PAUSE. before we begin anything -- if you understand the reference I made in this title, message me immediately because we just became best friends. that's all.
CONTINUING ON.
Hi hello and welcome to another episode of Lexie's Rambles™️. In today's show, we will be discussing the simple topics of:
- the universe and its exponentially expansive growth tendencies
- finding mental security within the cosmos
- plastic glow-in-the-dark stars
Let's begin.
A few years ago, I watched a video that completely and entirely blew my mind. The topic that induced said mind explosion? That's right - the exponentially expansive universe we just so happen to live in. I watched in awe as Hank Green explained the oh-so simple fact that the universe HAS NO EDGE.
This launched me into a new found obsession/appreciation for the linear scale of things. Meaning, I became enamored with the practice of zooming out.
THE ART OF ZOOMING OUT
- Start w/ YOU.
- Expand your mental view to your immediate surroundings
- Then think about the city you live in
- Then the state
- Then the country
- Then the continent
- Then the hemisphere
- Then the world
- Then the world + our moon
- Then the inner planets
- Then the outer planets
- The the dwarf planets
- Then the neighboring stars
- Then the local interstellar cloud
- Then the Milky Way
- Then the Andromeda Galaxy
- Then the Local Supercluster
- Then the Cosmic Web
- Then the observable Universe THAT IS EXPANDING. EXPANDING. You can keep zooming out and out and out and out .....
- AND THEN reverse it. Reverse the zoom out to zoom in. Keep going past yourself to the smallest tiniest atom to the even smaller electron to the minuscule and mysterious quark.
Ok. So what's the point of all this? And what does it have to do with mental security and little plastic glow-in-the-dark stars?
Here's the deal - sometimes life get's to be a little too much. I get hung up on a bad quiz grade. Or I focus on that pudgy part of my stomach too frequently. Or I see an overwhelming amount of undone items begging to be crossed off my to-do list. All of these brain beasts are pent up in my mind and eventually start to muddle my BIG thoughts. Those big thoughts that remind me of The Why; the hard work, the love, the lessons, the miraculous expanse of world and universe that I am lucky enough to have a role in.
The Art of Zooming Out (and In) is a reminder that I am one of so so so many things that are happening in this universe. It is a reminder that puts everything into perspective for me -- as I make myself smaller and smaller, my seemingly huge problems minimize in size as well. It reminds me to stay humble, thankful, and grounded. I am but a little dot on a much larger map that is made up of other dots that are tackling problems just like me. Life can be hard, but having perspective helps.
And if I ever forget to Zoom Out, I am reminded by the 32 plastic glow-in-the-dark stars I stuck to the ceiling above my bed that life is big, the universe is expanding, and my "Houston We Have A Problem" moments aren't as disastrous as I think they are.
If you're still pondering the magic of zooming out, my dear friend Morgan Freeman explains it (as always) in a beautifully eloquent way. Check it out.