I don’t know how many of you have had the opportunity to remove yourself from the light pollution of the cities and stand under the breathtaking canopy of the heavens on a moonless night. If you have not, I implore you to put this on your bucket list of must-do’s in this lifetime. Sure there are stars in the sky no matter where you live, but, there is no comparison when you take away all the competing light sources and are able to view the unbelievable number of stars that are in the sky on any given night.

When I was a kid, I was lucky enough to live in a place where the stars and milky way were very visible in the night sky. As I grew older and moved away from those quieter and darker habitats, I began to forget what it was like to stand under that canopy of the heavens with those billion plus points of light blinking their mysterious morse code-like message.

There truly are no words for me to accurately describe the level of awe I experience when I stand alone in the dark and look up at this spectacle. For me, it brings everything into sharp perspective. We as humans are but tiny little specks of insignificant matter when compared to the infinite universe that surrounds us. Yet, we continue to place ourselves on these grandiose pedestals and ignore the fact that we are nothing more than short-term visitors on this magnificent planet. That’s it. Bottom line? We all came from dust, and to dust we will return. Some of us sooner than later.

Maybe, that’s why so many of us choose to live in crowded cities, where the night skies are so lit up by neon signs, aircraft flying to and fro, highrise buildings beaming window lights even when no one is working, and tens of thousands of automobiles shining their headlights into all the dark spaces while at the same time drowning out the heavens. Maybe, we do this because we are afraid to face our mortality. Or maybe we don’t want to know how insignificant we really are when compared to the grander scheme of things…

Read more in my show notes at: awomaninthewoods.com/show-notes-2/

My question for this week is:

When was the last time you stood outside in the dark to view the stars? Describe what you saw for me. How did it make you feel?

You can email your responses to me at: tracy@awomaninthewoods.com or record your answer with your computer, smartphone or tablet through Speakpipe. The URL for speakpipe is: speakpipe.com/awomaninthewoods.

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