lunar eclipse and so much more.

so last night i somehow got dragged out of the comfort of my apartment and the pending project runway reunion episode to go to an observatory in varna to watch the lunar eclipse. and thank the fuckin lord i did. here's why:

1. the lunar elipse was incredible as most celestial wonders are
2. this field in varna where the observatory is located gave a breath-taking view of the entire night sky...i was able to re-live that feeling i got when i was younger and would walk my dog around the neighborhood and just look up and appreciate how incredibly inconsequential i was to the universe...i cant explain it but it gives me comfort to understand how in astro terms i really mean nothing
3. i participated in one of the most intense conversations of my life about cosmology and theory and all that yummy stuff as an equal (not in knowledge but rather in capability to understand concept), not a silly child

the dude who runs the observatory is a middle-aged cosmologist who i dont think has ever watched a minute of television in his life and who chooses to spend his life looking up, theorizing and testing those theories just because he feels he needs to devote his life to understanding how it all started. the guy who seemed like his apprentice seemed similarly enthralled by cosmology but seemed to approach it from a less mathematical and more theoretical perspective. these two cosmologists were in a room with a bio major, an english major, a material science engineer gone business, a world traveler, a designer, and other people who i have no idea who they are or where they came from. the 12 (give or take a few) of us engaged in a discussion about everything from the cosmos to religion to physics to "life out there" to the big bang to humanism and beyond. needless to say i will remember this discussion for the rest of my life.

it made me realize how different we all choose to live our lives and how beautiful it is when we all appreciate those differences rather than blindly judging and dismissing what others have to say. its dumb to let the fear of looking like a dumbass stop you from engaging in conversations with those you perceive as unappreciative of you, because for all you know you could be missing out on a conversation that could potentially change your life.

moral of the story: yay for spontaneity, different minds, and bravo marathons.