Center of Existence

The first time I came across the word "eclipse", it was from a story in a book we used for English then in my primary school. If you were in primary school in the late 80s and early 90s, then you most likely read one or all of the "Brighter Grammar" series. They were illustrative enough to understand, sophisticated enough to build your vocabulary and wide-reaching enough to open your mind to new ideas and better ways of using the language. It wasn't so simple (especially with some of the teachers we had then) but by and large, the books were useful for many of us.?

The story was about an eclipse experienced in a village that did not know what it was as they did not have prior knowledge of the phenomenon. Many thought the world was coming to an end and so started to get themselves ready for the end of their existence. If only they had the information we have now back then, they may have embraced and even anticipated it the way we did when the last one visited us just a few weeks ago. I have not had the privilege of witnessing a total eclipse before but the few times I have had the opportunity to see a partial eclipse happening, “mind-blowing” does not even describe the experience well enough. Seeing how two "tiny balls" moved past each other in the sky and actually almost left us in darkness is something that has never stopped to amaze me.

I am not much of an enthusiast of the things beyond the immediate region of our earth's sky (at least not as enthusiastic about them as my son) but I still have a fair knowledge of the composition of space. I know that the "tiny balls" are anything but tiny. In fact, one of those "tiny" balls will swallow up our planet a thousand times and will still have room for thousands more. I know that one of those "tiny" balls stays stationary any time an eclipse happens. Rather, it is the other tiny ball that moves between our earth and the other stationary tiny ball. I also know that our earth, as massive as it is, travels round one of the tiny balls - the sun, in a journey that takes a year to complete. So often, we tend not to fully comprehend the sheer size of the sun, because in the minds of many people, it is just another celestial body floating around our planet. In case you have forgotten, the diameter of the sun alone is more than one hundred times that of the earth. It weighs about 333,000 times as much as earth and it is so large that about 1,300,000 earths will comfortably fit inside of the sun. That is the enormity of the size and volume of the sun. Yet, looking at it in the sky, it appears like you can hold it in two hands and bounce it around like a basketball.?

For centuries, it used to be thought that the sun traveled round the earth. So, it is easy for us to think to ourselves and almost convince ourselves that the sun moves round the earth. Such is the ego of ourselves that we the dwellers of this planet have. In fact, one of the great-grandfathers of science, Aristotle said in one of his cosmological publications "De Caelo" that "the Earth is the center of motion of the universe". When another astronomer/physicist, Galileo Galilei made a new discovery about another planet (Jupiter) that had terrestrial bodies moving around it, it caused serious controversy in astronomy. Because then, a planet with smaller planets orbiting it did not conform to the principles of Aristotelian cosmology, which held that all heavenly bodies should circle the Earth. Our idea of space was that we are the center of it.

And that is how many people still orient themselves. Everybody's world must revolve around theirs. Any consideration that does not put their interest first is null and void. If they are unable to influence such considerations, they will look for ways to discredit and invalidate it. These type of people typically have issues navigating regular everyday life. Their unrealistic expectations from people and situations make them believe that they are worth more than they actually are. They also have a nauseating sense of entitlement and have the tendency to interpret anything that happens to them in a personal way.

In many cases, this overinflated ego of theirs is what they usually employ to hide their low self esteem which may have stemmed from a troubled or traumatized upbringing. In other cases, they are constantly and aggressively farming for validation. To get the validation they so desperately seek, they tend to make themselves the center of attention in some way. It may be in the way they dress, or talk, or brag. It could also be in the way they always try to inject themselves into situations and conversations at every opportunity.? Whatever the case may be, their goal is to be noticed, appreciated, feared or be referred to. Call it arrogance, call it ego, call it narcissism, call it selfishness...we all have people around us who are this way.?

So, dear reader, even though you matter in every way, the world does not revolve around you. Take care of your interests, but do not see them as superior to the interests of others around you. Rather, spend that energy to create purpose, fulfillment, compassion and inspiration for people around you. It will not only help you find some sense of satisfaction for yourself, it will also help correct the minds of many of your kind around who also think they should be the center of everybody's world.