Wreck of Time

After reading this short essay, I was filled with several different thoughts. The most overwhelming one was that of being small and insignificant. I have never really thought about my size in comparison to many objects such as the Universe. In fact, the closest star outside our solar system is Proxima Centauri, and it is 4.2 light years away. A light year is equal to about 9,460,730,472,580.8 km, and this means light travels at an extreme speed of 299,792,458 m/s.

However, if humans were to one day travel at light speed, scientists would need to discover another means of space travel to overcome radiation. Another problem with space travel is that with our current technology, a humans’ miniscule lifespan is shorter than the amount of time it takes to travel to specific distances. Maybe someday someone clever enough will come up with a transportation device like in Star Trek, so that we might hear “Beam me up Scotty!”^ for real. Unfortunately, due to drastic distances between objects in space, I do not intend on leaving our solar system any time soon.

Distances to space objects are not the only way to experience a feeling of insignificance; one can take part in this by simply venturing out into the great outdoors. I have done this several times by traveling along the many snowmobile trails around my hometown. There have been many times that I have been able to ride my mountain bike high enough in order to have a spectacular view of the valley that my town is located. Every time that I have been able to do this, I realize how small my house, neighborhood, and town is compared to everything else. Not only is the size of the valley intimidating, but the thought of who created it is also overpowering. Yes, I’m talking about God, and I think it is incredible how much power he must have.

Overall, I think that many people do not take the time to take into consideration how unimportant they really are. I know that I often times get caught up in my own silly happenings. People are more concerned about what is going on around them close by, rather than caring about what is happening in for example Iraq or Afghanistan. Often times I neglect to take a moment to think about our brave soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for me. I think I am this way because the war seems distant, and I have not had any family members or friends sent over seas. When I watch the nightly news, these seemingly insignificant casualties are generally honored each night, but they begin to add up. The current American Military Casualty count is 30,960* which is close in size to the population of Bozeman (27,059 people according to the 2000 census)`, so think about it, the entire town of Bozeman is equal to the number of casualties in the Iraq war so far.

Since I have read Dillard’s essay and made my own personal comparisons, I have come to the realization that life is bigger than my own current little bubble. I’m not as big and important as I thought, and my problems are not as bad as they could be. Take the time to realize what is really going on around you, and live life to the fullest.

~Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri
*http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
^Captain Kirk from the television series Star Trek
`http://www.bozemanmontana.net/