The Universe and the We
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© 2005-2009 Helen M. Bascom
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Anticonsumerism, ART ACTION UNION - CREATIVE ACTIVISM, Core [C.O.R.E], Current Issues, LEFT WING VALUES AND POSITIVE GLOBAL AWARENESS, Multiracial Beauty and THE SISTERHOODStop whatever you are doing and look at the picture to the right. Do you see that small pale bluish dot near the center right of the photograph? Do you know what that little dot is? It is our home. Our Earth.
On St. Valentine’s day in 1990, as the space craft Voyager I approached the farthest reaches of our solar system on its way to interstellar space (about 6.4 billion kilometers or 4 billion miles), it turned for one last look at the place where it was created and then launched on its epic journey.
From 4 billion miles away, you can not see the continents, the seas, or the cities that are monuments to our creative insanity. You can not see the wars, the hate, the killing, the struggle just to survive. You can not see the love, the families, the helping hands extended to all who have need. From 4 billion miles away the lines that we have drawn are nonexistent. More important than all of these things we can not see from 4 billion miles away is what we can envision, if we look with open minds.
We are but a speck of matter barely discernible in the infinity that is our Universe, yet we can envision a time when all human beings will realize that we are far more than the here and now. Wealth means nothing. Possessions are nothing. The struggles for power and control are nothing. Alone, I am nothing. It is the WE that defines my place in this Universe. Without you, my fellow human beings, I am like that pale blue dot – alone in a vast expanse of darkness.
You are no more and no less important than I am.
I have no greater value than you.
We are all equally worthless; equally priceless.
We are.
We.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. . . . There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
montdragon
all in harmony harmony in all…less is more in a world of delusion of what is and what is not…peace to you…Namaste.
Tom Broderick IPA
damn your write good. wish i could do the same . tom
Braun1973
Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Outdoors2
Marvelous Post…BRAVO !!!!
Richard Veal
Excellent writing Helen.
HenkStolk
spot on….
or totally wrong..
what???
Some say, all we think there is, is just an illusion of perception
H M Bascom replied
Have you been reading Aristotle on Metaphysics? All is right and all is wrong, all exists and is at the same time an illusion. It’s difficult enough to contemplate this image of our Pale Blue Dot in space.
:-)
Crowmanic
Before further commenting on new work, dear Helen, I am curious why my past comments/queries have not rated a response or reply, specifically in most recent past 36 hours or so? TC4N …
H M Bascom replied
The last comment you made on my work was 5 days ago on The Fable of the Dissident
Crowmanic 5 days ago
Nicely written Helen … real nice, touché …
I’m not sure what you want me to say. Normally I don’t reply to comments unless I am seeking a dialog.
H M Bascom replied
I respond to questions. Where have you asked a question that I did not answer?
mychaelalchemy
just a speck is all we are, like a mote in God’s eye I once heard it stated
ufosIsee
You know I’m loving these images.. Reading this hits the spot, and I like the way you displayed it so well…
Matt Penfold
Spot on Helen, for an insignificant speck of matter, your erudite eloquence is remarkable.
This is my favorite light-hearted take on this subject :>)
Leon Walker
Thanks for this perspective reminder Helen… I’m with ya!
Susan Bergstrom
such insightful words…this is so powerful and so true!!!
dimsim
great! i don’t know where you find the time to create all this wonderful work, helen! thanks, you put so much effort into it
Wendy Slee
Helen. In a portfolio abounding with disturbing and insightful statements, rich with wisdom and human compassion, this is the most compelling and profoundly powerful piece of writing I have ever seen. Ever!
IT truly hit me right in the soul, in the sacred place I call home. This is TRUTH. This is what the world needs to reflect upon, this very precious gift from you…... You have scraped away all the illusions and superfluous crap that we fill our lives with, and revealed the core essence of what is real…..
H M Bascom replied
I’ve been feeling my smallness lately.
