Pretty Human: Your own Personal Powers of Ten

We live such self-centered lives that it's often easy to forget that there's a huge world, and universe, around us. Sure, we're aware of it at the intellectual level, but we often lose touch with it at the deepest level.

Have you ever seen the 1977 short movie Powers of Ten by Ray and Charles Eames? It's an amazing movie that starts with an image of a man lying in a park. The camera then pulls back to show 10 times more area, then 100 times more area, and so on, until the Milky Way is just a spec of dust. The camera then zooms back in to the open shot, and then begins the opposite journey into the microscopic world in the sleeping man's hand.

Although the movie is wonderful, you can create your own powers of 10, too, and it will likely mean more to you. Here's what I want you to do: tonight, after you get settled in bed, close your eyes and picture yourself from above. Really picture it, in all of the detail you can come up with. This is likely to take several moments as you get past your sketchy "Okay-I-see-myself-now-what" image and really take the time to see yourself in detail. This is your first step on a journey, so put your heart into it.

Next, slow pull back your mind's eye until you see yourself, on your bed, in your room. Again, really see it. Now pull back and see your whole house, and where your room is in your house, and where your bed is in that room. Really feel it. Now pull back and see your whole block, and your house on the block, and your room in the house, and your bed in your room. Imagine all of the things that might be going on on your block. Take a little time to imagine everything. Not just what people are doing, but other things, too. Is the wind blowing telephone wires? Are birds asleep in your neighbor's tree? Is a cat watching the birds? Are ants digging in the dirt in someone's backyard? Spend time appreciating the flavor of the universe that is your very own block.

If you're so inclined, pull back again to see your neighborhood. Have you ever thought about how your neighborhood looks from this high up? Sure, you may have checked it out on google maps, but that's not the same as thinking about it, feeling it. Don't rely on someone else's view of your world. You have your own view, and it's more accurate for you.

You can pull back again to see your town, and where your neighborhood sits. How are they connected? What are some of the things that might be going on in your town right now? Try to spot your friends in this view. How close are they to you? Pull back to see your county. Where are the boundaries? Do you have a sense of it?

Now pull back and see your state. This is really high up (unless you live in Rhode Island). Imagine all of the people, all of the wind on all of the telephone wires, all of the birds in trees being watched by cats, all of the ants moving all of the dirt. But don't lose sight of yourself. Realize that you're right there in the thick of it, just as are all of the other people, and creatures, and things. How close are you to the ocean?

Pull back again and see your country. Then pull back and see the continent. Then the whole world. Can you imagine the whole word, and everything that's going on? Can you see where it's day, and where it's night? Where it's summer and where it's winter? Can you still see yourself? Can you imagine six billion other people spread across this world?

I think you'll find this exercise a bit exhausting mentally, but also very calming. Start small, and work your way up to larger and larger scales over time. Don't rush and try to see it all in one night. The world is meant to be savored, so take your time.

Pretty Human

Ideas, activities, and objects that reinforce our humanity

Your own Personal Powers of Ten

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