Some people see a star and believe it has some effect on their future.
Some people see extraordinary events and believe it happened for their benefit. Even if that benefit is only as small as giving them something pretty to look at.
Some people are told how big the universe is, how small they are and get depressed and frightened. They would rather be important.
There is no need for this. Reality is a wonderful place and is made all the more wonderful by understanding it. I know that when I stand outside at night, over 300 billion stars are bathing me in their faint light. I have seen the Milky Way without light pollution, seen the immense dust lanes blot out the intensity of the galactic core, seen it for what it is. An immense disc, turning just once in 250 million years. Absolutely, staggeringly huge beyond any comprehension. The image at the top of this post is what you actually see.
The Galaxy is immense. But it is itself only one of several hundred billion galaxies. These galaxies pull each other together. They form clusters. And these clusters form threads and filaments to produce one incomparably huge structure-the universe.
Many people know this. But to comprehend it is something else entirely. No one does this. Not all the time, at any rate. I have perhaps managed it twice. The first time was in Australia, when I first saw the Galaxy. It really hits you like a mental brick wall. It is a spiritual experience, but I at least did not feel it actually came from some spirit.
So many people look at reality and ask "Is this it? Is there nothing more? It's alright, but it's not that good, is it?" So they create stories and fictions around it. They desecrate reality with their childish daydreams and imaginings, when they could be getting so much more by making the effort to understand and comprehend.
Yes, this is it. It is reality. What more could you fucking want?
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