Today on Widening Circles,
Your atomic self.
You are made of atoms,
Even though you may seem whole and static.
Right now,
Countless atomic journeys are being made in you that link you with everything that exists and all of time.
The reason why I offer this,
Besides evoking Widening Circles of Awe,
Is because many days,
We aren't able to see our own beauty.
We see ourselves as failed projects compared to this ideal,
And that's a very sad,
Disempowering position to greet life.
When you see yourself through atomic eyes,
You'll leave understanding that you are artwork of the most intricate and exquisite kind.
Where every millimeter of your being was crafted with the utmost care and pizzazz.
Where every nanoscopic nook has innumerable stories to tell.
You are not a flaw or an irrelevant accident.
So settle in to a comfortable spot and let this mind melt carry you.
Take a few deep breaths and make contact with the quiet,
Hidden world inside of you.
Feel the delicious sense of stillness that begins to emerge as your thoughts settle down and your mind slinks back into your warm,
Cozy body.
With every exhale,
Feel your stress completely seeping out of your system.
Allow the music to carve out deepening ravines in your being as you continue to breathe and land in this moment.
Consider that right now,
Trillions upon trillions of atoms are jiggling and jiving inside of you,
Creating this fantastical blur that is you.
Your atoms outnumber the stars in the visible universe,
Which would take roughly 2 trillion Olympic sized swimming pools to fill if they were grains of sand.
That would take roughly 5 earth-sized planets to accommodate.
Take a moment and see if you can feel any vibrating traces of these dancing particles inside of you.
Now take a deep breath.
Half of the oxygen carried inside was knit by tiny phytoplankton in dark,
Salty depths somewhere.
The other half came from the bodies of terrestrial plants and the splitting of atmospheric water vapor from the sun and distant stars.
If you trace the journey of these oxygen atoms back even further,
Which not only comprise your breath,
But also roughly 65% of your body mass,
You'd find that they were once forged in the heart of stars billions of years ago,
Blown off into space like pollen from bright flaming flowers.
You contain elements that have witnessed the formation of our universe.
Take a moment and let that just sink in.
Place your loving attention now on your eyes.
Allow your eyes to soften,
Which untucks the furrow in between your brow.
Much of the moisture in your eyes only recently fell from rain clouds and the hydrogen in these drops were formed shortly after the big bang.
Take a moment and feel that presence of deep time in your eyes.
Your eyes also carry minerals that were once uplifted from the earth's crust,
Like the salt found in your tears.
For millions of years,
Its sodium atoms drifted in primordial oceans,
Traversing fiery magma and high mountains,
Winding through deep mines and sun-baked plains,
Until they made their way to the plants and animals that became you.
Take a moment to just let that sink in,
Feeling the awe of these incredible voyages weaving you into existence.
Now bring your attention to your heart.
Send some loving breaths to it,
Acknowledging the hard and loyal work it does of never skipping a beat,
Its strength of holding all the pain you've felt.
Your heart is a furnace that stokes the commute of a quadrillion iron atoms through your body.
These iron atoms were once part of asteroids that fluttered down to earth as space dust,
Which rose again as plumes that crossed oceans along wind currents.
Some of these atoms landed on earth again and were dissolved in groundwater,
Drunk by the animals and plants that you have eaten,
Until they were absorbed in your bloodstream.
While these same iron atoms once destroyed stars billions of years ago,
They now work to deliver the breath of life,
Oxygen,
Into your cells.
Take a moment and allow your heart to open in awe at all these unseen unfoldings.
As the last stop on our atomic journey,
We now arrive at carbon,
Comprising around one-fourth of your body mass.
Carbon atoms are much like the Lego blocks of your body.
Take the carbon forming your skin fibers.
In ages past,
They may have been spun into the worlds for spider webs or brightened the colorful wings of ancestral birds.
Your carbon atoms have already spread all over the world,
Spending time in feathers,
Fins,
Flower petals,
And feces of every description since your birth.
Like actors,
They move from role to role,
Auditioning for parts in different theaters.
Take a moment and lovingly send off these carbon atoms out on your exhale,
Maybe telling them to break a leg for their next part.
I hope that this atomic journey into yourself has helped you see just what a miracle you are.
For you are woven by the infinite tales of the elements that bring you into deep kinship with the rest of the cosmos,
With the rest of time.
You are the vibrations of these atoms,
Nothing less than music,
Music conducted by the flaming heart of our solar system as it floats in emptiness from millions of miles away.
Are you listening to the song of your being?
When you're ready,
You may open your eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I'm wishing you a beautiful day connected with your radiant magnificence.
