Did you know this is a real image taken by hubble telescope? It’s part of the Eagle nebular and it’s light years in length! We came from collections of dust just like this.
We all know that our bodies slowly change throughout life, but we also typically see ourselves as permanent, stable beings who live, eat and inhale air. We overlook the powers beyond that, where everything is in a perpetual state of flux within us and the universe.
This week we continue on with my interviews with US based authors of ‘Living With the Stars’, Physician Iris Schrijver and Astrophysicist Karel Schrijver.
“Our bodies are in a constant state of decay and regeneration. We exchange the materials of which we are composed with what we consume from the world around us to survive.” says Iris. “Stardust from the universe continually flows through us, rebuilding our bodies over and over again. The only lasting parts of us are in fact parts of our teeth that are not actually alive. Everything else is replaced!”
“Very little of our bodies lasts for more than a few years. This is just one illustration of how everything is impermanent. It is that transience of the body, and the flow of energy and matter needed to counter it, that led us to explore the interconnectedness of the universe with the body, where impermanence is observed in both fields. Even planets and stars come and go, “live” and “die” and therefore have an age range too”, says Karel of why they wrote the book.
We are usually all so focused on ourselves and on our immediate experience that we rarely stop to think about all the ecology, cycles, and networks (of living and lifeless matter) that surround us and without which we would not survive.
We are truly and fully connected to the universe and it seems foolish to ignore that.
Find their book: ‘Living With The Stars’ online on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Living-Stars-Connected-Cycles-Planets/dp/0198727437
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