“We and the cosmos are one. The cosmos is a vast body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great gleaming nerve-centre from which we quiver forever.” D.H. Lawrence
Throughout my childhood I was fortunate enough to travel far and wide with my family. We traversed the lush lands of Stone Henge, the historic city of London, and a variety of tropical islands. However, in all of my travels, one of my favorite experiences takes place out west.
Someone once told me, people who take time to look at the trees and appreciate the beauty of mother nature are deep romantics. While I’m still waiting for that to be proven true, I spend my time taking in the rolling hills, vibrant flowers, and star lit sky.
The stars have always fascinated me; the fact that when we look up into these sparkling lights, we are looking into the past. Who is to say these luminous balls of plasma are still there? Since the light travels from billions of light years away, we may in fact be looking at the last years of life of these magnificent stars. This bit of history led to my greater appreciation for my Cosmic Family Experience.
At the adventurous age of ten, I traveled with my family out west on a road trip adventure to the Grand Canyon. Little did I know I would stumble across the cosmic experience of my lifetime.
While traveling through South Dakota we stopped at a small, very small, “quaint” inn as my parents would call it. Out on the great plains of South Dakota, we were housed up in individual apartments, which each had two twin sized beds. I was the least of thrilled to be sharing this small of a bed with my brother. In retrospect, I wonder how my full grown parents managed to both squeeze in!
However, my eye opening cosmic experience did not take place in this small room. Naturally, being a young girl out on the great plains, I was absolutely terrified of tarantulas. I have great fear for the small spiders that roam my home in the winter, and the thought of fully grown spiders the size of my palm practically paralyzed my every movement towards the outdoors.
While watching my step up the rocky mountainside I stumbled on a large rock and caught myself on the ground. Before I could leap up in horror of the spiders that could be crawling on me, my eyes caught the most magnificent picture- the night sky. I literally double blinked since my mind couldn’t believe the fascinating picture they were taking in. It appeared as though someone had just opened an enormous poster of the night sky that you would see in magazines like Natural Geographic.
At home I would always look into the night sky and try to find Orion’s belt constellation. Here, I could see straight into the Milky Way. The whole sky was illuminated with thousands of sparkling stars, and my breath was literally taken away. This natural masterpiece was a picture back in time, light that traveled billions of light years to reach my eyes.
Till this day this picture lights up in my mind as clear as the night sky on that night in the great plains. To take a look into the past by gazing upon the night sky will always intrigue and mystify my mind. So, on your next vacation out west, forget about the spiders, and make sure you enjoy a Cosmic Family Experience.