“I am a collection of water, calcium and organic matter called Carl Sagan. You are a collection of almost identical molecules with a different collective label. But is that all? Is there nothing in here but molecules? Some people find this idea demeaning to human dignity. For myself I find it elevating that our universe permits evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we.” ~Carl Sagan

To me, what’s amazing about our “collection of almost identical molecules” is that approximately every atom (the building blocks of molecules) within your body right now, was not there last year.

In fact, a study done by nuclear physicist Dr. Paul C. Aebersold concluded 98% of the atoms in the human body are renewed each year. That means the tiniest physical parts that make you whole are just shy of being completely recycled within a year.

That further means that the material that is making up your body today is not the same material that made up your body this time last year: you are entirely new from the year before. If that weren’t incredible in and of itself, somehow, the body knows how to precisely organize the new incoming material to continue to be the recognizable you that you are.

If you ask me, that’s fascinating.

“But is that all? Is there nothing here but molecules?” ~ Carl Sagan

What an interesting question Sagan proposes here because, in fact, the human body is  hardly a lump sum of molecules. On the contrary, the human body is primarily space. That is, 99.999999% of the human body is empty space because every atom contains just one percent of matter.

In a human body weighing 154 pounds, there are seven billion billion billion atoms. That’s a seven followed by 27 zeros. Yowza! That’s a ridiculously large number. And yet, somehow the vast perception is that these bodies of ours are solid material when in fact, they truly are nothing but space.

“For myself I find it elevating that our universe permits evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we.” ~ Carl Sagan

There is splendor in existing in this very form that we get to call oneself. This one body, composed of the tiniest particles (that are ultimately amounting to a tremendous amount of spaciousness) knows exactly how to organize as the form we are. The one that we know how to identify as self.

It truly is awe striking, complex and unique to be human. The probability of getting the exact genome from your exact parents is 1 in 70 trillion. The likelihood of ever having another you again is, well, highly unlikely.

And we are not merely the sum of our molecules, which is to say the sum of our atoms (or lack thereof) since, as I just discussed, it’s really all just space. You… are space.

And still, somehow, that’s not all we are. After all, a corpse has the same parts (or lack thereof) as a living, breathing, human body…yet, something is distinctively different: one is animated and the other is not. It’s what I talk about all the time in my work.

For me, that splendor of Sagan’s quote melts into a wondrous curiosity for that thing that might be directing the life force of “the collection of almost identical molecules with a different collective label”.

With that, I direct the conversation to one of my favorite quotes about life force:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you, in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares to other expressions. It is your business to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You only have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that activate you. Keep the channel open.” ~Martha Graham