"Be proud of your place in the cosmos. It is small and yet... it IS."

Hello again! I'm not sure if anyone has actually found my blog yet. I don't know how this whole thing works. I just write. Haha. Anyway. I'm back again to talk about something that has been on my mind lately and has given me a lot of trouble at times, and comfort at others. This is really important to me, and probably a topic that everyone wonders at some point in their lives: our existence and our place in the world/universe.

This past May and June I had the opportunity to take an Astronomy class in order to satisfy my last science requirement for school. I was always interested in space, so I was immediately drawn to the class. However, upon my experience in the class, despite the incredible knowledge of the universe I gained, I couldn't help but continuously marvel at the incredible vastness and enormity of the universe. No joke. I can't really put it into words, but a photo called "Our Cosmic Address" gives you an idea of just how large everything is:

Our planet, the Earth is contained in a solar system of 8 planets (sorry, Pluto). Four terrestrial planets, four gas giants. We are the 4th SMALLEST planet in our solar system alone. Our system is placed among other systems in the galaxy. Our galaxy is placed among groups of galaxies, and these groups are placed among superclusters of galaxies! The vastness is never-ending.  Scientists have discovered that there are 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy alone. And that there are roughly that many galaxies that exist outside of our own "small galaxy". If there are about 100 billion stars in each galaxy, that gives us a total of 10^22 stars in the observable universe. That doesn't begin to describe the planets (large and small), moons, asteroids, comets, etc. Then their's us. A mere 7 billion individuals on the one planet in our solar system that supports life the way it does. I sat in my astronomy class feeling utterly insignificant. And do you blame me? I am one person in a huge (but not so huge) world. Then there are things outside of this world billions of billions times larger than me.

After the class was over, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why everything was so big. Why am I so small? Why are there so many people? There are over 7 billion people on this earth and just one small human living in a small town in a small(ish) state. How do I feel important in my everyday life with these huge numbers floating above my head. And I found there are two ways you can look at the vastness of the universe: marvel and exist. The universe is an amazing, breath taking place and action ever moving forward and backward. It is a fountain of constant knowledge flowing for those who are eager and willing to learn it.

In the teachings of the LDS Church, there is a precept we believe that holds the answers to questions that come from our feelings of insignificance. "Why am I here?" "Where did I come from?" "If there is a God, why would he care about me?" This precept is called the Plan of Happiness. Before the huge universe I've described above was created, EVERYONE, every spirit to ever come on the earth (past, present, and future) lived with our Heavenly Father as spirit children. He created a plan for us to determine who was worthy to live among him and who was not, and the plan was the Plan of Happiness. Basically, we would come to Earth to be tested: to go through trials, learn lessons, etc. and when it was time for Final Judgement, Heavenly Father would judge us based on our decisions.

My point in bringing this up is to focus on the part where we are on this earth. We are here to be tested. To go through good times and bad times. Life will be hard. And ugly and unfortunate at times. But believe me when I say that this life is a beautiful place as well. The test is why we are all here. There is a reason all of us are here. Out of all the spirits that was chosen to come to Earth at this time, YOU are here and YOU are living. The universe is great and all, but it is down here where we live that matters right here and now. Everything is so big and beautiful, including your existence. Heavenly Father loves you and knows you as one of his children. You are an actual child of God. One of my favorite pastimes at the moment is listening to a peculiar podcast by the name of Welcome to Night Vale. It's a kind of quirky, darkly humorous radio show for the fictional desert town of Night Vale; and despite the fact that it's considered comedic horror, it is quite the insightful show. It touches on things like existence, time, space, self, etc. and one thing that stood out to me in the most recent episode, Old Oak Doors Part B, is when Cecil (the narrator) states:

"Be proud of your place in the cosmos. It is small and yet, it is. How unlikely! How fantastic! And stupid. And excellent."

That statement really hit home with me and is the title of this entry because I believe it so strongly. Our place here among the stars, planets, people, clouds, time, and space is small. But be proud that you are here. Because it is both unlikely and fantastic that you are here. Make the most of your time here. You are important and significant. We all lead different lives and are important and significant to someone in them. Remember that when you look around and you feel small and insignificant. It's okay to feel small, but remember when it's Christmas time and all the really, really awesome presents come in the small packages? Or the small, little things we do for one another to show we care? It's the small things that make a big difference. If you feel small it's okay because YOU make a big difference. YOU count. YOU matter. I really hope I got across what I was trying to say. Thanks again for reading guys! See you next time.

Remember to be proud that you exist.

Hailey