A few minutes beneath the night sky

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

By Richard Anderson

Walking around with our heads full of worries, it’s all too easy to lose perspective. Small things feel big – “What did she mean when she said that to me? How am I going to get all that done in time? What if I do something stupid in front of all those people? Where will I find the money I need?” – and big things fall out of focus. Sound familiar? Good. I’m glad I’m not alone.

Fortunately for us here in Jackson Hole, there is plenty to remind us in our place and to suggest the true scale of things. There are, of course, those big, honking mountains just north of town. There are the wide and wild stretches of forest that separate us from even our closest neighboring towns. And for a real reality check, there’s our night sky.

Hearing news about a new comet in the sky – 17P/Holmes, or “Holmesy” as I’ve taken to calling it – I made a quick late-night outing north of town, just up to the first pullout inside the park. I turned off the engine, climbed out into the chilly night and, as never fails to happen when I look up into a clear, star-spangled sky, forgot about everything except how immeasurably awesome the universe is.

One cool thing about stargazing is the longer you watch, the more is revealed. While Holmesy hung as conspicuously as not-too-distant headlight high to the east, other fainter pin-points of light wink on as my eyes grew accustomed to the dark: the smear that is the Seven Sisters, that elusive seventh point of light in the Big Dipper, the celestial spill of the Milky Way, and a million other dots whose names I’ll never learn.

Gazing even longer – and trying to ignore the chill that seemed intent on sending me packing back to where I belong – a glimpse of that Big Picture finally revealed itself: a sense of the enormity of time and space and of the smallness of me and us and all our petty machinations and ambitions.

That understanding can hit you like a punch in the gut or a sudden dunk into icy water, but then it becomes kind of comforting and eventually profound, as the truth always is.
As I finally admitted defeat to the cold of the night and climbed back into my car, I found a little peace, for a short time, at least, a quiet elation, that awe that is the cornerstone of any spiritual practice, and a feeling of joy and excitement that reminded me of being a small child.

All that from a few minutes beneath a starry, starry sky. Makes you wonder about all those poor folks for whom the night sky is dome of feverish red light, for whom the Milky Way is a candy bar, for whom the dark is a threat. And it makes you wonder if our night sky and wild stretches are safe from despoliation.
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A few minutes beneath the night sky | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

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