There are not enough digits on any of our bodies to calculate the mere thought of every possibility of anything in this world. It leaves no time for boredom and all the time for questions, explorations, and determination to at least grasp a few things. It’s hard not to feel small and worthless. But, it’s also really easy to bask in naiveness, like not knowing any purpose. The unthinkable, incomprehensible, and unimaginable are just the walls of the human brain.

With so many potentials in everything, it’s comforting to find some sense of familiarity in the unknown.

As humans evolved with bigger brains and color-vision, we were left with reduced olfaction in compensation. Though our sense of smell has diminished greatly since our ancestors, our noses detect one trillion different odours. Out of every smell that I’ve ever come across, a select few trigger loads of dopamine release, leaving me comforted in my skin and senses.

My favorite smells make me close my eyes so I can focus in on them, enhancing my experience, and really tuning into what I’m taking in. Whether it be waking up to the smell of mother’s Sunday breakfast cooking or driving through Ithaca with the windows down and smelling remnants of a fire, these smells make me feel that I am in the right place in such a big one.

We look up; maybe to see something pass quickly or to find something beyond what eyes can hold. The clear skies make way for starry nights, questioning whether the lights hung in the darkness are planets or even greater. Sometimes clouds inhibit our imaginations, making believe that there is a white blanket covering the depths of an expanding universe. On the flipside, sometimes these massive water droplets suspended in the atmosphere drive our creativity.

Have you ever sat in a field with your entire backside on the ground so that you were facing up to the beyond? With eyes and mind open, looking forward to the sky full of clouds is the reason why you’ve stopped in your tracks to lay and embrace what the sky looks like in your perspective. To guess what each cloud looks like is to interpret the organic into the natural, mythical, biblical, or whimsical.

With over seven billion inhabitants on this planet, we find curious ways to express our thoughts. Our jaw position gives us the ability to make noises, to put our thoughts to words, to speak. Articulation comes easier to those who find their correct formation of brain power. Though it is incredible how social animals can be and how communication was key in the development of similar ideas or philosophies.

I am fluent in English and consider myself a pretty decent Spanish speaker. These languages have helped me guide people in my neighborhood and be guided in other communities. The greatest part of linguistics is the expression of voice, movement of body, and the intensity of speech.

When talking to someone who really sees through the context, into the true meaning of why and how those words were chosen in such an order, feelings of openness and connection arise true companionship between friends, family, or anything beyond those.

We are human or maybe even something of the sort. We live together or separated from society or even ourselves. We find happiness in the things we believe are the reason we

are.

We express, interpret, and feel differently from anyone else. The things we find most comforting are the those that keep us from the daily existential crisis. Finding familiarity is the key to comfort, happiness, and a sense of belonging in this labyrinth.