At the moment, it’s just before sunrise in Dargavs, the place on this planet I am currently experiencing life from.  Following is the comment I made earlier to FGC’s ‘Donkey’ post:

“It’s worth looking up ‘Dargavs’, to see my main excuse for coming here. Of course, there have been all sorts of other reasons that became apparent only after arriving. To be clear, life is unbelievably amazing to me and continues to blow my mind, in ways I could never imagine and would have a difficult time describing. The photos I share barely scratch the surface.”

Just after writing that comment, I went outside in the clear, crisp, still-dark mountain air to watch the International Space Station (ISS) pass overhead.  The ISS is something I make a point of tracking and watching, all over the world.  For one, it’s a beautiful thing in and of itself, just as a bright speck moving across the sky.  It’s also an example of the marvelous things humans are capable of accomplishing, especially when they work together for mutual benefit.  The aspect of watching the ISS that is probably strongest for me is that it requires that I go outside in the dark and to look out at the heavens, to search for the ISS.

While searching for the ISS, I get see some of my favorite friends: stars I have known for decades and the constellations they make up.  They serve to remind me of how small this planet Earth really is, in comparison to the Milky Way, which is only our galaxy.  When conditions allow me to see the galaxy Andromeda, which was possible this morning, it really helps put any so-called important issues on Earth into proper perspective.  Andromeda is the only galaxy other than our own that we can see with the naked eye.  To put THAT into perspective, our friend Wiki helps:  “It is estimated that there are between 200 billion (2×1011) to 2 trillion galaxies in the observable Universe.”  Holy shit!!!  Beyond the stars in our own galaxy, we can see only one of those estimated billions or trillions of other galaxies directly.  In short, we don’t really have any idea what’s out there, let alone how or why, but whatever it is is BIG beyond comprehension. 

Another tid-bit I like to reflect on for perspective is that, in comparison to the ~365-day Earth orbit of the sun, our sun takes an estimated 230 million years to complete just one orbit of our own galaxy.  Again, we don’t know exactly, except that it’s a really really really long time in comparison to the life of one man, or one transgender person, or whatever.  And, for you cycles people, that’s just one cycle!  The estimates begin to get really fuzzy when trying to figure out what the movement of the galaxies, known and unknown, means in the context of the entire Universe, which of course will remain unknown.  What else is there?  Who knows!

My reason for writing about this now is to share a glimpse of my excitement and my amazement about life, as encouragement for everyone to look outwards more often, no matter how often you do so now.  Get out of the tent!  Instead of trying to figure out what some evil bastards are trying to do here on Earth, time spent marveling at the unknown wonders of life can be allowed to pull you forward into an infinitely more marvelous mystery, one with equally unlimited and unknown benefits.  I can attest from my life experience that doing so is good for the body, mind and spirit, in ways that blow my mind, all day every day.  But hey, that’s only my experience!

The Earthly goings-on are as fascinating to me as to anyone, but I’m blessed not to be addicted to all this fascinating bullshit.

As I travel, or even when I’m home in Oregon and meet someone new, one of the common questions I’m asked is, “What is your job?”  My answer always triggers an interesting conversation: “My job is to be happy!”

I take my job so seriously that I am not willing to allow less significant things distract me for any longer than I can help.  This requires my paying attention and the possibility of my choosing not what to do, but how to be, remembering how very blessed I am, all day every day, in spite of whatever appears to be happening on the outside.  Of course, that’s an impossible tax, but it’s a fun, interesting and worthy challenge to undertake, one that makes my life worth living.  My happiness depends on my knowing internally that all is well.  No!  All IS perfect and always will be!  This results from consciously separating myself from all the external distractions I can possibly do, to allow space to realize the perfection in whatever it is that allows me to have this experience.  I won the lottery by being born into this physical reality, with unlimited rewards everywhere, just waiting for me to discover.  Or not.  The important thing to remember is that I get to choose, through how I choose to be internally, then discovering what manifests.

For anyone interested who doesn’t already know, you can find out where the ISS is now, when it will pass overhead wherever you are and also to register to receive advance alerts for when the ISS will come your way.  Here are the links:

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm

https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/index.cfm

Well, the sun is coming up.  Now, it’s time to go outside for a look around and to experience whatever life has in store for me today, to see what prizes I have won, with this John Denver tune in my head:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRgL92K5zuE

Best wishes to all!

GoldBalloon