in out of this world

I went on a late night run with an old friend tonight, and we ended up on a random dirtmound exploring the sky. as far as I could remember, it ended up like this.

me: *points* "I think that one up there's the Orion's Belt. That one beside it, that's gonna be me."

dani: “That’s you?”

me: *laughs* "Yeahp. Haven't you remembered that ‘In this world, but not of this world,’ conversation we had a year ago?”

dani: “Fine so okay, there you are. Hmmm, I think that one over there is me.”

me: “Now I see you winking at me from space.” 

we laugh as her star flickers.

dani: “Did you know that most stars you see are actually—”

me: “..already dead? yeah, by the time it reaches our eyes and we can see their light fully, they’ve already burnt out.” 

we shared it with the crickets for a moment. 

me: “Isn’t that all any of us want? to still be alight after we’re gone?”

dani: “to leave a glow? even a tiny gray one in some veeeery massive dark sky just something for people to gaze at. for most people, even if it means burning out while making your way to the front of the sky.”

This conversation with Dani made me wonder how many stars die that were never bright enough to send their light across the sky.

In reality, some people want to be the light you see, while some people want to the light by which everyone sees. To tell the truth, neither one interests me. The sun is the central part of the solar system; I don’t aim to be a sun. The moon’s not my goal either. Because you see, something can shed all the light in the sky, yet all those glimmering lights can be completely irrelevant if your eyes don’t actually try to see what you’re looking at. And as for the kind who wants just to be seen and for that matter only, I don’t care much for telescopes.

Ultimately, I’m aware of my sky, and I know what I’m made of. That’s all I need, so now, I’m just going to gently burn. I figure, the certain degree of shine has it’s way of finding the darkness isn't it. 

“The Moon Is A Magnet” -Jon Foreman

“Lighthouse” -The Hush Sound

“Staralfur” -Sigur Ros

“Tiny Light” -Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

“Stars” -Switchfoot

“Moonshadow” -Cat Stevens