Feeling infinite

When you were growing up did you ever feel infinite? I'm talking about those moments that you realized that there was so much more to life than you could ever imagine. Times when you wish you could make time stand still and savor the moment forever; times when you tell yourself you'll never forget for the rest of your life. I can easily recall several moments. I was thinking today about the last time I'd had one of those moments and realized that I haven't felt like that in such a long time.

I remember the very first time I was honored to experience this feeling. I was out with a friend on Happy Hollow Road in Stanwood (the farthest point away from the city you can go to get away from light pollution) to look at constellations, comets, and shooting stars. It was an August night--during a week when there were hundreds of shooting stars filling the night's sky. At first I wasn't sure about what we were doing: we were in the back of a friend's car looking out the back window, parked in some farmer's land, just feet from a herd of cows and other farm animals. In between shooting stars and star-gazing, we were striking up plenty of conversation. We talked about everything: life's greatest mysteries, past experiences, future goals, and anything else you can possibly imagine. As we sat there staring at the stars shimmering in the sky, I had a moment of clarity: it seemed as though notions of place and space had converged and everything had been perfectly aligned in the world to put the two of us right where we were. Was it a coincidence? It seemed more like fate. Regardless of what it was, that was the first time in my life that I had ever felt infinite. Here I was sitting next to one of my friends that was always just that: just friends; I had never had any feelings for her, well, that is until I had shared such a memorable experience with her. I remember laying there hoping that that moment would never end. We stayed there chatting until the sun came up.

That was my very first moment of feeling infinite.