Saturday, December 4, 2010
23 zeros and counting
The new profile picture is another rubber stamp design, this a
child/not-child dressed as a star for the (as they now call them)
holiday program.
The bringing and holding of light speaks to me, not only because we Northern Hemishpherians are moving swiftly toward the shortest day of the year. With light we find our way in the dark, actual, physical dark and that of a more mythic, metaphoric composition.
Illumination, by any of its definitions, involves giving life and light to that which it touches. Dispeller of shadows, revealer of what has been hidden from view, teller of secrets, unmasker, foe of ignorance, befriender of the lost. To be its bearer is to carry wisdom and healing and hope. To be its source is to be a star.
Within the past week, scientists announced that the number of identifiable stars in the known universe is much greater than previously thought. While the numbers are really guesses, it is estimated that there are nearly 100 sextillion stars, a one followed by 23 zeros. Makes a mere gazillion seem paltry.
By virtue of our designation as humans, we possess the extreme potential of being sources of light, not by the same, scientific definition as burning suns, but also not that different. We are often estranged from our own miraculous properties, in the dark, so to speak, about who we are, what we bring, how we are catalysts for change and enlightenment within ourselves and others. We of the Woodstock generation didn't have it wrong. We ARE stardust. It was maintaining that state over decades of spiritual and political candle-snuffers that proved difficult.
We navigate by the stars, their reliable, fixed positions in the heavens leading us home. Wearing your own star suit, holding still while your beams lend guidance, you may wish to send out a press release, updating the astronomers' statistics. Please change that number to 100 sextillion and one.
The bringing and holding of light speaks to me, not only because we Northern Hemishpherians are moving swiftly toward the shortest day of the year. With light we find our way in the dark, actual, physical dark and that of a more mythic, metaphoric composition.
Illumination, by any of its definitions, involves giving life and light to that which it touches. Dispeller of shadows, revealer of what has been hidden from view, teller of secrets, unmasker, foe of ignorance, befriender of the lost. To be its bearer is to carry wisdom and healing and hope. To be its source is to be a star.
Within the past week, scientists announced that the number of identifiable stars in the known universe is much greater than previously thought. While the numbers are really guesses, it is estimated that there are nearly 100 sextillion stars, a one followed by 23 zeros. Makes a mere gazillion seem paltry.
By virtue of our designation as humans, we possess the extreme potential of being sources of light, not by the same, scientific definition as burning suns, but also not that different. We are often estranged from our own miraculous properties, in the dark, so to speak, about who we are, what we bring, how we are catalysts for change and enlightenment within ourselves and others. We of the Woodstock generation didn't have it wrong. We ARE stardust. It was maintaining that state over decades of spiritual and political candle-snuffers that proved difficult.
We navigate by the stars, their reliable, fixed positions in the heavens leading us home. Wearing your own star suit, holding still while your beams lend guidance, you may wish to send out a press release, updating the astronomers' statistics. Please change that number to 100 sextillion and one.
19 comments:
-
Laoch of Chicago said...
-
Nicely expressed. 23 zeros would be a fine name for a startup company.
-
December 4, 2010 at 11:38 AM
-
Kass said...
-
Wonderful essay on light.
-
December 4, 2010 at 1:51 PM
-
Artist and Geek said...
-
23 zeroes and counting to infinity...
Our bodies are made of star stuff and our souls are made of stories (Carl Sagan, I think).
Light, stars and sleep. The universe is wonderfully creative isn't it?
-
December 4, 2010 at 5:19 PM
-
Claire Beynon said...
-
This is a beautiful piece, Marylinn - luminous and illuminating, in the way of so much of what you offer here.
Your star design and the poetry it leads on to are penetrating, too. I find myself thinking of The Little Prince, wanting to read it again.
Thank you for the Carl Sagan snippet, A&G. "The cosmos is also within us; we're made of star stuff..." Here's a link to a video that never fails to stir me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk
Warm greetings all.
Claire xo
-
December 4, 2010 at 5:39 PM
-
RachelVB said...
-
One cannot exist without the other. Incredible that such opposite things
rely on each other. We would have no concept of light without the dark.
