We Are Stardust, We Are Made To Shine

Scientist Carl Sagan explained in his book “The Cosmic Connection” that human beings are made of an extraordinary matter: stardust. In our DNA is present the same fiber with which the stars and nebulae are embroidered that every night inspire us from infinity. Therefore, we too were made to shine and touch the sky.

In fact, this very poetic phrase had its origins in the 70s. It was the singer Joni Mitchell who, with her inspiring song “Woodstock”, cherished the generations of that time that “shimmered like stardust, like glittering gold”. However, later Carl Sagan gave scientific basis to this idea, showing us that in our interior, in each cell of our heart or in each particle of calcium in our bones, a cosmic history is written.

Thinking about it is, without a doubt, something overwhelming and heartwarming, a discovery that, year after year, is confirmed through various works and studies. Chris Impey, scientist and professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, USA, revealed in 2010 that all organic matter that contains carbon was produced by a very old generation of stars. Furthermore, if we take into account that all raw material on Earth has this same origin, we must assume that 97% of our body’s mass is made up of material from the stars.

It’s something magical, no doubt about it. We were made to shine, to shine like gold, to light one another like diamond dust. However… why do we forget to shine? If we are made of stars, why aren’t we happier?

We are made of stardust, but sometimes we live in darkness

The darker the night, the brighter the stars. In some cases, it is enough to go to a window and admire the infinite to find encouragement and inspiration. The world of stars, with its cycles, its movements, its silent music and its cosmic beauty, has always served as a reference for humanity in many areas and disciplines related to agriculture, science and even spirituality.

However, and here is the real magic of the matter, we have always limited ourselves to seeing this plane related to the stars as something distant and even superior to ourselves. It is time to understand, glimpse and assume that we are a whole, that this astral matter is, in turn, integrated into each fragment of our being.

It’s not easy, we know. People often navigate the oceans of darkness, the tides of perpetual unhappiness, and the arid territories where the seeds of self-love no longer grow. It is a very harsh reality, so much so that, as a mere example of this darkness of the human being, we can talk about a perverse game that was the subject of several news in the media: the “blue whale” game.

This macabre game, which originated on the Russian social network VKontakte in 2013, is now reproduced all over the world through 50 tasks. The same ones that, for several and complex reasons, attract hundreds of teenagers on a path of self-sabotage, self-harm and slow destruction until finally the young man, in an “alleged” act of courage, manages to win the game by ending his life .

The creator of this sadistic game is 21-year-old Philipp Budeikin. According to him, he gave shape to this virtual challenge because, as he explains, “there are people who are biodegradable waste with no value to society”. Russian psychologists have indicated that behind the behavior of this young man and his followers there are deeper roots that oscillate between the ideological and the psychopathological. Most striking, most troubling of all this, is the amount of vulnerable people behind every device, every computer and cell phone.

There are hundreds of young minds and fragile hearts that breathe without feeling hope, without motivation, joy, and a light with which to inject life, self-respect and self-esteem.

Let’s start to shine, for ourselves and for others

Think of the happiest moment in your life and enjoy this memory. Smile at a stranger. Create a playlist of songs you like. Eat a fruit. Speak with song lyrics. Draw an imaginary animal. Look for shapes in the clouds. Make a new friend. Sing in the shower…

These ideas are also challenges, the same ones that make up the “blue whale” game. There are 50 challenges with which to attract young people from all over the world, helping them to build a positive attitude and move away from the opposite game, the blue whale. So far, there are 290,000 followers and thousands have completed the ultimate test: saving a life (like helping a bullied classmate, for example). This is good news, no doubt about it.

Hope, our eagerness to help others and fight, in turn, for common survival, is something that characterizes the vast majority of us. While it is true that we often forget how to shine, there are always those who will be by our side, warming us and regaining our strength and spirit.

If we forget that we are made of stardust, our friends, partner, family or some kind-hearted stranger will always be there to rekindle the fire of dreams and joy.

Because there is nothing like stroking a person’s soul to receive, in turn, the grandeur of the cosmos itself.