It's so Rare that we exist
Swept away. I’ve been swept away by the cosmos. This makes zero sense to me. I couldn’t stand Star Trek as a kid. I had no ambition to study science beyond high school, choosing the arts path instead. But decades later, I’m consumed with books, podcasts, documentaries, you tube videos… anything cosmology… I can’t get enough. The fact that I’m nearing the last 1/3 of my life and now want to be an Astrophysicist when I grow up is either an unlikely freak of circumstance or a path of God’s creation. I’m not actually serious about becoming an astrophysicist; for now, I’ll remain a fanatical cosmos-learning hobbyist.
If I track back to how I got to this point, how I became an amateur student of the skies, it’s about as complicated as understanding the formation of the Solar System. In the shortest order… I discovered podcasts about 6 years ago. It was a GREAT way to pass the time on our long-distance road trips. I began with Big Foot Chronicles and quickly moved on to photography, writing, personal growth, fitness, spirituality, folksy storytelling, etc. At the same time, I’d discovered audio books. No moment was lost to daydreaming. I’m a researcher at heart, and the internet was available any hour of the day when a burning question or curiosity would strike. I was working on my own Masters degree, churning up all kinds of fascinating data. You could say the bubble of topics and my consumption of information and ideas was expanding like the universe.
Ultimately, I was trying to grow as a person, reach my full potential. I deeply longed for a meaningful and creative life. Don’t we all? My introspective search deepened and then turned 180 degrees, outward. Macro. I was looking to God for answers. Wherever I could find him or wherever He could find me.
There came some overlap of teachers, and that led me to the Enneagram, which led me to the music of Sleeping at Last, which led me to the Cassini orbiter, my first real exploration of a NASA mission. Caught up in the wonder, and the PASSIONATE heart and soul of a collective group of scientists and researchers in search of answers (I completely identify with this), the beautiful notion that we all resemble a particular trait of God (Enneagram), soul-reaching music (lyrics embedded in the title of this post), and the mesmerizing imagery of the mission (NASA, I love you!), I was completely hooked.
When you consider the magnitude of the universe, the billions of physics, the particular and just-so exactness for everything to fall into perfect place, it truly is so RARE that we exist. From my perspective, the universe is consistent with a purposeful creator. The brilliance and beauty invites me to seek more. And the creator is freaking hilarious! He hooked me with BIG FOOT!
