BOUNDLESS WONDER – Extending Our Grasp of Beauty

The universe is immense beyond our comprehension. Yet this vastness is reflected literally at our fingertips. For there, in a single skin cell, exists another  “universe”—one of ever-smaller and smaller particles.

Human skin cells - PHOTO: CK-12 Foundation - about.ck12.org

Even an atom, which itself is a ten millionth the size of the period at the end of this sentence, is made up of components that are proving every bit as hard to count as the number of bodies in the celestial universe.

Here, at Nature’s extremes, is where perspective begins to get a little weird. It’s fascinating to ponder how the infinitely big and the infinitesimally small are equally incomprehensible. The same goes for relative time, value and other less obvious qualities.

And, as physicists venture into the realms of quarks and quasars, we’re learning that the rules governing those concepts are going to have to change.

PHOTO: Sish Advexon - sishadvexon.com

Two things you might think would fall at opposite ends of a scale of time, size or space might, according to these new realities, actually lie right next to each other or even coincide. In these latitudes, large encompasses small; bad includes good; beauty has its ugly side. In everything lie the seeds of its opposite. And the astounding Intelligence that designed it all, at once everywhere and nowhere, looks on kindly as we endeavor to understand. 

       Wherever you may be in body or in 
       spirit, I hope you’ll choose to see beauty.

NEW REALITIES
So the worlds I continue to explore around, within and beyond me are ultimately the same world. It’s all one, and it’s all good—the beginnings, the endings and everything in between.

What this means is that the extent of life’s wonders and mysteries is bounded neither by our skin-and-bones frailties nor even by time. No, the miracles we experience are limited only by our curiosity, our imagination and our faith. I hope you’ll choose to explore those boundaries. And, wherever you may be in body or in spirit, I hope you’ll choose to see beauty.

I’d consider it a great honor to join you for a leg of whatever boundary breaking you've undertaken, be it a walk in the woods, a quest for ideas or a journey of faith. Let me know the limits and barriers you've overcome. I have so much to learn.

US VERSUS US – Tied Together by String Theory

This post is inspired by, of all things, physics—specifically quantum string theory. Now, before you start nodding off, bear with me for just a minute or two.

If I can presume to understand recent science journals and PBS’s Nova, string theory proposes that everything in the universe consists of incomprehensibly small, vibrating, string-like objects. The concept modifies the traditional notion of a space–time continuum by integrating Einstein’s relativity with more recent quantum mechanics. The result is a rather elegant explanation of absolutely everything—space, time, matter and all natural forces, including gravity.

Elegant, yes, but there’s one small problem. In order for all of this to work, there would have to exist not just the four space-time dimensions of which most of us are able to conceive, but as many as eleven dimensions, some of which can only be described as parallel realities. I don’t know about you, but I find this pretty mind-boggling!

By employing these and other "senses" of which we might not even have been aware, it challenges us to think, feel and express ourselves in new ways.

Why should we be interested in parallel realities? First, the concept invites us to compare science with art and religion, all of them fields of thought which help us in observing and appreciating Nature, and which, traditionally, have defied reconciliation.

Secondly—the part on which I want to focus for now—the idea of parallel realities has many implications for those of us who pride ourselves on our curiosity, our empathy or, as I call it, our ability to see generously. Among them, it encourages us to expand the palette of ideas from simply those of our hard, five-sense experience to include those softer ones born of instinct, intuition and spirit. By employing these and other "senses" of which we might not even have been aware, it challenges us to think, feel and express ourselves in new ways.

YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IT TO SEE IT

Understanding the incomprehensible requires a small leap of faith. Of course, no one pretends that we’ll soon be able to actually see quantum strings. But there are many things we know are real, even though we can’t see them, because we can see their effects on something else. For example, I’ll bet you can look out your closed window and tell me how windy it is today.

Because there’s always a part of “them” in “us” and vice versa, it’s always about us.

In politics, in international relations, in personal conflicts and even in war, it’s never really about what we think it’s about. It’s never really the simplistic “us versus them” paradigm we’ve invented to make sense of complexity and manage our emotions. Because there’s always a part of “them” in “us” and vice versa, it’s always about us. Period. The answer to any conflict is for both parties to find this common thread and start weaving.

