Extraordinary Existence

“Every hour of every day is an unspeakably perfect miracle.” ~ Walt Whitman

This week’s quote is a reminder about the miraculous nature of existence. Since living as a human being on Earth is the only thing you have ever known, you might be tempted to take the experience of life for granted. But many things that people consider to be factors of “ordinary life” are actually pretty miraculous if you look at them the right way. 

For example, we accept without question that, in the beginning, there was nothing at all. Then, in the center of this infinite void, there was a gigantic explosion and all the matter and energy in the universe spontaneously burst forth into existence. We also think it’s perfectly ordinary that we’re currently floating in space on a little blue and green sphere that revolves around a much larger sphere of pure, life-giving energy. You might even think it’s no big deal that you were able to manifest yourself on this planet out of nowhere as a tiny baby that has since grown up into a creative, intelligent being.

Let's face it, there is nothing ordinary about this human experience. Whenever I hear people talking about ordinary life I always think, ordinary compared to what? Is there some kind of extraordinary existence that I don’t know about? Perhaps normal life is the real miracle? When you consider the vast, complex chain of events that had to occur in order for you to be born as a human being here on Earth, miraculous is the only word that can be used to describe it. 

As Thich Nhat Hanh once said, “People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”