The world feels big today and I am afraid. We are spinning so fast. Soon there will be nine billion souls trying to glean meaning from their existence, nine billion people trying to build a life in a world where there is no more space to do so.
It is exhausting, trying to keep up with time.
You don't want to know the exact speed of the earth as it spins.
Trust me.
It is faster than you could ever imagine, and it is impossible to experience given that blessed force, gravity, that keeps our lives together. If you knew just how quickly we are turning in circles, your heart would hurt. If, one day, everything was silent, the groan of planetary revolution would be loud enough to hear in every tiny corner of the globe and your ears would be bleeding with the sound of days passing and Suns rising.
I read once that if you lie still on a quiet patch of dirt for long enough you can feel the planet breathing. Press your stomach to the grass and watch as the earth lifts you up with every inhalation, brings you gently back with every breath out.
I've never tried this. I'm too afraid to try it now- there were times when I was fearless enough to entertain the idea, but it never happened.
I'll be brave again someday soon, I promise.
It is a kind of bravery that you have in your very marrow. I know it. I have seen it. And you are right, it is age and the demands of the world that have hidden that very bravery from you. Set aside those demands. Grasp the bravery. Most importantly, keep writing.
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