My trip to the Center of the Universe

I just spent four days in hyperspace. Time slows when you travel at light speed, a hundred years for me was four days on Earth.

I went to the Center of the Universe: New York City. A city just like Coruscant in the good ol’ days; life in all its forms converging on one little place. Connections branching outward in all directions.

There was time for everything and we went everywhere. Katelyn and I gave our full attention to each other and each experience. We didn’t hurry, not once. Each shared moment was the experience of a lifetime: a cheap slice of pizza, a musical, a comedy show, dancing, a street performance, wandering through a museum, a bike ride, a perfect pastry…life surprising us with what we most needed.

It was on our run around Central Park that I saw it. The Center of the Universe. I don’t know how I’ve missed it for so long.

Yep, that’s it.

Our roots intricately intertwine.

Winding through and between the living and the dead. Common ancestors within and around each of us.

Drawing strength from beyond.

Our branches reach outward.

Releasing seeds into the wind. Every move determines what takes root around us.

Reaching for eternity.

Our trunk is “now.”

Where the infinite past and eternal future converge. Monitoring and adapting to present conditions.

Limiting, present awareness.

Each of us is a unique expression of forty-six chromosomes, twenty-three from mom and twenty-three from dad. An infinite arrangement of potential. Each chromosome of the forty-six reaching back thousands of generations, slightly altered with each expression. Strength from beyond, all the way back and all around. Roots.

Every choice reaches forward, determining how things go from now on. Deciding what life is and what takes root to sustain future generations. Doing unto others what we know we are also doing to ourselves. Creating a beautiful future. Branches.

You, the thing that you call “I,” really only notice about one billionth of what’s actually happening. Aware of only what you need to keep growing. Another year, another ring. Concentric circles, adapting to the challenges of the environment. Trunk.

It’s you. The Center: drawing strength, reaching forward, and finitely aware.

Don’t let it get to your head though. Many people believe they are the Center of the Universe, and it’s a problem. It’s only a problem when we believe that it’s only us at the Center: ourselves or the ones-who-know-better.

At the Center is you and everyone else, and every thing else. Every one. It’s me, and it’s also you.

My trip with Katelyn to New York was bliss. Time slowed. The four days felt like a lifetime together because we were present, centered, together.

Now, I get to be home and continue another lifetime with her and our beautiful children. I am the luckiest person, alive.

And so are you. Life offers infinite potential through our roots, trunks, and branches: Individual strengths, awareness, and choices. No one is better or worse than another, every thing completely unique.

A living, connected world at the Center of it All. Lucky to be, alive.