Small Creatures in a Large Universe
reading “for small creatures such as we” right now -> a book by Sasha Sagan. things that stuck out to me:
- Is serendipity more meaningful if it is a miracle or if pure coincidence? some may call you a buzzkill if you say “well there is no god…no magic” BUT as a scientist and thinking about probability, the 1 in a million chance is actually more meaningful in its unlikeliness than some divine intervention that was “meant to happen”. Divine intervention is just a plot twist by some god writer mean to mess with you.
- revealing the workings of nature through science should not ruin the “magic” but only reinforce it in our minds. again this comes back to probabilities and unlikeliness and gratitude for this perfect set of conditions for the here and now.
- the earth’s axis lends the conditions for seasonal difference. for me that revealed how lucky we are that the earth is in the exact orbit it is in and it really doesn’t seem like there is much buffer for error. how many miles closer further in our orbital radius could we theoretically survive.
- remembering that regardless of what humans destroy the sun will destroy everything when it burns out in 1-2 billion years.
- the phase: “history is written by its victors”
- that little rituals and celebrations mark our place in time – especially annually. in this beautiful analogy, the earth is in the same location in its orbit, but the galaxy itself moves. we mark our birthday for example every year but our location in our life also shifts. same but different.
Rituals and traditions: I definitely want to cultivate more of these – especially those that include friends. Rituals that are either calendar based, or lunar or temperature or seasonal are also good to think about.
- sabbath: read about that here: https://maxcerami.wordpress.com/2021/11/28/a-holy-time/
- birthdays
- morning tea and talking with melissa on saturdays and sundays.
- wishing the chickens goodnight
- thursday game night
- sunday dinner and brew with CSC.
- Garden social club.
some possible new ones:
- Full moon dinners
- first coming of spring celebration
- winter sunshine barbeque.
- fall colors bike ride.
- ++
either way -> this book is making me remember to have gratitude and create moments in time to recall that i should be grateful for something.
