Question: what is 100 x 365? A relatively small number nevertheless, but likely bigger than the number of sunsets that you and I may experience in our lifetimes.
Ever watch the changing colors of the light from yellow to purple and wonder how we came to be to experience the sun in all its majesty? What makes the colors, how do we see them, and what does our brain reveal?
This is what makes us human and different from a rock. Did you try to ever hug a rock? Not to belittle rocks, but life is short, and every day one is alive is a magical gift to be able to wake anew and to experience a new daily adventure that is beyond any monetary value.
Life is not about trivial things like money and possessions, rather it’s the earth and above and below and with all its life – to be inspired by and to be cherished. Make a note to go outside soon and to hug a tree, then look up to its tall branches swaying in the wind, and imagine just how many sunrises and sunsets it has witnessed.
The oldest trees on Earth are thousands of years old, and tree species like the Gingko go back a hundred and fifty million years. They are full of life’s magic and almost immortal, and we can be too when we open our minds to the endless possibilities.
You and I can choose to be a tree falling alone in the forest and to simply return our atoms as part of the recycling of the cosmos. But we have the unique ability to think, and to imagine the incomprehensible and perhaps even change the universe if we so choose. Our brains are small in dimension, less than six inches across, but what we can imagine is huge – it is billions and billions of times bigger. Our thoughts can span the void and can peer into distant galaxies that were made near the beginning of time.
Our minds come with this incomprehensible ability of perception, so let’s be sure to use it to its fullest. When you lift yourself up off the chair to go hug that tree outside, stare at the rock on the ground, and also think of the atoms that make up your physical being which were once transformed inside stars – we are the universe.
I live for learning new things each day, for creating something new and bringing enlightened change to all those that I encounter. I urge you to break out of the ordinary box. I hope you will open your mind and learn and challenge yourself no matter how complex the concepts are. It’s amazing what our brains are capable of!
Lawrence is the founder of BrainiacDating.com and several intelligence-themed singles groups with thousands of members across the US and Canada. But his background is a hundred and eighty degrees different from anything to do with relationships! Lawrence has over thirteen years of experience as a chip designer in Silicon Valley and has worked in different roles from manager and architect for several large and well as startup companies.
Prior to that he was an astrophysics researcher at UC Berkeley where he published over thirty-five articles on the subject of the formation of stars. So he brings a unique set of scientific skills to dating and relationships - which is all about chemistry anyway!
Back in October of 2008 he started his first singles group in New York City as a way to find a girlfriend - someone who also loved nature, exploration, learning and museums just like him. The idea was to have a casual, friendly and fun time, and to learn something along the way but not be too stuffy or intellectual - so anyone who wanted to could participate. As the New York group became more and more popular he also launched similar groups in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Vancouver, Canada. Together these groups with their volunteer organizers have hosted over 350 events in the past year and a half.
In order to complement the events he built a website for online dating: BrainiacDating.com which on the surface may have appeared just like any other online dating site, except the profile questions were geared towards intelligent themes such as listing favorite authors, games or music and describing interests that covered plants to physics to political science. Members should feel comfortable being themselves, especially their desire to find an intelligent companion. The featured members on Brainiac Dating were chosen for having interesting and positive messages in their profiles, instead of just being hot-looking as is common on other dating sites. The website has over 35,000 members, mostly from the US and Canada.
"At first I realized that the term "brainiac" might have a negative connotation of geeks with pocket protectors or names of science fiction monsters, but then when I thought in more practical mode - this name was luckily still available as a web address, and was short and catchy enough that people would remember it. The term is not even found in some dictionaries, so it is fair game to mold in a better way. So it stuck with me, but the challenge would be to redefine the term such as to make it wholly positive so that it would be appealing to all. My happiness would be lifted to see more and more people wanting to want to be "brainiacs" and to value learning, thinking, and creativity in all the relationships they form."
A very well written article. I agree… we all need to branch out mentally so we can live our best lives.
Definitely! as Quote,
I live for learning new things each day, for creating something new and bringing enlightened change to all those that I encounter.
unquote.