If you are like most, looking up at the stars prompts you to wonder what’s out there. The awe-inspiring images from the Webb Space Telescope provide a better view than ever before. They bring unimaginable detail to the dots of light and darkness we see in the night sky with our eyes.
These images make tangible what is beyond the reach of our sight. In doing so, they help make the nearly incomprehensible reality of our universe more comprehensible. We can view them whenever we want free from the ambiguity and distortion that our memory can add.
Knowing your life philosophy in your thoughts alone is like looking up at the stars with only your eyes. While this can still be an amazing experience, especially in parts of the world where relative darkness still exists, it pales in comparison to the detail of “cosmic cliffs” of dust and gas clouds, expanding nebulae and interacting galaxies.
Not knowing your life philosophy in any way is the equivalent of never looking up at the night sky and wondering. Instead, life is not much more than dots of light projected on the spherical ceiling of a planetarium. It’s interesting, but the laser show is definitely more entertaining even if it is further removed from reality.
Like the images from Webb, and its predecessor Hubble, a tangible manifestation of your life philosophy makes evident what can be difficult to see. It brings clarity to complex, intertwined and even abstract thoughts. It eliminates ambiguity in a definitive statement of what is essential including your fundamental truths about life and the world and aspirations for them.
Most importantly, stating and recording your life philosophy transforms it into a practical life tool. Webb and the information it provides is a tool that helps us make sense of our universe. Your life philosophy is a tool that helps you make sense of your life and the broader world.
The next time you have the opportunity to look up at the stars, consider what it would be like if your eyes provided the clarity of the Webb Space Telescope. As you do, consider how different your life would be with your personal philosophy in tangible form. Then, make it so.
