I came across this Nikita Gill gem last week. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of it since. So simple. So powerful. So beautiful. It has encouraged my practice of wonder this week.
We have calcium in our bones,
iron in our veins,
carbon in our souls,
and nitrogen in our brains.
93 percent stardust,
with souls made of flames,
we are all just stars
that have people names.
–Nikita Gill
I’m sure I was dreaming about this poem last night because I woke thinking about how amazing it is that all humans are essentially the same. We are mostly made of elements that were once stars. Our human bodies are born of earth and stardust, and we share almost identical DNA. Science shows that 99.9% of our genetic make up is the same and that the other 0.1% or less accounts for differences in our appearance, personality, and health. Of course, our experiences, environment, and education interact to shape who we are and will become. But again, what is passed from human to human in the cycle of life is nearly identical. On the surface we appear different and know that we are unique as individuals, but we are still elementally and universally the same. When I look around, even within my own family, I can easily see so much difference–beautiful, amazing, exciting, and sometimes bewildering and incomprehensible difference. I feel and am completely different from everyone else, yet I am not. There is only one you, only one me, and yet, we are we. We are almost completely the same while also being utterly unique! I consider this divine design.
It is hard to fathom how we as humans can hurt, imprison, oppress, abuse, shame, and utterly deny the humanity of others who are made up of the exact same things and in the exact same ways. How is it possible that we continue to see and treat some as inhuman when we have the knowledge and science that tells us there are no differences in our creation or constitution? How do we ignore the extraordinary fact that we are all made of stars and that the energy we possess is never-ending? The energy that makes up our human bodies now will never die. It will always exist. It will change form but will never end. We live within a continuous process of energy exchange and transformation. We are in a shared cycle of life, connected to every other living thing. When we recognize our shared humanity and part in the whole of creation, then how can we continue to deny rights, equity, and justice for all? I am overwhelmed by the beauty and magic of what we are—enduring stardust, spirit, and energy—all the same and all different. Always connected and never-ending.
I have been working on another blog on the practice joy. it grew out of the one last week on practicing joy and dreaming. I have also uploaded a few new haiku to share. Please take a look at my blog page and haiku (the new ones are at the top of the page) and feel free to leave me a comment or start a conversation.
life of practice 