I don't know much

As I study Nature and sustainable development I realize how little I know about everything. I don’t know anything, really. Scientists have had theories about the universe, about space and time, about this planet for over a thousand years… They have known how to measure the Earth for ages, using Mathematics and Logic. Energy and matter… that is all, folks. How big is Earth? What does Earth weigh? How deep are the oceans? How tall are the mountains? How old is our planet? What are we made of? What is life? How did everything begin? I don’t know. I don’t even know how to find out.

If it was up to me to tell you how it all works, if I hadn’t been socialized into believing the opposite, I would say Earth is flat. I would also say that it is a big world. I would have realized this all on my own if I had, say, climbed a mountain to check out the view for example… I would tell everyone who would listen that there is a Sun, Mother Sun, who circles our world. And that if we are nice to each other she will return the next morning… (Yeah, why not throw a little religion in there?). When it is dark her sister the Moon is up there, watching over us, along with her children, the stars. We need the Sun, as she is the Mother of all that is living. We also need water in order for things to grow. We need to take care of the world where we live. This I would know. I would tell my kids not to wander off to far, as I would probably fear the unknown. I would tell them not to dive too deep when they go swimming since there might be Sea snakes down there, hiding below the surface. I would not want my kids to go down too deep into any pits or caves either – there might very well be monsters down there too… If I hadn’t been so socialized into believing man was in control of things here on Earth, I think I would respect Nature in a far greater way. I know I would.

We are pretty vulnerable. We are tiny, really really tiny. We are also very unimportant. A volcanic eruption on Iceland has been effecting people all over the world for days now… Lots of flights have been cancelled… Oh, absolute horror... Imagine having to miss that connecting flight... People feel the stress of not being able to arrive on time. People are screaming from frustration… They have their very important and busy lives to come home to… People to see, meetings, dead-lines, stress… And here they are, stuck at the airport... But at least they are not covered with lava. Maybe they should be thankful they are not screaming from pain…I am thinking… Maybe we should all be just a little bit more grateful we are living? Maybe we should value life more, value our lives more, value the lives of other people more. Maybe we should consider what is actually important in our lives, and what, in fact, really is not. The fact that we even exist is a miracle. Now, I am not a religious person. But I am starting to feel… awe. I just had to share that with you.

… Wait a minute… I think this post needs a little bit love… So Mattias, here we go… I am quoting a country song here… (Or at least I think it is a country song). I don’t know the title, but then again what else is new? I already told you I don’t know much…

I don’t know much… but I know I love you
...and that might be all I need to know