At a recent Brandi Carlile concert, the audience was treated to a transcendent rendition of Joni Mitchell’s 1969 “Woodstock.” Arguably one of the finest songs ever written, “Woodstock” includes the lyrics We are stardust, We are golden, which for me represent one of the most affirming and impactful lines ever to have graced a concert stage. Later, steeped in Joni’s poetry, I found myself contemplating stardust, a word that tenderly reminds us of our significant insignificance; a word that also, perhaps, suggests we are in this life together.
In 1973 astronomer Carl Sagan published “The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective,” which included the following passage: Our Sun is a second- or third-generation star. All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star-stuff.
Sagan popularized this expression, though it had a much longer history. But the science of us is not entirely what I am mining for now. No, instead I am in pursuit of beauty from the expression and applying it to each of us in hopes of inspiring deeper thought about how important we─the all together we─truly are .
When we grasp the universality of human relationships, we gain insight into the ancient Serbian proverb: “Be humble for you are made of dung. Be noble for you are made of stars.” This, in effect, invites us to become open to the possibility that our individual selves require sustenance only attainable through our collective selves. In short, we need one another to survive and more importantly, to thrive. For me this is an awareness that elevates; it is a missive, of sorts, to reach out, to embrace, to go beyond mere acceptance. It means to love.
Love.
We are Stardust.
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden.
Suffice to say I don’t always get it right and there are some days when I never do. My frustrations with myself create artificial barriers to others, so much so it’s as if others no longer exist. What invariably breaks the downward spell, what shakes my internal rumblings into something akin to joy, is when a person, or persons, shows up and in just a few words, reminds me that I, too, am stardust.
Mary Daniel is a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach dedicated to the pursuit of good health for everyone. Through her business, Your One Precious Life, she partners with clients and communities and in the spirit of collaboration, paves the way for health transformations.
Interested in a free health consultation? Visit: www.youronepreciouslife.com or email mary@youronepreciouslife.com.
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