The Immensity

One of my first existential awakenings happened when I was a young 20-year-old. My boyfriend and I were staying at his parent’s house in Western Kansas. We decided to drive into the country at night, away from the lights of the town. We found a dirt road between some fields, parked, and climbed onto the hood of the car. The sky was huge, the night clear, and I saw more stars than I had ever before. I felt like I was under the great dome of the universe. As we viewed the stars I became aware of the scale, of the great expanse of what I was seeing. I also became aware of my smallness. In this view of the night sky, I sensed the cosmic order, and while I was included, I was tiny and insignificant. This shocking realization, was an opening to see the immensity of the cosmic order.