Staring at the full moon, I find myself in awe of its idiosyncrasies: the yellow complexion, the dark valleys and basins that cut across its lighter features, how it seems to float in midair so effortlessly. But what truly catches my eye is its sheer magnitude; I had never taken the time to appreciate just how colossal the moon is. A wave of emotion engulfs me – feelings of meekness and admiration remind me how privileged I am to be able to experience the universe and one of the moons within it. As an eight year old, I realize that the world is so much bigger than sports, Pokémon, and videogames. And I ask myself, “Why, and how, am I here?”
Great thinkers throughout the ages, from philosophers examining ontology to existentialists, have offered compelling but ultimately unsatisfying explanations to my question. I cannot pretend to even begin to know the nature of my being. But I have never forgotten that moment under the moon, for it inspired me to value my existence as something to be experienced and appreciated in itself. Simply to be is a miracle; life, and specifically consciousness, is a marvel that lends itself towards contemplation and self-indulgent philosophical notions of transience and wonder. The very fact that something – anything – like the moon exists is beautiful and transcendent, and the fact that I exist to consciously appreciate these things, an even more profound phenomenon.