Crowmanic
Correction dear Helen: “The last staement/comment I made on your work was 2 days ago, not 5. see (1) on your piece where I wrote “Do you believe this “Liberty requires the blood of innocents” Helen? I’m confused with what stance you’re or pov you you’re intending? AND the 2nd immediately below.
Please don’t be defensive as non-required, I was only wondering, that is all …
H M Bascom replied
I’m not defensive, I apologize if I came off that way. Your comment did not show up in my activity monitor. Blame it on the Bubble. I will read your comment and answer any questions you have.
DanaMS
Excellent writing, as always.. That’s only a journey for all of us.. No material things are worth of any fight. One day all that will pass. We won’t take it with us anywhere. Compassion and love is what makes us humans. And I* need *YOU to be able to feel it. WE are the world.
JenLand
Simply and completely excellent Helen. Powerful!!
Mark Moskvitch
Helen,
Nice work…
H M Bascom replied
I have tried to remember where I was and what I was doing on 14 February 1990. I can’t remember that day. I was somewhere on that dot of light, doing something (probably unimportant). Since that picture was released I have tried to remember every day I have lived and all the people I have met. WE are all in this life boat together.
noinvisiblehand
I don’t expect replies to my comments! That you look at my stuff every now and again is plenty. Yes, that’s the macro view. Unfortunately, most people use microscopes.
Ushna Sardar
Great Job!!! Congratulations!!!
Kelly J
Bravo, bravo, bravo!!!!!!!! Brilliant Helen, this is such powerful writing – your passion is fantastic and your writing is top class!
And Im sorry, but Crowmaniac is being a tad silly…. it is not a pre-requisite to answer all comments… well not to my knowledge anyway!! :)
Kelly J
OH AND CONGRATULATIONS on the feature!! Well deserved!!
Adrian Kent
So right, wish it would catch on!
H M Bascom replied
It is catching on! The Shift
syd baker
There are more than a few astronauts who have had their beliefs shaken and rearranged when viewing our world from afar, I do not believe this is coincidence, but a built in awe of the totality of WE, of the durability of the planet through millions of years of rough rides through space, and the fragility of the planet now that man has such massive weapons and such hate.
One voice , one image, ten, a hundred, a thousand, that’s what I’m starting to hear and see, in speaking up for righteous peace, an ending of despair. For most of us, best we can do is the best we can do…
Marion Cullen
Human conceit really is what keeps us from looking at the big picture, and I mean BIG picture. There is so, so, so much more to it than just the us. We are but a pimple riding on the backside of a huge universe, and you just never know when it’ll burst. (Apologies for the gross analogy).
Alex Moir
I have always envisioned taking world leaders up beyond our orbit to look down on the Earth…what a perfect ground for negotiation! Daring them to look and seek out their own petty borders, to try to compare the feeble expanses of their precious empires to the vast glory of our beautiful home. Or perhaps more important, daring them to look across the table and see their sworn enemies as fellow human beings… not as acquaintances, but as family. But can we do such a thing ourselves, looking at this picture an dtowards each other? I dare you.
Megan Martin
Well put Helen! We are nothing compared to the vastness of the universe..all of the crap that is going on in the world is not because it was meant to be or that some god out there has a plan…it is becuase we think we are way more important than we are! We could stop all of the crap if we just took a minute to see that we are just a speck! Thank you so much Helen for sharing your wonderfully written commentary with us! You are completely right in every way! =)
Nanmarie
This made me cry. Damn it. Look at that little speck. You know not only is it about “we” but each of us should stop to consider how the things some of us carry on about are so insignificant, and I include myself in this comment. We are who we are, but it’s moments like this and writing like yours and comments like Syd Baker’s up there that keep us humbled. Keep writing Helen. Please.
GreenWitch
Holly Cow! We are THAT small? So me being slightly overweight doesn’t count! What is 10 pounds this or that way against the Space? ;) j/k
Wonderful posting. I feel totally united.