Last night I watched a documentary about mapping the universe. What was extraordinary about this story for me was not only the skill and determination of the cosmologists involved to take on such a seemingly overwhelming project, but that they were willing to allow themselves to dream this big.
And what I also took away was that, when it comes to this vast, unimaginable scale all that scientists are able to do is theorise – and that theories are really just stories by another name. They are literally creating science fiction.
The Big Bang is a story. The Milky Way is a story. A supernova is a story. A black hole is a story. And the biggest story of all at the moment, in the world of cosmology, is dark matter and dark energy. This stuff takes up most of the space in the universe, we can’t see it and we don’t know what it is.
While that is mind-blowing if you stop to think about it for too long, it really does reflect the whole philosophy of “as above, so below”. Because, like the observable universe, our conscious minds take up only a tiny percentage of our awareness. The vast majority of what goes on inside our heads is subconscious – we can’t see it and we don’t know what it is.
Dark matter and dark energy are expanding the universe at terrifying speed. We have no control over it. In much the same way, most of us have little control over what goes on in our subconscious.
So are we entirely at the mercy of this darkness within? No, we can shine a light into it by examining our behaviour, our limiting beliefs, our thoughts, and getting back in touch with our bodies. We can start by telling ourselves a different story: one in which we’re not controlled by unconscious desires, dark thoughts and hidden motivations.
We all have a shadow side, which is perhaps our inner equivalent of dark energy. That’s where we have to take a big spotlight and switch it on full power. And it’s not only the stuff we judge as “bad” about ourselves that is hiding there. Lurking in those shadows is also the good stuff we disown: courage, bravery, inspiration, leadership, heroism.
So what’s your story today? Are you hiding in the shadows or are you taking your light into the world? There’s a mighty big universe out there that’s constantly expanding, waiting for you to live a bigger story.
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