially zero. Insignificant. A small speck of blue and green suspended in an ocean of night, a tiny bit of rock and water orbiting just another star. The great forces that shape our universe have grown the voids over billions of years, and their present-day monstrousness puts cosmic insignificance into stark relief. Forget planets and stars; at these scales, even mighty galaxies are reduced to mere dots of light. […]
Yes, the universe is mostly void, but we have found many wonders in those great expanses. The voids don’t simply exist; they define and provide contrast to the galaxies that surround them. The properties of the voids — their shapes and sizes and so on — reflect the mysterious forces that govern the evolution of the universe. Within the voids we find the occasional dim dwarf galaxy, like an oasis in the desert. And we have found that the voids are brimming with cosmic energies that may someday overwhelm the rest of the universe.
It’s true that in cosmic terms, Earth is neither large nor long-lived. But that is only one way of measuring significance. Compared with the voids, there is something special happening on our planet. Despite decades of searching, Earth is still the only known place in the entire universe where conscious beings raise their curious eyes to the sky and wonder.
Earth is the only known place where humanity exists — where humanity can exist. It is the only known place where laughter, love, anger and joy exist. The only known place where we can find dance, music, art, politics and cosmology.
Our disagreements and jealousies and all the beautiful complexities that make us human aren’t meaningless. The presence and dominance of the cosmic voids guarantee the opposite — the stories and experiences we fill our lives with are special precisely because they will never happen in the empty expanse of most of the universe.
I have learned that the same lessons that cosmic voids teach us are found in the voids we encounter in our own lives. Voids sharpen and define; they create contrast; they are full of potential. The pain we feel from loss is the last reminder of the gift of a life deeply loved. The silence before a performance begins is sparkling with electric anticipation. Our choice to ignore anxiety-inducing news is necessary to allow us to focus on what matters. […]
Billions of years from now the sun will engorge and Earth will turn to dust. The cosmic voids, guardians of great nothingness, will remain. That bare fact, at first uncomfortable, gives us the ability to treasure what we’re given.
Tell a joke to your friends. Fight for what you believe in. Call your mother. Create something the cosmos hasn’t seen before. The implacability of the cosmic voids calls us to action. The universe won’t do anything for us except give us the freedom to exist. What we do with that existence is entirely up to us. It is our responsibility to imbue the cosmos with meaning and purpose.
— Paul M. Sutter, from “The Emptiness of the Universe Gives Our Lives Meaning” (NY Times, November 3, 2024)
Thank you Cara for sharing.
So beautiful. Thank you dear David, Have a nice day and new week, Love, nia
It is! Thanks Nia. You too!
“Earth is the only known place where humanity exists — where humanity can exist. It is the only known place where laughter, love, anger and joy exist. The only known place where we can find dance, music, art, politics and cosmology.” Sometimes I feel that the collective sense of our self-importance ensures that while always looking for other signs of life, we’re convinced that we are only ones out here. The most profound dichotomy – we are so unique that we fascinate ourselves while recognizing that somewhere out there, there may be others living, loving, creating, pondering…Humility v. Hubris – a human condition. I need more coffee
Wow, profound line of thinking so early in the morning. Good Morning Mimi!
Profound and/or ponderous – hoping I at least made a little bit of sense..
You did!
an excellent reminder and perspective
IT is!
“Voids sharpen and define; they create contrast; they are full of potential.” A single sentence completely reorients my thoughts for this morning. Love that. Into the void I go! 😉
Laughing. Feels like I’ve been wallowing in a void since this election race started!
Recommendation: don’t follow the election… I started doing that a few weeks ago (mostly). Currently 2:22 AM Tuesday morning. I refuse to look at the news until Wednesday. I am absolutely serious. And regardless of what I find on Wednesday, with a bit of luck and a fair wind, the planet Earth and I… Will still be here…ignoring yet another election cycle. My new word for this is: survival.
PS: 2:42 AM…
This song just popped into my head. Haven’t heard it or thought of it in decades. The human brain never ceases to amaze, despite only being a spec in the void.
In case it doesn’t play, the song is:
Dust in the Wind by Kansas.
https://youtu.be/tH2w6Oxx0kQ
In a moment, I’m going to buy this song on iTunes… I may play it a lot today.
Peace, Blessings, Love, and Good Health to Everyone… not just those reading this blog… Everyone.
Love this song Paul. Thank you.
Correction: “Will still be here four years from now…”
I have a long way to go on the letting go front. A very long way.
That makes two of us.
Paul, I should have followed this advice. I will not watch today until polls close. Can’t do it.
We have to let go of things we can’t control. To hold on is to create unnecessary torture and pain. (Yes, I do the wrong thing sometimes unfortunately.) “Letting go“, I think… Is something that we have to continuously practice.
*Create something the cosmos hasn’t seen before*
Yes…
Thank you Cara and David
Indeed! Thanks, Cara and David!
DK, you know this already…. but for me, it was this.
“Tell a joke to your friends. Fight for what you believe in. Call your mother. Create something the cosmos hasn’t seen before. The implacability of the cosmic voids calls us to action. The universe won’t do anything for us except give us the freedom to exist. What we do with that existence is entirely up to us. It is our responsibility to imbue the cosmos with meaning and purpose”
Thankful the universe is still giving me the time (freedom) to exist. I’m trying my hardest to live with purpose.
Happy Monday!
“It was out of the dynamic of cosmic celebration that we were created in the first place. We are to become celebration and generosity, burst into self-awareness. What is the human? The human is a space, an opening, where the universe celebrates its existence.”
― Brian Swimme, The Universe Is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing Maria.