Reflections on a mote of dust.

Earth (blue speck in the brown band on right) as seen from Voyager 1 from 6 billion km away.  1990

"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

~Carl Sagan

A good year indeed.

2010 was a good year.  After a misfire in FL I decided to move to NC and it turned out to be a wise decision.  I obtained a new job where I had a chance to shine as a leader by example and they promoted me after just 7 months!  A new city that I like a lot.  (I can't understand the fascination with hush puppies though.)  I have new friends who make a concerted effort to stick together and support one another.  And boy do they party.  Never a dull moment with this group.


This year I finally made it to Chicago.  I took my dad and had a great time.  We've decided to start making this an annual father/son thing.  Boston in 2011.  I also began volunteering with a local community outreach program mainly at the food bank.  After being away for over 2 years, I finally made it back to Cincinnati to see my friends in September.  I try to always look forward but I can't help but have a hole in my heart for Cincy.  I became a man there and for 13 years called it home.  I don't regret leaving but I miss it badly at times.  Especially my best friend.

On a darker note, last year I developed a really bad Facebook addiction that will undoubtedly require an intervention.  You know its bad when you come into work and the first thing you log into is Facebook.


Overall, I obtained the one thing I coveted for so long and took for granted when I had it many years ago...normalcy.  No more different city every week; no more searching for the life I should have.  I'm in a position to make the life I want and I couldn't be happier.  I've always been ambivalent about the years past but not this time.  2010 was a good year indeed.