We’re on a rock?
Song Recommendation: https://youtu.be/pvuN_WvF1to
As the famous songwriter Lil Dicky says "We love the Earth"
Yes, we do. I think many of us love the Earth more than others, as some work to nurture it and some work to destroy it. I think many walk around not even realizing how much bigger this world, and this life, is then themselves and their direct surroundings. It is hard to actually envision the planet, like it is above, unless you're one of a select few that has traveled to space and seen it yourself.
To those people, I tip my hat in admiration for your bravery. I can say today, in front of my computer screen, that I would DEFINITELY go to space just to see it myself. However, to board that rocket and actually follow through with it is a much different story. What about doing it actually scares me? Well, besides the obvious fear of something going wrong and not returning back home, there is the fear of seeing the vastness that space holds.
Even looking at the ocean, I am mesmerized by its size. I can only see what my eyes allow for me to observe from the spot I am sitting, but it still seems ginormous. And it is.
Space has got to be that multiplied by millions. At one point, when you have traveled far enough into space, Earth looks like the little rocks on the shore of the ocean. Can you even imagine?
It takes approximately 3.5 years to sail around the world
By plane, if traveling at a steady 550 mph, it would take approximately 51 hours to fly around the world
If you could drive around the circumference of the planet, it would take approximately 415 hours (24,900 miles) if you kept a steady speed of approximately 60 miles per hour
It would take a man, walking in a steady and uninterrupted pace of 3 miles per hour, to walk one complete circuit around the entire equatorial circumference of the Earth in 8,300.33 hours. This is approximately 345.8 days, 49.4 weeks, or 11.5 months
As we can identify through a few Google searches, the size of the planet is outside most of our mind's reach to truly imagine.
But do any of us actually understand how strange it is to even be here right now?
No matter what beliefs you hold about the creation of our planet, or of each of us individually, it is still the most remarkable concept. We are essentially suctioned to Earth by a force that none of us can see, circling the Sun and in orbit with other planets by a force we also cannot see, with the ever-growing vastness of space visible to the human eye. Look up, and you will see it. It's right there, but we are protected by the atmosphere so we can live here safely. We might not live in peace and harmony, but we are "safe" in the literal sense. We won't just un-sunction from the ground and float to space.
Whew, right?
I used to be very religious, and never fully questioned my purpose on this planet or why the hell we were even here anyway. All of those questions already had answers within Christianity. We are here as God's children, created in his image. Life on earth is a journey of our transformation to become more like Jesus, who has delivered us from evil, sin, and death, until the glorious day when we spend eternity with him.
To those who believe this, I respect you more than you know. I embodied all of these beliefs for most of my life. However, if you identify with a specific religion, I encourage you to either stop reading here, or continue with caution. None of my statements below are meant to offend, discourage, or convince anyone of anything.
Like stated above, we are on a colossal rock. A rock that is just floating through space. One day, each of us were born into this world, with different external and internal circumstances and geographic location, as well as with different names and families. However, we are all human. It has been debated through history the worth of humans in comparison to others, and where they got that idea both confuses and angers me. HOWEVER, that is not the point of this post.
The point is: we don't have any idea why we are here! We are on a rock, with no knowledge for how long or with what situations we will face. None of us truly know what comes after, or what came before. All we know for certain is that we are here. If that is true, why do we try so hard to be what everyone tells us to be? Why do most of us feel obliged to get a college education, or have a 9-5 job, or buy a home, or have a family? Because that's what everyone else is doing? Because that's what our ancestors did?
You know what else our ancestors did? Lived in villages. Hunted and gathered. Had no idea of modern medicine, or of technology, or of really anything that is normalized in our society today. They lived much different lives than we do. As time passes, things change. Yet we hold on to so many traditions even despite that time change, and even as so many other elements of our lives are dramatically altered.
I am not saying there is ANYTHING wrong with doing those things. I want many of those things myself. But life is so short!! You can do anything you want with it. You don't have to live how everyone else is, or how your great grandparents did. Live how YOU want!
This seems easier said than done. It really does. If you are following along, you know that I am in a major life transition and I am struggling with how to navigate many of these changes. But, the fuel that is driving me through these changes is my desire for something else. I don't want a 9-5 job, I don't want to buy a home (anytime soon), I don't want to live in the same place my entire life, and I certainly don't want to wait to start living until retirement.
I WANT TO LIVE RIGHT NOW! AUTHENTIC TO MYSELF AND MY DREAMS.
Many of us don't know what we want, and we go through the motions for a really long time trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, so many people get so comfortable not living according to their authentic self that it is normalized and they never break out of the chains that they themselves created. None of us can change the circumstances we come from, but we can change the circumstances of where we are headed. If you don't believe that, research any successful person that wasn't handed their success. Listen to any podcast from someone who made a life of their own, and how happy that made them. There are so many resources out there for us, we just have to tap into them.
I see a lot of Tiktok's where people encourage other people to just stop caring about the expectations that life holds for you, or your parents, or your friends, or your boss, or anyone that isn't you. To go and see the world, since there is so much of it. That we should all follow our own internal tide and allow it to take us where we are meant to go.
For all we know, we only have one life. And we are all so focused on what we "should" be doing, that we don't ever do what we actually WANT to do. There is a big difference between those two words. You, and only you, can decide to shift from the should mindset to the want mindset. Will it be tough? Yes! Especially if you have responsibilities or people depending on you. A quote I love that relates heavily to this reads "Nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy and nothing easy is ever worthwhile". Take a moment to really think about this.
Choosing to do what you want, when you are so used to doing what you should, is going to be really f***ing hard. It is going to challenge you in every way imaginable, because you will be changing the construct of your reality. However, I promise it will be worth it. Some of the most successful and happy people took decades to figure out how to do this. They were stuck in a corporate job for years, living for what other people wanted and needed from them and never asking themselves if it was truly what THEY wanted and needed. The second they allowed themselves to wonder what else there was and took the time to figure it out was the second they began to break the chains off and become free.
This floating rock we call home has limitless opportunities for us. There are also limitless opportunities within you. You just have to let yourself find them. The first step: wanting to.
- xo H