Cosmic Insignificance
Oct 27, 2021
Do you ever catch yourself taking your work and yourself just a wee bit too seriously?
I sure do...
To make a difference is to do work that matters. Work that's worth it serves others. This work is fraught, which is why it's so fulfilling. Endeavors that make a difference build identity and forge meaning.
It's heady stuff. How can you keep yourself from letting all this significance tumble into hubris?
Embrace cosmic insignificance.*
When you zoom out and see your efforts across all time and space, you realize that you, your cares, concerns, and struggles won't and don't amount to much in the grand scheme of things.
When the French philosopher Blaise Pascal contemplated his significance from a cosmological perspective, he concluded this.
"When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces whereof I know nothing, and which know nothing of me, I am terrified. The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me."
A little perspective is healthy. However, I'm not so sure we have to follow Blaise to the extreme he chose. After all, the flip side of cosmic insignificance is personal significance.
When you zoom back in, you can embrace that any value your life has is based on what you pay attention to, how you spend your time, and where you put your efforts today.
Any significance you have is based on the difference you're making now.
Toggling back and forth between personal significance and cosmic insignificance is powerful medicine. It cultivates humility, acceptance, patience, and resilience.
Need some help cultivating equanimity as you embrace the significant insignificance of your endeavor? Is it time to zoom out to remind yourself of your cosmic insignificance or zoom in for a reminder of your personal significance?
*h/t Oliver Burkeman
Scott Perry, Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose.
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