The night sky is illuminated with millions of stars. Each burns with a fire and energy that is close to unfathomable. They exist light years upon light years away from you at this very moment. Yet, they feel so close as if you could almost touch them. You can hold your fingers to the sky, squint your eyes, and pinch it between your fingers.

As you lower your hand and relax your face, you see that it is still untouched. It still twinkles like a small diamond against the midnight sky. That one star is nestled between planets that you can’t even name. It is infinitely larger than you. You begin to feel so small. You are but a speck in an immense Universe.

The wind ruffles the leaves above you, temporarily blocking your star from view. It gently lifts your hair as you crane your neck to catch sight of it once again. One day it will disappear forever. One day that star will burn out. It’s light will fade into nothingness and when it does, you won’t know.

Being thousands of light years away, it could already be dead and you don’t even realize it. Maybe when you return tomorrow night, it will no longer be there. It will have faded silently into obscurity, forgotten. But nobody will care; nobody will notice. It was only a tiny spot in a swirl of light in the sky. Nobody will remember that star.

You start to feel small. If that star dies forgotten, if it disappears as if it was never even there, how different are you? Will anyone care or remember you if you disappear? After all, you are smaller than that star and even he was forgotten. You are but a tiny spot in a sea full of people.

If someone picks a single blade of grass, does it affect the rest of the grass? No, it was just a blade of grass. If a fly spends it final minutes in a window sill before dropping dead, do they rest of the flies stop to remember it? You may walk by that very fly, but it doesn’t matter, right? It doesn’t live more than 48 hours anyway. How are you any different?

Why does everything feel so disposable? Why are you so disposable? What is the point? If that’s the case, what does it even matter whether you exist or not? You don’t affect the rest of the world. The people around you may stop for a second; they may even wonder about you. Regardless, they have their own lives.

Do the star’s neighbors stop burning when he does? Eventually, but not because of him. He was truly alone. He burned for himself and only for himself. And so do you, so what do you matter?

Feeling worthless, you gaze upon your star once again. It hasn’t disappeared yet. You wonder if it feels as lonely as you. Does it understand how insignificant it really is? Your heart catches in your chest and a lump rises in your throat; you can’t bear to think of him burning out. Because if he does, maybe you will too.

There is something alluring about him. There is a reason he caught your eye in the first place. Perhaps it’s the way he shimmers, he seems slightly brighter than the rest. His rays seem sharper and slightly pinker than the rest. He shines brighter and brighter as if he is speaking directly to you. He caught your attention.

Your focus has remained solely on him. Though small and insignificant, he is special. He is beautiful. And so are you. Your eyes sparkle a little more than the rest, they light up when you are excited, and a little bit of pink spreads across your face too.

He was given a place amongst the stars for a reason. Maybe it was to speak to you when you felt so low. Maybe he provides heat for a planet somewhere far away. Maybe a young girl sits on that planet and stares at your sun as you have stared at hers tonight. The possibilities are endless. But you know in your heart he has a purpose.

And so do you.

Keep shining. You are beautiful.

And you matter.