We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever.

There has been a continuous effort to remind this on my everyday life. I cannot specifically remember when I read it for the first time, as I’ve been –irony- religiously following Carl Sagan’s reflections for a while now. When I decided to quit my dream of becoming an astrophysicist and choose the socials and humanities path, I did my best to not get my science part banished; paradoxically, science has help me to keep my feet grounded and understand that society and human being –in general- is nothing more than a tiny piece of this universe and will never ever overcome it, as much as he tries.

It is not hard to recognize it as it is to acknowledge it: we are all stardust. We are a miniscule part of an unimaginable immense universe that works by itself, with its own rules, paths and process. For it, it does not matter at all if this or that country leader gets an oil concession through a company, if a forest gets burn in silence or if a war is declared. It will be important to us, because we are directly affected by those actions, but universe will keep working at its rhythm and there is no way we can stop it nor pressure it otherwise.

We can admit this, but to acknowledge it is different; as we have been raised believing human is the only thing to know –or at least the most important- it is tough to fully comprehend and practice the smallness of our life, it requires to be humble, simple-hearted, avow that each and every member of the planet, alive or dead, is just the same as you: the initial matter which formed that tree in your yard, the neighbor’s dog, your parents, and the person you can’t stand at work is exactly the same. While for some people, this could be an undeniable establishment of nature’s beauty, for others might symbolize poverty or weakness; human being is so scared of admitting his tininess that he can’t notice he is actually lasting, with his existence, in the greatness of cosmos.

To be honest, I still have not completely done it, but the times I evoke it I suddenly find certain –and great- peace of mind. Knowing that I’m not as big as I was taught makes me realize those conflicts and muddles in my life are neither, that nothing can be such a big deal and the world is not that big after all, astronomically we are all at the same place. Yet, is not that easy to spread this peaceful sensation to others, but there is essentially nothing left to lose.