So...what does it all mean to those of us who find our inspiration in discovery, creativity and wonder? It means that:

• There’s always another way of looking at something, another way to experience and explore it.
   
• We can learn something important both from what exists and what doesn’t exist. (For example, isn’t it true that what’s not said is often more eloquent than what is said?)
   
• The same experience can represent different realities for different people.

 We're only just barely separated (if at all) from the ideal, the sacred, the timeless.
 

• Some of our beliefs and goals will always overlap with those of others. If we're sensitive enough to recognize them, these commonalities can form the basis not just of new relationships, but of new ideas, new institutions, new realities.
   
• Our next great idea for creating something new and inspiring, as daunting as the challenge may be, could already be within our reach.

 

• If we’re waiting for a change in circumstances before allowing ourselves to be happy, we may be waiting a long time. Nothing that ever happened in the past or that will ever happen in the future exists in any way other than as we manifest it now.
   
• Finally, and perhaps the most important implication of all, it means that there are no limits other than those we impose on ourselves. In fact, we’re only just barely separated (if at all) from the ideal, the sacred, the timeless.

Some would find these things frightening; I find them profoundly energizing and hopeful.

 "There is a Collective Entanglement of the frequencies of all life's energy. It is this String that ties the past to the future, one’s unconsciousness to another’s consciousness, from one dimension to all the others, from here to the infinite." ~  SIMON CROWNE

US VERSUS US – And Other Reflections

EXTREME MAKEOVER?
The universe is immense beyond our comprehension. Yet this vastness is reflected, literally at our fingertips. For there in a single skin cell exists another  “universe”—one of ever-smaller and smaller particles. Even an atom, which itself is a ten millionth the size of the period at the end of this sentence, is made up of components that are proving every bit as hard to count as the number of bodies in the celestial universe.

Here, at Nature’s extremes, is where perspective begins to get a little weird. As physicists venture into the realms of quarks, quasars and antimatter, they’re learning that the rules governing the concepts of not only space, but mass, time, motion and even existence are going to have to change.

It’s never the simplistic “us versus them” paradigm we’ve invented to try to make sense of complexity and manage emotions.

NEW REALITIES
Two things you might think would fall at opposite ends of a scale of time, size or space might, according to these new realities, actually lie right next to each other or even coincide. In these latitudes, large encompasses small; bad includes good; beauty has its ugly side. In everything lie the seeds of its opposite. And the astounding Intelligence that designed it all, at once everywhere and nowhere, looks on kindly as we endeavor to understand. 

So the worlds I continue to explore around, within and beyond me are ultimately the same world. It’s all one, and it’s all good—the beginnings, the endings and everything in between.

In politics, in international relations, in personal conflicts and even in war, it may just be that it’s never really about what we think it’s about. It’s never the simplistic “us versus them” paradigm we’ve invented to try to make sense of complexity and manage emotions.

Because there’s always a part of “them” in “us” and vice versa, it’s always about us.

We can learn something important both from what exists and what doesn’t exist, from things and the spaces between things, from words and silence.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
It's impossible to overstate the significance of this new understanding. The implications for those of us exploring who we are and where we fit in whole scheme of things are becoming clearer by the day:

• What happens to one person, one animal, one river, one ecosystem ultimately affects every other.

• The spiritual energy each of us produces can instantaneously change someone's reality on the other side of the world. 

• There’s always another way of looking at something, another way to experience and explore it.

 

• We can learn something important both from what exists and what doesn’t exist, from things and the spaces between things, from words and silence.

• The answer to any conflict is for both parties to understand that what they judge and fear in their enemy is a reflection of themselves.

• The solution to any of society's most daunting challenges could already be within our reach, simply awaiting a fresh perspective or a more open mind before revealing itself.

• Finally—perhaps the most important implication of all—it means there are no limits other than those we impose on ourselves. In fact, we’re only just barely separated—if at all—from the ideal, the sacred, the timeless.