The Great Wide Unknown
For as long as man has existed, the oceans and heavens above have held a power over us. We are drawn to the unknown and mystery of each, it is part of our nature.
As humans we love nothing more than a good mystery, and nothing holds more of those than the great expanse of space and the oceans around us. Perhaps it's our knowledge that we can never natively live in either. I can no more dance upon the ocean floor than I can the surface of the sun. In my native construction I can walk across a field, climb a mountain, explore a desert, and play in a snow storm, all without needing more than the right, simple clothing to protect from the elements. I wouldn't need an oxygen tank, a special suit, or watch a timer for how long it's been to avoid damage. I don't need special skills to examine or a heavy financial backer to spend a long time in the world. I don't need permission to live under the suns rays or to feel the wind in my hair. But everything that makes it easy to live, makes us want something more beyond just this.
I have always dreamed of space, of taking my place on the bridge of a ship on Star Trek and adventuring out into the unknown. To see a nebula up close, watch a star go supernova, to explore a planet full of unknown plants and animals, or simply to watch planets circle an alien sun. I've more than once wished that when I die I could spend eternity floating through the universe and just watching the wonders that exist there.
If I had the time and ability to explore everything in the universe, I doubt I would be satisfied because part of the appeal of something is knowing that you don't know everything. It's like early on a relationship when you don't know everything about your partner, the excitement is in uncovering who they are. Once you are past that phase and have more history together than a part, the excitement wears off and we find new things to entertain our curiosity. The allure of the 'bad boy' in every teen love movie is always the unknown of him, why is he the way that he is?! What makes him brood? Is their pain and sensitivity behind the cutting comments and dark eyes? What about 10 years later when he's working a 9-to-5 and she's going back to school? Is there still the same allure? Probably not, because the mystery is gone.
Mystery is everything to us as people, and when one is gone we search for the next but I think too that when we chase after one mystery, it teaches us more about another mystery. The mystery of who we are. When I read about some new discovery in space, little by little I see more of myself and realize my love of being alone in silence. I imagine floating in space staring at Jupiter with no noise to distract me and just the buzzing of my own ears. My fascination with alien cultures whether humanoid or otherwise. My contemplation of my place in this vast universe and how small I feel when I look at it as a whole. My day to day worries hardly seem significant when I look at myself in the overall scope of our existence and place in time. It gives an often much needed perspective to a very self centered existence.
Perhaps some day when my body is no more than dust, some of that dust will float off into the heart of our universe or the edges of it and then I will finally be able to chase one last mystery.
As humans we love nothing more than a good mystery, and nothing holds more of those than the great expanse of space and the oceans around us. Perhaps it's our knowledge that we can never natively live in either. I can no more dance upon the ocean floor than I can the surface of the sun. In my native construction I can walk across a field, climb a mountain, explore a desert, and play in a snow storm, all without needing more than the right, simple clothing to protect from the elements. I wouldn't need an oxygen tank, a special suit, or watch a timer for how long it's been to avoid damage. I don't need special skills to examine or a heavy financial backer to spend a long time in the world. I don't need permission to live under the suns rays or to feel the wind in my hair. But everything that makes it easy to live, makes us want something more beyond just this.
I have always dreamed of space, of taking my place on the bridge of a ship on Star Trek and adventuring out into the unknown. To see a nebula up close, watch a star go supernova, to explore a planet full of unknown plants and animals, or simply to watch planets circle an alien sun. I've more than once wished that when I die I could spend eternity floating through the universe and just watching the wonders that exist there.
If I had the time and ability to explore everything in the universe, I doubt I would be satisfied because part of the appeal of something is knowing that you don't know everything. It's like early on a relationship when you don't know everything about your partner, the excitement is in uncovering who they are. Once you are past that phase and have more history together than a part, the excitement wears off and we find new things to entertain our curiosity. The allure of the 'bad boy' in every teen love movie is always the unknown of him, why is he the way that he is?! What makes him brood? Is their pain and sensitivity behind the cutting comments and dark eyes? What about 10 years later when he's working a 9-to-5 and she's going back to school? Is there still the same allure? Probably not, because the mystery is gone.
Mystery is everything to us as people, and when one is gone we search for the next but I think too that when we chase after one mystery, it teaches us more about another mystery. The mystery of who we are. When I read about some new discovery in space, little by little I see more of myself and realize my love of being alone in silence. I imagine floating in space staring at Jupiter with no noise to distract me and just the buzzing of my own ears. My fascination with alien cultures whether humanoid or otherwise. My contemplation of my place in this vast universe and how small I feel when I look at it as a whole. My day to day worries hardly seem significant when I look at myself in the overall scope of our existence and place in time. It gives an often much needed perspective to a very self centered existence.
Perhaps some day when my body is no more than dust, some of that dust will float off into the heart of our universe or the edges of it and then I will finally be able to chase one last mystery.
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