Considering some of the weird stuff that shows up on this board, I have no shame sharing the following that I finally finished after weeks of procrastination and then days worth of some really hideous starts, and worse crash & burns. It’s always a bit surprising when it works out and I can look at it after its 50th read-through and feel a big sigh, ahhh. That’s nice, it’s done.
I’m sure punctuation could use some first aid, but, as they say, same as it ever was, on that one. ?
<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ZSnGUouHwM/YHoa4egesaI/AAAAAAAAE5Y/yklF9eEZd7Igo1fvcM7VXTeBI7dZBp_qQCLcBGAsYHQ/w532-h116/IMG_%25231-element%2Bof%2Bevolution-RED.png" alt="" width="527" height="116" />
Although I’m a family man, with my share of friends, along with being community-minded, there’s a part of me that rarely fully connects with people, leaving me with an impression of being on the outside looking in and trying to make sense of all the distracting self-delusional thinking people indulge in.
Over the decades I’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to understand what makes my fundamental outlook and instincts so foreign to the general mindset. It’s only recently, with the hindsight of sixty-five years, and coming off of this “Hoffman Playing Basketball in Zero-gravity Project” that I’ve finally nailed it,
. . . . . . . I possess a visceral awareness of, and appreciation for, being an element in Earth’s Pageant of Evolution.
. . . . . . . Such a fundamental understanding bestows a host of the cascading spiritual and intellectual benefits.
Here's another example of words having power, by finally distilling those feelings into a sentence, I'm becoming aware of and comfortable with a new level of understanding and have created a fresh platform for taking it to the next level. I mean, the adventure simply keeps on getting better.
This sense of self and spiritual solidity emerged out of a lifetime of curiosity and learning about Earth, deep-time, and her amazing evolutionary story.
Especially realizing how the components of my own physical body had their origins eons ago. Even before that, if you consider how Earth herself had to go through intense processing before promising molecular tricks and biological solutions to life’s challenges would have the material resources at hand to allow them to be put to the test and prosper.
It’s a long, amazingly complex story that keeps evolving as more evidence gets collected and processed into shared scientific knowledge. Folds within folds of cumulative harmonic complexity flowing down the cascade of time. Considering I’ve been paying attention to it since my grade school days, it’s inevitable that I’ve achieved some insights along the way.
In the end, the thought of being an intelligent self-aware element of creation, one who is capable of savoring the pageant of Earth’s amazing Evolution is more than comforting. It provides me with a spiritual foundation and solidity in the face of challenges, inevitable failings and my coming death, that possess a depth of peace and security that no Holy Books or fast-talking pick-pocket preachers can get close to offering. It's good news worth passing around to the few who are honestly curious. ✌️
<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I0R9iahrbJs/YHodK0E4SeI/AAAAAAAAE5o/D2Z0BECLqksTDjuQKZmTTlL-KLGMHk_vQCLcBGAsYHQ/w535-h107/IMG_%25233-element%2Bof%2Bevolution-rocks.png" alt="" width="530" height="172" />