I’ve always had a fascination with space.  I loved the science lessons about our solar system as a kid, I was weirdly obsessed with aliens as a pre-teen, and in high school I really started diving deeper thanks to Wikipedia and Dennis Smith’s amazing Astronomy class.  As I learned more about the universe around me, I began to grasp the scale it was measured in.  Roughly 13.7 billion years into its development, it’s an immense hierarchical structure: millions of galactic clusters containing thousands of galaxies containing trillions of star systems with hundreds of planets.  And you’re reading my blog on one of those planets.  I will spare you the half-baked, armchair philosophy of what this means about life, philosophy, religion and humanity (I will save that for another blog post).

But take this metaphysical lesson away from it: We’re a very small, nearly insignificant entity, a biological system which can be deconstructed into sub-systems down to the sub-atomic level, and simultaneously a part of a grandiose, cosmic entity that is our universe.  Think of yourself as an individual and you may feel very small, or alone.  Or, think of yourself as part of a larger, holistic group that works together in unison with itself.  Whichever you prefer.

Here’s Dr. Carl Sagan, with his somber, cautious “Pale Blue Dot”.

And Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, with The Most Astounding Fact

Just some perspective on a sunny, Sunday afternoon.