Good morning & Happy Monday 🙂

 

This week is the week of the eclipse (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).  Come 09:27 on Friday, I shall be sat on a bench in my local country park, ready and waiting for the 87% partial eclipse.

 

I’m toying with the idea of buying special viewing glasses, but as I just mentioned to the infamous Mr Shaps, I might just fashion a viewing device out of an old cardboard box, Quality Street wrappers and a cookie cutter in the shape of a Christmas tree.  Innovative and swish!

 

Hopefully it’ll be clear, so I can share some photographs with you next week.

 

Right now, I’m extremely envious of our neighbours in the north (Faroe island & Svalbard), who’ll get to see a total eclipse.

 

Cue Bonnie Tyler (who’s from just around the corner from me, you know):

 

 

Happy Monday #49

 

Keeping with the moon theme, this week I want to share this powerfully fascinating article on the scale of the universe.

 

Seriously, read it.

 

In terms of the size of earth, each person is no more than an ant.

 

In the space of our solar system, our planet is miniscule.

 

In the expanse of our galaxy, our solar system is virtually non existent.

 

And in the vastness of the university, our galaxy simply disappears.

 

After reading that – and seeing it with your own eyes – it would be easy to conclude that we’re inconsequential.  After all, each of us is only 1 person alongside another 7 billion, stranded on a tiny planet floating through the vacuums of eternity.

 

But the loud and very real truth is… you matter!

 

You are genetically unique (unless you’re an identical twin… sorry about that 😉 ).

 

You have fingerprints that no one else has.

 

In fact, the mathematical probability of you existing at all is… wait for it… 1 in 10^2,685,000! (Source)

 

So what’s the probability of your existing?  It’s the probability of 2 million people getting together – about the population of San Diego – each to play a game of dice with trillion-sided dice. They each roll the dice, and they all come up the exact same number – say, 550,343,279,001.

 

So go forth into this week knowing that YOU are a miracle.

 

In the vastness of the universe – and everything that resides within it – YOU are YOU… A wonderful, awesome and unique miracle.

 

Happy Monday.  Go share the happiness, you miracle you 🙂