Approaching the ever-daunting challenge of adulthood, it’s easy to feel lost.
Visiting big-name universities, seeing the accomplishments of others, and wondering if our own future accomplishments will even hold a candle to those of the people around us… We all have moments when we wonder about our place in the world in a few years. It’s human nature to want to be wanted, to be a part of the whole. We want to fit in in our school, our community; the world, the universe. And so sometimes, we might sacrifice a bit of ourselves for the sake of what could be.
HERE IS TODAY (hereistoday.com) puts things into a bit of perspective. Created by Luke Twyman, it’s an interactive HTML5 site that illustrates the universe and the fraction of history that is today.
As you click through HERE IS TODAY – which you should be definitely doing now if you haven’t done so already – you’ll be startled by how miniscule “today” is in comparison to the lifespan of the universe.
There are a few ways you can take this. You can go ahead and be a pessimist and assume that everything will all be for naught because in a few billion years the sun will swallow up the Earth anyway and nothing you (may or may not try to) do about it will matter. And why try, anyway, if all your accomplishments, no matter how big, are just going to be a speck next to the universe?
I personally cannot subscribe to this line of thinking mainly because I think it’s just plain sad.
Although it is true that everything is just a speck next to the universe, it is those very same specks that made up the universe. It is drops of water that make up an ocean; colonies of stars that make up a galaxy; todays that make up a forever. Ultimately, each and every one of those drops of water and stars and todays matter just as much as the next.
Maybe it takes a bit of convoluted logic and naiveté to say this, but after the earth has been swallowed up by the sun, the person who invented hovercars is going to matter just the same as the person who invented peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwiches. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that you loved what you did with your life is going to be greatest legacy you will have.
We’ve all got our own place in the world and not enough time to spend trying to fit into someone else’s. So when you return to your hallways and classrooms and start thinking about tomorrow again, take a moment to breathe. Don’t forget about today.
Image credit: Noctilucentme @ http://noctilucentme.deviantart.com/art/Dandelion-fluff-2-259494743
HERE IS TODAY: Whitevinyl by Luke Twyman @ http://whitevinyldesign.com/