When I was in high school, my friends and I would have hour-long discussions on beliefs, questions and ideas as our minds began to grow from a childish perspective of life to the curiosity and questioning minds as we were forming into adults. 

How desperately and deeply we searched to understand the ideas of existentialism, how time never ends but continues without hesitation, and what our parts are in the existence of all things, what to do to find happiness while only living for such a short time and fully processing how each person’s existence is completely different from another’s, yet in many ways the same.

We’d listen to music and look at the sky, smiling in awe at the ever-expanding blanket of lights peeking through the dark clouds to cover the heavens. 

We would then smile at the gracious, beautiful moon which turned the river into a shimmering, magical scene with lightning bugs displaying their light show flying freely among the grass and around the trees.

At night, the landscape would turn into a kind of fairyland, where magic existed and the world radiated with good, while we listened to music, smiled, discussed, laughed and enjoyed the view together.

The stars always prompted a conversation on different beliefs, ideas and questions regarding life, the afterlife and our connections with others.

The moon provided a nightlight and increased our comfort as the light, dewey air would land on and cool our skin, tucking us in for the night. Yet, throughout our contentment, we realized and found it incredibly engaging to think how someone, somewhere on the other side of the world, was beginning to view the sun peek over mountain tops, all while it had fallen behind our own, and the sun began bringing warmth to those while painting the skies above the trees, deserts and valleys with an artistic display of vibrant hues of colors.

Existence is a subject impossible to wrap into a pretty little package topped with a bow. It’s too vast and too complex to be put into words. It’s just an eye-opening feeling which is understood once experienced.

The complexity of human beings, including our minds and internal spirits, is one discovered over time when we let go of our egocentrism. 

We don’t mean to carry that ego as part of our behavior, but it takes focus and recognition to remember to turn to another viewpoint outside of ourself and see how we’re all the same, and we will all end at some point so enjoy the life we’ve been given and be good to ourselves and others in the little time we’re allotted. Run joyously under the moonlight, through the fields of lightning bugs dancing in the air, and experience the utmost joy life gives, regardless of the complexity of it.

One certainty is our existence is beautiful, enlightening and comprised of the the purest bliss, but only if we allow ourselves to view it as such. 

Standard reporter Atlanta Northcutt can be reached at 473-2191.