Monday, April 09, 2007
Light Doesn't Age
I'm not physicist, or rocket scientist, but as I understand it, light does not age. And anything travelling at the speed of light won't age either. Now even the fastest among us looks pretty damn slow in a contest with light (light travels at 299,792,458 meters per second, or 186,000 miles per second). Even an Ethiopian marathoner looks like he's standing still compared to the speed of light. So, we age, yes, we do. And as they say, life is precious, and we need to make every moment count. And even if we know it, I mean, really know it in our bones, sometimes it is hard to do. There are times we just go through the motions, or watch the clock, or forget about the moment and bury our heads in the past or the future, and well, the clock is ticking away my friends...precious moments are whizzing by - what's that, that just flew out the door (?), well, that's your life brothers and sisters!
Then there are those events that bring you up short, that take your breath away, and remind you again...yes... it's all so precious...I mean when death comes knocking and takes a loved one, or a serious illness grabs you or someone you know (it's the cancer - you know, the good kind like Charlie got in Party of Five!), or a divorce, or, well, you know one of those once in a life-time, irrevocable, occurances comes along that make you wonder what's it all about, where are you going, what makes life worthwhile and well, shit, am I really doing it?
So, yes, the light...if I can't propel myself into the universe at the speed of light, can I acquire a little of that "enlightenment," a little sliver of that precious stuff that tells me life is precious, and we are alive, and it's good...and if not, if I'm age bound, and those irrevocable events are coming for me and every one else too, is it even more precious and good and well, I guess that's one of things we're here to figure out.