I don't really know why, but this touches me greatly. Perhaps, it is beyond me. Not in any sort of a divine sense, but rather, a truly human one. A sense that comes from a great deal of philosophical inquiry, or maybe, something that is derived from the reflections of a long life.

Regardless, each and every single time I have looked upon our infant world in relation to its sibling planets, both in and outside of our solar system, I am reminded of our very small place in the universe, and this gives me comfort.

Comfort to know that I have but one small life, and one small portion of time during that life to accomplish all that I wish, and that all that I may dream to achieve, but never may touch.

It is painful and yet so very poignant. I am but a tiny blip, one of many, seeking to collectively achieve something greater than we ourselves could ever hope to accomplish as individuals.

I am a part of a stream of consciousness, that one day will undoubtedly end, and yet, that inevitability does not fill my heart with sorrow, but rather, with a sort of defiance. A defiance that knows in spite of everything, in spite of an impending doom we will do all that we may, all that we must.

The dream goes on. With or without the human race, life will persevere, somewhere in the cosmos, and who are we to be so shallow as to assume that it is our special* legacy, and not that of life, that ought to carry on, in the vast expanses of space?

*Edit: "Spe" as in speak. "She" as in the pronoun she. "Al" as in the name Albert. So it is not special, as in he is a "special" individual, but rather a made up word. "Spe-cial" A species specific trait, a spe-she-al trait.