“Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another” – Albert Einstein

We are energy and, therefore, follow the same rule.  How crazy is that! Even crazier is that we are conscious and can be aware of this. Science has made remarkable discoveries, yet the holy grail of consciousness remains an elusive mystery.

My niece recently gave birth to a beautiful little boy. Following the law of conservation of energy, his form has arisen from a previous energy form. He is a bundle of conscious energy that intrinsically knows to use his senses to take in stimuli from his environment. He knows this without anyone teaching him. He is a blank canvas, completely dependent on these external stimuli to build his knowledge and develop his personality. He looks at everything as if it is magical. He is wholly fixated on things that we older souls take for granted. He has the wisdom to know that every moment matters.

The sun is continually giving off energy (slowly dying) so that we can live.  We die so others can live. Plants and trees die so forests can grow. Forests die so cities can rise. The difference between organic and manmade energy allocation is that one sustains life, and the other takes from it.  All this movement of energy goes completely unnoticed except in the eyes of my new grandnephew.  I think he knows.

Looking back on 60 years, I wonder why I lost the ability I had at birth to recognize the importance of every step of life. To not take things for granted but to see everything as a miracle and to respect the universe’s interconnectedness. My new grandnephew has reminded me to slow down and appreciate my consciousness and that of all living creatures. At one point, we were all innocent and the same, and we all arose based on the same laws.

The last chapter of my life will concentrate on living the steps, making an effort to pay attention to each moment as it occurs, re-living the experience of looking at things for what they are, and not applying a label to how I have learned to define them, feeling the wind against my face, and enjoying the radiance of the sunshine…with sunscreen, of course. Before my energy is passed to another form, I would like it to carry a wealth of wisdom and appreciation for all that is.