For several years, “06880” rang in the new year with an iconic photo: The “blue marble” image of Earth, suspended in space.
Taken by Apollo 17 astronauts in December 1972, for half a century it symbolized the beauty and fragility of our planet, and the interconnectedness of us all.
Last year, I went intergalactic.
In the 17 months since the James Webb Space Telescope beamed its first pictures back to us, the world has been mesmerized.
We thought we knew how vast and amazing the universe is.
Now, we realize, we don’t know the half — or the hundredth, or squintillionth — of it.
Gazing at photos like the one above, we realize how insignificant we truly are. Our planet is just one grain of sand, on an obscure beach, in an out-of-the-way location.
We really don’t matter at all.
Except to us.
Take a look at that photo again.
That landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. For the first time, we see stars being born.
We look billions of light years into the past. That’s crazy stuff.
So — back here on Earth, in our tiny Zip Code in our small state in our big country in our average-sized planet — we have to wonder: What actually matters?
Is it whether we put a baseball field next to a school, or keep a garden? Is it losing 44 parking spaces downtown? Is it the inconvenience of traffic on our roads, or a neighbor who chops down most of his trees?
The answer is: Yes.
These things matter.
They matter because they are part of our lives here in Westport. Sure, the universe seems endless; we still can’t really conceive of the fourth dimension, and our universe itself may be part of another, “living” life form.
In other words, the Westport — and the world — we know may just be atoms in an infinitely more complex something-or-other.
But all that’s for another day (or time).
Meanwhile, we look for the answers to life out there. But right now, it’s our own lives to lead, right here in “06880.”
Let’s lead them well.
And so … bringing us back to what we know best … here’s that beautiful blue marble, once more.
Beautiful. Thanks for putting things in perspective. We do know one thing: we love you Dan and 06880. Happy New Year!
Happy 2024 Dan and Best
Well Said Dan, We’ll Said!
Thanks for starting our new year by providing a meaningful prospective. Happy New Year!
Very nice Dan, thanks. Happy New Year.
Thank you, Dan, for your beautiful message and photos. All the Best to you in 2024! Laurie Sorensen
Happy New Year Dan!
Thanks for bringing back the marble, Dan. As well as your selection of issues we should care about in 2024. Yikes!
We are born here on earth but every atom in our bodies was born billions of years ago in a star billions of miles away. Carl Sagan said it best “We are Stardust” is a literal fact. In that perspective perhaps we can realize we are but one human race in need of each other to survive on one tiny blue marble floating in the pictures we see from the Webb. In the universe we don’t matter, we only matter to each other. We have it in our power to make it a happy new year if we work at it.
Thank you for a great start to the New Year on 06880DanWoog.com!
Inspiring!!!
Happy New Year, Dan. And thank you keeping 06880 in my world.
Have a Safe, Healthy and Happy New Year Dan! Thank you for all you do for Westport!
Dan, Thank you for this beautiful and thoughtful start to the new year.
Happy New Year!
Carol Cederbaum
Thank you for very thoughtful essay today.
It was beautiful and reflected my own long held feelings of awe and insignificance every time I look at pictures of space. I will take a look again at more pictures from the Web telescope .
There are always surprises on 06880.
Barbara McGrath
Thanks, Dan, for that beautiful, thoughtful essay.
Happy 2024….
As always Dan finds a way to express in words meaningful thoughts for all to ponder. We are all so lucky to have a blog like this where we can be inspired , share thoughts about our town, country and the world. The more we share, the more we learn , the more we understand our fellow man’s views.
There is often a little spot on this blog to donate and support the efforts of this treasure. If you haven’t done so you might consider helping to keep this worthy cause going.
“We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading on the grass
Come on people, smile on your brother
Hey lets get together and love one another right now.”
Dan; I am totally in tune with your beautifully expressed view of life!