feeling that life is underwhelming

Our entire galaxy is small compared to the vastness of the universe.

Our solar system is small compared to the size of the galaxy we're in. 

Our planet is nothing compared to the size of the solar system it's part of. 

You and me are just tiny specks compared to the planet we live on. 

And our brains we need to understand it all are even smaller than that. 

And yet this tiny planet will give you everything you need to survive. 

It might feel like a long time, or it might feel like no time at all, depending on the mood you're in when you think about it. But in absolute terms - all life is short. A millionth of a second on the cosmic clock. 

And every life after yours is shorter and shorter in relation to everything that came before it. 

It doesn't matter what you do, where you go, what you see, who you meet, how many children you have, or if you fall in love. 

You will die. 

We all will. 

And it doesn't matter what we did, where we went, what we saw, who we met, how many children we had, or if we fell in love. 

It will all be forgotten. 

Some people may feel sad when you die, but only for a moment. 

They will do everything they can to forget about you and move on, because nobody wants to sit around being sad all the time. 

If you do something great that helps a lot of people, then maybe more people will be sad about you for a little while longer. But 99% of them will be people you never met. And they too, will forget.

We are all just invisible dots in time surrounded by an infinite black expanse that is simultaneously everything and nothing at all. 

Life really is underwhelming if you take it for what it truly is. 

But there's a quote I heard about fourteen years ago that I recall from time to time. 

"We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone. It is only through our love and friendships that we create the illusion, at least for the moment, that we are not alone." 

Something like that. 

It's the things we fill our time with that distract us from the knowledge that our lives really are insignificant. It's all a game. We know how it ends, but if that's all we focus on then it's hard to think of anything else.

So we go to work, we start families, we dream, we invent, we travel, we do all these things not because they're necessary for survival, but because they're distracting.

It's all part of the illusion.