TIME: a silver lining of the pandemic
One of my 2017 Christmas gifts was the January 2018 issue of National Geographic that I revisited lately in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. My attention had previously been captured by the article titled ‘CURIOUS’ (pp. 48-49) which depicted a model of our Universe and its various evolutionary phases. I had never seen anything like it. I could clearly see our Milky Way, and Earth’s location in the galaxy.
Seeing the spatial size of our Universe and Earth’s extragalactic location in relation to the stars, planets and black holes had a major impact on me. I felt incredibly tiny. It was a very humbling experience. There I was, sitting on the edge of my seat and still overwhelmed by the dizzying reality of it all.
For me, the article answered two major questions: how did our Universe begin, and how will it end.
In the beginning…
There it was, is again, our Universe, laid out on two pages before my eyes. I am still struck with what is still beyond my comprehension. In the beginning, our Universe was rather modest in size, a seemingly mere nano-spark. At 1032 milliseconds, it had expanded to the size of a golf ball. Now, at 13.8 billion years, it’s enormous!
The National Geographic model enlarged our solar system, making it easier to locate our planet in the Universe. On the far right of page 49, Earth is magnified. Magnified, in a manner of speech only. In relative terms, it’s less than the size of a pinhead!
The model of the Universe resembles a beautiful, multicoloured, bell-shaped crystal water glass1,2. The glass is on its side and is clearly defined. Its mouth flares to the right transecting the two pages, and has a pitch-black background. What’s amazing is that our entire Universe is contained in this divine chalice, in which seemingly nothing is created, nothing is lost3.
Like the ‘universal’ symbol of the cross
SPACE is represented on the vertical axis and TIME, on the horizontal axis. Both are omnipresent and span from the initial spark to present day, like a promise of infinite expansion. TIME was, TIME is and TIME will be, unless…
How will our Universe end? Three possible scenarios4,5
1) A ‘Big Crunch’, like an implosion. The density of matter could cause gravity to stop, potentially reversing cosmic expansion and resulting in a ‘Big Crunch’. Or there could be…
2) A ‘Big Rip’. Could the acceleration of expansion caused by ‘dark energy’ provoke a mega-rip that could destroy absolutely everything, from galaxies down to single atoms. Or maybe…
3) Our Universe could continue to expand for hundreds of billions of years and beyond, well after the stars have died…
And then we are left with 10,000 questions
Everything in this model is coherent, all the elements seem to have a place. Forces invisible to us interact in our Universe.
We roam this tiny pinhead called Earth which we’ll likely never fully explore.
As humans, do we truly have free-will? And, ARE we in fact made of star-stuff6?
All humans, past, present and future, travel the same vessel, Earth. One constant is that we are all in transit. Understanding this, how can we, in 2020, draw wisdom from the infinite source we call TIME, for our pure collective good? And more so during this pandemic.
In our Universe, there is eternal TIME. But for us, as people, there is a ‘life’ TIME from cradle to grave. TIME between sunrise and sunset. There is clock TIME, TIME spent with family and friends, or alone. A TIME for work and a TIME to recharge.
Why rush?
Time IS. It flows from one moment to the next, sometimes slowly, sometimes fast. As human beings, we each draw from our own hourglass. And we must always choose how and with whom we spend our time. Should we do this, or should we do that? And if we choose to do ‘this’, will there be enough to do ‘that’? Ultimately, we must own our choices.
How will you spend your time during this pandemic?
The National Geographic model provided perspective, but also raised some questions, Questions which could be unsettling. Seen in the overall perspective of zooming out from Earth to the Universe, we seem, and indeed are, tiny, perhaps even insignificant… But the truth is we are a cog in the Universe AND the wheel of time.
As inhabitants of the Blue Planet, do we actually take the TIME to really pay attention to and appreciate those around us, our family and friends, colleagues, co-workers and others, our community, nature and all living creatures?
One day, I asked a client what time it was. Without hesitation, he responded: “I don’t know. I don’t wear a watch because, you see, I have all the time in the world…”
I hope that each and every one of you will take the TIME – and seize every opportunity – to enjoy those near and dear to you.
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- You might also enjoy reading: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1166870/expansion-univers-hubble-observations.
- https://phys.org/news/2015-06-universe-crystal-glass.html
- Refers to the famous quote by Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1793): “In nature nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything changes.”
- https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nov-2-2019-roadway-pollution-fungus-promotes-pancreatic-cancer-the-bang-in-the-big-bang-and-more-1.5342916/the-universe-was-full-of-cold-goop-then-came-the-big-bang-1.5342925
- https://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/big-crunch.htm
- Refers to the famous quote by Carl Sagan (1934-1996): “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
My name is Danièle Cyr and I have been a business coach for the past 11 years. I spent 20 years at the head of a car dealership (with 85 employees). Nowadays, I accompany business people by providing guidance and services in areas such as: transitioning a company from a traditional management approach to a shared governance model; succession planning for family-run and other types of organizations; team/group coaching; tailor-made training; integral courses in management and administration, as well as workshops and strategic planning. I also coordinate management teams through peer-learning groups and skills development. How can I help YOU?
