Have you ever stood outside on a completely clear night, looked up at a sky thick with stars, and felt yourself shrink?

It’s that distinct, dizzying sensation of realizing just how microscopic we are. In the grand timeline of the universe, our entire lives are less than a blink. Our daily anxieties, our unanswered emails, our minor embarrassments—they don’t even register on the cosmic scale.

It can feel a little cold at first. But if you sit with it, it actually feels like a massive exhale.

There is a gorgeous quote by the mid-century spiritual teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj that captures this exact tension perfectly: