peace will come…

peace will come…

yup…

i can almost hear you thinking: ‘oh my god, another generic, unsolicited nugget of platitude wisdom from one of the internet’s random self-proclaimed sages’.

it’s hard not to relate.

but please bear with me and you might actually not regret it, because there’s quite a chance that what i’ve posted here will be—if you keep reading and allow yourself some 20-min break to watch and listen—the most inspiring experience you will have today. not because of my unquestionable sense of timing, the skill in putting words together and overall ultimate wisdom radiating towards the world :), but because of the genius of Vangelis, Jon Anderson, the marvellous intuition of Marcus Anderson, the authors of the Journey to the Edge of the Universe documentary, Carl Sagan, Matthew Cimone and many others who have contributed to this moment.

so please take a look here.

i know. you may have already seen these, or similar, images over the internet. this isn’t quite new. but i sincerely don’t think we get reminded of this often enough—one half of the image is the brain, the other one is universe.

i’m not going to go into all the details of why it is awesome, because that is what the quoted articles do with much more credibility than i can ever assume, but it’s awesome, isn’t it? you have to admit. i mean, in the original, awe-inspiring, onomatopoeic sense of the word. seeing things like this always makes me feel humble in the face of the vastness of the universe and in that of the vastness of my-so-called-self, being a universe in its own right.

the first image comes from Ethan Siegel’s post for Forbes from January 23, 2016— https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/01/23/ask-ethan-is-the-universe-itself-alive/?sh=7bcea06031bb

and the second one, from an article by Matthew Cimone, from November 28, 2020—https://www.universetoday.com/148966/one-of-these-pictures-is-the-brain-the-other-is-the-universe-can-you-tell-which-is-which/:

(while on the topic, you may also enjoy The Strange Similarity of Neuron and Galaxy Networks at https://nautil.us/issue/50/emergence/the-strange-similarity-of-neuron-and-galaxy-networks

i’m re-posting them here not to preach whatever banality, but to remind you— because we don’t get reminded of it often enough—that

you matter

—as all matter does, no matter the scale. it is crucial for our mental health and the condition of our minds, that—in the busy world we’re immersed in, the one we often don’t really have an option to withdraw from, among all the buying, selling, consolidating, sprinting, progressing, preaching, improving—it’s crucial that we, once in a while, have a chance to get inspired, awe-struck, reminded of our (in)significance. because it’s epic, in the original meaning of the word. the fact we’re here is epic. and it deserves some epic treatment, so…

…here’s a video edited by Marcus Anderson (https://youtu.be/aqEL-BPa9TM) for you to drift away for a moment, and let your mind flow among the galaxies, Vangelis’s auditory universes and Jon Anderson’s mind encapsulated in his voice and the words he has chosen to depict it with (the animation taken from Journey to the Edge of the Universe is based on the actual 3D map of the universe as we’re currently capable of capturing it).

i urge you—be amazed, be inspired.

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.”

Carl Sagan The Demon-Haunted World

also, because i’m a designer by birth, choice and calling, i just couldn’t help myself and not add here that Marcus’s video is a prime example of how important the audio-visual—or, rather, multimedia—communication is, and what impact it can have if there is honesty, empathy and skill applied in an equal measure. we can design the world more beautiful, meaningful and balanced than the one we’ve almost managed to annihilate in our arrogance and fear-driven short-sightedness.

and to brush it all up nicely, just one more thing: all this has gained the form it has hereby—and you can now enjoy it, too :)—because i was reminded of it all by Verónica Vásquez Bascu?án, who has been so kind and sweet to comment on one of my youtube personal music archive videos, and started it all.

so thank you, Veronica, and thank you, Youtube :)