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Being part of it all



Today millions of humans will be in the shadow of a total solar eclipse and it will surely inspire awe. For a few minutes, the sun’s life-giving light will vanish. The temperature will change. Animals will be on alert. Birds may quiet their songs. People, in 2024, are not likely to be terrified although some may, if only for a moment. There will be a shared moment of Wow.  It will be easy to understand in that moment why humans were afraid millennia ago. The sun has simply disappeared and – unless it comes back – everything we know disappears with it. We recognize instantly that we are part of it all. It is a unique and humbling experience.


There are less immediate ways to experience this recognition that are equally moving and profound such as witnessing a birth. There are genuinely terrifying ways for those who survive earthquakes, severe storms or volcano eruptions. And there are the quieter, slower ways like eating food you grew in your own garden or watching birds build a nest, raise a brood and see them fly.


You are a part of it all. You are nature. It’s not something out there. You’re it. We’re it. We’re all in this together.


It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank or don’t, how old, young, strong or weak you are. It doesn’t matter if you are human or an oak or a mouse. Your politics, your religion, your degrees, your hook shot, the number of followers you have – none of it matters in the grand scheme of things. The sun shines the same on all of us. It’s days like today that remind us of that, all at once.


4/8/24


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