Aphelion

With all the fireworks and hot dogs, it was easy to miss Aphelion Day this year.

Aphelion Day is the day that Earth is farthest from the sun. This year, it was on July 4. On that day, had we chosen to travel to the sun, those of us on Spaceship Earth would have had to go an extra 3 million miles to do so.

Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed or freaked out about something, I remind myself of these types of cosmic activities. Stuff’s happening all the time, always, without my involvement, without my awareness. Big stuff. It’s been happening for far longer than I can even conceive of in my mind, and it will continue happening for far longer than I can imagine. It helps to put things in perspective.

I know that right here, right now matters. It’s not as if the things I need to do or the things that are happening become unimportant. But, it does make it a tiny bit easier to take that deep breath and stop myself from getting angry when the driver behind me impatiently rides my bumper even though I’m going five miles over the speed limit and I’m in the slow lane.

They might make it to the gas station before I do, but both of us are still 3 million miles away from the sun.