Altowen

"Although often used to convey the vulnerability of borrowed time that is our existence, we are not candles in the wind, with but temporal light and warmth provided to those who experience us for a time, only to be extinguished finitely. I assert we more closely resemble the best characteristics of our mothers – stars. Tumultuous bodies of chemical reactions ourselves, we have the ability to give and take life; for some of us, getting too close may result in disaster; others are invited to examine and discover more of our dynamic stellar composition revealed through our spectroscopic language or searching deeper within the enigmatic layers of our celestial substrate. When viewed at a great distance, we appear easily identifiable, seemingly, ordinary, even. Upon meticulous and dedicated examination however, our idiosyncrasies, blemishes, and beauty are personified, as with all organic and inorganic matter spawned from the cosmos. Throughout our life cycles, we expel energy, collide vigorously with other combustible forms, and variably, shed previous layers of ourselves. Constantly undulating, we influence others simply by ‘being’ and unbeknownst to our own awareness. As our ancestors once guided others before us through their lives, so we illuminate paths for others, be it by the light we provide or by our existence as a navigational aid. At times, we can be blinding, but our radiance is generally welcomed. Not all of us emerge and live out our lives as exuberant as the next, but – whether classified as white, brown, blue or red dwarf – we still shine. Unlike a flame, the kind of fire which ignites us enables far reaching photons extending our influence outward in all directions, capable of reaching out of our own line of sight, even communicating to others in our past and beyond our lives. From our vector to others across the light years, our influence is vast. The struggle it is to maintain equilibrium and provide the light we emit throughout our lifetimes may help others see where they are going when darkness pervades them. And those aided by our illumination - whether intentional or not - may have been positioned in their lives to do the same for others, and so forth. So, when we reach the moment of our stellar cycle when we must expand from ourselves to become respective parts of a greater whole of our environment, we do not perish, nor extinguish; we simply endure a phase transition toward a varied state possible and permitted by the natural laws which enables us in the first place. We become a different star, out of the same stuff. And as long as there are ‘stuff’ in the universe, we will continue to provide, influence, and illuminate. We shine, and we live forever."