Somewhere, Out There

Trey Smith

One of the questions pondered by humankind throughout the eons is: Is there life beyond Planet Earth? Since almost the beginning of human society, some people have answered with an emphatic YES. Our various spiritual and/or religious beliefs seek to establish the existence of beings that exist beyond earth and in a different realm. Throughout history as well, there are those who believe that our planet has been visited by intelligent life forms from other planets or solar systems.

What do I believe? I don't have any set beliefs in this area. I believe that it is very possible that life as we know it exists throughout our universe and beyond. I believe that it is very possible that life as we know it exists nowhere but upon THIS planet. I believe that it is very possible that other life forms exist on this planet and elsewhere in a different dimension (i.e., forms that we can't experience). And I believe that it is very possible that life itself is nothing more than a grand illusion, that you and I don't exist at all.

In essence, I believe that almost anything is possible or impossible.

Like most people -- particularly those who grow up inside a religious belief system -- I used to believe in a set of rigid propositions. I knew that these propositions were true because the authorities said they were as did the great holy books. I would laugh at anyone who did not understand the veracity of these claims. I know, I thought. You must be in the dark.

As I've aged, I've thrown these silly notions on the trash heap. I've come to realize that humanity, in general, and me, in specific, knows almost nothing. We are unable to answer the most fundamental questions like why am I here? When the most basic questions have no answers, everything else becomes mere speculation.

Now that I have embraced a rootless existence, a lot of people probably surmise that my life is empty. With nothing to hang my hat on at the end of the day, it just flaps in the breeze. I must be like a nomad with no set place to lay my weary head.

I feel quite the contrary. In many ways, I feel like a slave who has thrown off his fetters. Instead of being shackled to fixed concepts, I am more open to the whims of possibility. It no longer bothers me that we don't know very much. By embracing the fundamental ignorance of the inner workings of existence, I am set free...to wander blissfully where I will.