Children of Stardust
Stay In, Stay In, Stay In
That’s the march, my friends
Don’t look left, don’t look right
Just stay put with all your might
But why is it so difficult to stay contained within the same four walls day in and day out? We have food, entertainment, fuzzy slippers. What inside of us calls to the outside elements? Why do we yearn to see the stars? The beach? The forest? Is it because, at our core, we’re all composed of the same elements?
“Everything we are and everything in the universe originated from stardust, it continually floats through us even today. It directly connects us to the universe.” (Schrijver, Living With the Stars).
It can be a little hard to digest but take a look at your wrists. “See the blueish veins? The blood flowing through them contains hemoglobin, a protein that has four iron atoms incorporated into its structure. Iron is only naturally produced in one place; it can only be forged in the core of dying stars.” (Vethox). We literally have stardust in our veins! According to astronomer Jill Tarter, “We are the products of a billion-year lineage of stardust. We as humans have this very intimate connection with the cosmos.” (WIRED, Mar. 10 2013).
Could it be that the matter within us misses the matter outside of us? Could the elements within our very being yearn for and search for their missing pieces somewhere in the cosmos?
We’ve all felt this sense of connection happen. Whenever I walk across a sandy shore and look at the ocean waves, I feel something inside of me unclench. The fist of anxiety that permanently resides in my chest eases a bit, and I inadvertently exhale a sigh of release. Could it be that the body of water that is contained within me, feel like it’s come home to the body of water that is visible in front of me. I could watch the tumultuous waves for hours; it is always perfectly in sync with my tumultuous thoughts.
The wonder we feel when we gaze up at the stars. Is it wonder or is it remembrance because we’re looking at a reflection of what’s contained within us? The smell of wet earth as we walk through the woods combined with sun rays that peak at us through the crisp green leaves of an oak tree. It’s these little connections of joy that are in fact connections of being reunited with bits of ourselves.
The beauty of who we are and where we are, often gets eclipsed by the obnoxiously loud world we live in. But we will return soon to our elements. All that the universe asks is that we Stay In, Be Safe, and Remain Calm. Just for a few moments longer…