Contrast, too, is vital in photography and in art - the mixing and
distinction between light and dark.
-
December 5, 2010 at 6:27 AM
-
Robert the Skeptic said...
-
Your post gives me fond memories of the late Carl Sagan. I miss him.
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:17 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Laoch - Thank you. And I agree, any particular sort of company you have in mind?
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:31 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Kass - Thank you. The message seemed to be coming at me from many directions.
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:31 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Artist and Geek - It is, truly, a remarkable universe, or piece of the
multiverse. Many of us thank you for the Carl Sagan reference, with
which I was somehow not acquainted. Being made of star stuff and
stories, one would wish that such ordinary states as discouragement,
uncertainty, confusion, etc., etc., did not have to be part of the
picture. That pesky human form and all the baggage it brings.
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:36 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Claire - Thank you. Illumination was the first word that took hold of
me. Thank you, as well, for the link to Sagan, Feynman, et al..."it's
all really there, really, really there..."
I haven't read THE LITTLE PRINCE in ages, but hold fast to, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly...what is essential is invisible to the eye."
Your greetings warmly received. xo
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:40 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Rachel - Part of each day's assignment seems to be balancing the tension
between disparate, ambiguous, contrasting states; emotional and
spiritual contortionists who occupy opposing spaces at the same time.
And I agree, each gives definition to the other...what would light mean
without darkness?
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:45 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Robert - Following Claire's link helped me realize a great gap in my
education, the need to catch up on all missed segments of COSMOS.
In doing some reading about him and his too-short span of years, I can see why you, surely with many others, miss him. One of his quotes is, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
-
December 5, 2010 at 11:54 AM
-
Artist and Geek said...
-
Claire, thanks for the link. Wistful compilation, just wish they hadn't
used autotunes. Sagan, Clarke, thinkers and science communicators that
are missed.
Marylinn and others; if interested NovaScienceNow has a great series narrated by the enthusiastic Neil de Grasse Tyson (astrophysicist and mentored by Sagan). We are all connected...
Marylinn, yes, life is as mysterious as the universe.
23 stars and counting stars maybe for this group?
-
December 5, 2010 at 9:49 PM
-
Artist and Geek said...
-
Add: Oops. Extra stars in there, why not?
-
December 5, 2010 at 9:52 PM
-
Donna B said...
-
I love your new star person drawing. Your words always light up my
world, giving me visual pictures of delight and wonder. Great post. I
agree, our friends and family are the stars in our universe...shine on
dear friend, shine on...
-
December 5, 2010 at 10:22 PM
-
Robert the Skeptic said...
-
Just a follow-up footnote; I ordered the DVD version of "Cosmos" for
Christmas last year and watched the episodes as I exercised. In later
years Sagan filmed some "updates" which were inserted into the original
series.
This is such a remarkable production; it should be required watching for everyone in school. I love it.
-
December 6, 2010 at 5:22 PM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Artist and Geek - Thinkers will always be missed. No matter how much
wisdom they have left us, each new moment makes me long for as many
sane, intelligent voices as can be found.
Thank you for the NovaScienceNow information and for continuing to count our stars. We are all so very connected.
-
December 7, 2010 at 7:46 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Donna - Thank you so much. I have an affinity for beings in
suits/costumes, forever stuck in the long-ago delight of the school
pageant. What a gift, that we are able to offer our light to one
another.
-
December 7, 2010 at 7:49 AM
-
Marylinn Kelly said...
-
Robert - With your wonderful profile picture of the scientifically (?)
minded lad with the metal object and the electrical outlet...
Your further recommendation is all the urging I need to make up for lost COSMOS time. Thank you.
-
December 7, 2010 at 7:51 AM
2 comments:
I like the expression of your child/not-child design, and your shinny writen.
Perheps so that we are all connected to each other biologically,to the earth chemically, and to the rest of universe atomically.
You make me smile and maybe feel a little larger. Thank you, not solely for this post...yOu've been an inspiration for me lately. I hug you strong. ☼
Sol - Thank you. I, too, believe we are all not only connected to everything but we are segments of one enormous whole. Please do feel large, for you are, vast and infinite. A strong hug back, my pleasure. Shine brightly. xo
Post a Comment