Transit of Venus

I have decided that if our next child is a girl her name will be Transit of Venus Carlock. Yesterday planet Venus crossed between the Earth and Sun reminding us how utterly insignificant we can feel sometimes in light of grander events occurring elsewhere in the universe.  The term Transit of Venus is such a beautiful phrase.  I love words and I can't think of a better metaphor for the sudden realization that life is spectacular, but always moving regardless of my puny intentions.

I saw a tweet this morning that I felt compelled to re-tweet: "When you say it's difficult, it becomes more difficult. When you say it's easy, it actually becomes easier."  The power of our thinking and the energy we produce with positive thoughts may be the most underrated, underdeveloped, untapped source of magic that we never use.  Whether or not you believe in God, or a god, or gods, or Flying Spaghetti Monsters, there's no denying the power of prayer/meditation/deep thinking.  It's ironic then that I mention the celestial movements of entire planets and the introverted act of prayer in the same blog post, no?  No.

Venus will continue to move through the darkness of space, its orbit around the Sun seemingly infinite. Simultaneously, the unlikeliest places of strength for us can be found inside our own minds.  Seemingly infinite, yet orbiting in a different kind of space.  Just as powerful as a planet flying across the Sun.

Recently I had a thought:  God is in the details.  It's a phrase I was taught in college in a poetry class that I miss dearly.  The strength of a poem, that art form so often misunderstood and placed either too high upon a pedestal or too low in the back of an awful weekend article in your local newspaper, is reliant on the details.  Without the gorgeous details of the most minute things, the groups of words we fuse into poems can just as easily be assembled by monkeys.  Poems are not assembled by monkeys.  Sometimes a poem is so poignant it changes your life.  Like a planet breezing past the Sun.

Take some time to think happy thoughts.  Take time to pray for good things.  Take time to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds you.  There's so much of it that you didn't even realize was there.  Maybe the next time Venus appears on the face of the Sun our great-great grandchildren will be reminded that life shan't be wasted on the small stuff.