It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of our own lives. It’s also easy to fall into routine. Get up, go to school, come home, do your homework, eat and go to bed, only to do it all again the next morning. Our lives are a broken record, one I’m unwilling to accept. Since we are humans and somehow think we’re the center of everything, we get caught up in our own worlds. The little things somehow turn out to be these monstrous problems that devour us. We complain to our friends and family, begging for sympathy and looking for more eyes on us. It’s sad that our lives are like this and it’s even more sad that we become blinded by our meaningless problems.
Being 5’1” I always feel small. I constantly have to look up at people to just make eye contact and over time jumping on counters just to get a cup gets old. My taller friends think it’s funny to lean on me and call me the overused phrase, “fun sized” just to point out the absolute obvious: I’m small. My life has been filled with comments such as these and I’ve always loved who I am. However, I recently have felt smaller than usual. I’ve felt tiny, like a speck of dust among everything else on this planet. I’ve felt dumbfounded at the thought that I’m smaller than I think I am.
I went to the beach the other day. Not during the day to see dogs running up and down the sand or during sunset to watch the night slowly take over the sky. I went late at night when the stars were dancing and the lighthouse was twinkling reds and greens. I looked out into the horizon but couldn’t due to the meeting of space and the ocean. I looked up to see hundreds of stars above me. It was breath taking and so much to take in. All there was was a black sky and tiny dots but somehow there was more; more than a human eye could see. My glance turned toward the houses down the shore, who looked so small compared to the vast, overwhelming sky. I sat in the car and thought about how small I must be in comparison. As this thought crept into my mind it occurred to me that I’m only one person. I’m one person among hundreds, millions, of people. My problems are only known between myself, my friends, and my family. My worries, my aspirations, my hopes, and fears would be lost with the rest of the worlds’.
I thought about that one person, wherever they were, who was looking at the same stars and having the same thoughts. I thought about their story and forgot my own. I thought about all of the books I’ve read and how self absorbed the characters are. Then I compared them to myself. If anything is going to make you feel small, it’s the stars. If anything will overcome your thoughts, it’s the night sky that holds the worlds’ secrets. Our problems are nothing compared the other person who is also looking at the stars. Or the person across the globe looking at the same particular star at a different time. Our struggles are nothing compared the our overall purpose as human beings.
The stars made me feel smaller than usual. The stars put some things into perspective for me.
