The freedom in being small.

               I find that a lot of people have a very difficult accepting that they are very small and indeed, their entire lives and the planet on which our history as a species has (up until the past century) been wholly confined to is very small in relation to the cosmos. The Christian religion that preaches that we are infinitely small and flawed in comparison with God still has claimed for thousands of years that Earth (and more precisely, man’s place on Earth) was the reason for creation, the nexus of meaning and purpose in the universe. I've encountered people who have such phobias about the fact that they are so small in scale in relation to the universe that they will refuse to talk about outer-space, comets, stars or stellar objects of any nature. I could say that there is “selected ignorism” in this, and I could say that there is a profound arrogance in believing our species is the reason for creation, but that is not the point of this article. It is, rather, that while it seems that some are threatened or even horrified in the fact that they are one person, on a planet among 7 others orbiting a star, of which there are 70 sextillion in the known universe (That is 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), I find it exhilarating.

               When I am dealing with a particularly stressful situation, a sort of meditation I use is to envision myself from outside my body, then slowly grow farther and farther away from myself, journeying higher and higher into the Earth’s atmosphere. Eventually I pass it and am out in the vacuum of space looking down at the Earth. I do not stop there however; I fly farther and farther away until I can see the whole of the solar system in front of me, then the Milky Way galaxy made up of its 300 Billion stars, then the Virgo Supercluster which contains between 50,000-100,000 galaxies and finally… to the universe itself and its 70 sextillion stars. I linger there a moment, trying to contemplate its immensity, which is nearly impossible. I think about how old it is… 13.77 billion years in age. I think about its evolution from an infinitely small and dense point into the unparalleled beauty before me. Then, I begin my descent; down into the Virgo SuperCluster again, into our Milky Way Galaxy, into our own familiar solar system, into the Earth’s atmosphere and all the way down until I am looking down at myself again.

               After this meditation, I think about what it was that was causing me so much anxiety before. Financial problems, relationship problems, family problems, physical problems, whatever they may be. They are so incredibly small and insignificant after mentally journeying through The Universe that their effect on me begins to lessen. The realization that I am so small (and so are the problems that plagued me) gives me a new-found sense of freedom. I am merely one life of trillions that have lived on this world. So, why should I become anxious about what others may think of me? I’ll be gone in the blink of an eye. Why should feel forced into doing something that I believe is wrong or makes me unhappy? My loudest scream would have no hopes of being even a whisper among the stars. Why not shrug off the burden of useless tradition and expectation in favor of what is important to me? In the Billions of years that follow my death, my name will be forgotten along with all that I was. So why not shed that stress and anxiety that was weighing me down so I can live life lighter? This moment is all I have, and soon it will belong to someone else. The burden of being the center of the universe and its reason for creation is one I am glad I (along with all of our kind) do not have to bare. Because I am small (along with all of you), my freedom is greater, my sense of wonder is stronger and, in fact, I have fewer limitations. So, next time you feel as though you are overwhelmed by your problems, and they seem so big that they will swallow you whole I suggest that you take a mental journey through the universe. I would wager Atlas seldom loved the weight of the world resting upon his shoulders, please take it off of your own.