Let’s start this off by taking a second to think. Think about a place that is significant to you, a place that within its perimeter holds many of your most treasured memories. Got something? Good now hold onto that thought and think about this, what does that place mean to others?

A place, no matter what it is, has most likely influenced the lives of countless others before your own and it will influence countless others after you. When we think of a place that is important to ourselves we forget that that place could also have influenced another. This is unsurprising since we have not experienced everything that every other person has, so it would be quite time consuming to always think about how a place could have influenced every other person.

What is my point in all of this?

For every individual our perspective is limited to a very small window of what the universe is. While my perspective of the universe seems one way to me, it may seem differently to each and every other person on the planet. This is because, while we are are in the same universe, we all experience different aspects of it.

Let’s say, for arguments sake, that The Universe is all of space and time, which it realistically is. This means that any moment in time is a place in the universe that can be experienced. That eighth birthday party you had, where your uncle was kicked out of the bowling alley for sliding on his stomach down one of the bowling lanes, was a place in the universe that only you, your friends and your incredibly embarrassed mother got to experience. Even still all of you experienced that place in time from a different perspective, much like you can see a different picture depending on where you're standing when looking at any regular scenery people can experience moments in time differently based on their perspective at the time.

So, places that mean something to you might mean something to someone else and every experience is personalized. In all reality this doesn’t mean anything huge for humanity. There is no meaning to life or key to world peace hidden within this discovery. However, there is something very humbling to know that there is so much we don’t know about the universe, even things as simple as what a place means to someone else. It is humbling to know that when it comes to another person’s memories you can only know them at the other person's discretion. On the other hand, it is incredibly empowering to know that you are the master of your own memories. You are the only person who has been you, you are the only person who has experienced your life.

Let's return to the place you thought of earlier. Return to the moment in time that makes that place significant. Ask yourself, how many people know that this place means what it does to you? This is at least one piece of information that only you know and unless you tell someone, only you can know it.

This planet is swimming with stories, memories, and experiences that have become hidden simply because no one who was around for them are able to remind us of them. It's not much, but realizing that really expresses the magnitude of meaning behind the phrase “If these walls could talk.” It shows us that the fact that the universe (The walls) doesn't retell these stories is the only reason we are so special. We have the power to retain these snapshots of experience and when we die those same snapshots of time can die with us. No matter what, realizing all of this makes everything seem shrouded in mystery and I believe that makes it all the more beautiful.