be remarkable

A short essay and some quotes from the week.

Sep 15, 2024

The wish to be remarkable is like a distant star—always there, even when obscured by daylight. It flickers quietly, relentlessly, in the dark corners of our minds, a single flame in the vastness of night.

We reach for it, fingers outstretched into the tenebrous void, that hope burning despite the knowledge that we may never hold it, but still, we are drawn by its light.

Where would we be without the stars to guide us?

Dreams are constellations. They stitch meanings across vacancies. Where would we be without them? “We are twice armed,” Plato believed, “if we fight with faith.” Invisible but strong, faith acts as a thread, connecting us to the stars – Faith is the thread, invisible but strong, a thread that connects us to the stars— it stiches together the belief that we are more than we appear to be, that there is a another version of ourselves woven into the fabric of the universe – something better, waiting in the dark for our turn to be invited down. We traverse through life as travellers, embarking on a long and winding road – our eyes focussed, hands outstretched to the horizon – the desire to be remarkable humming beneath our skin alive and constant.

But sometimes, the stars we chase are not the ones we are destined to catch.

Could it be that the brightness of the start isn’t important? That it is the quiet glow we leave behind as we pass that matters?

I adore teaching English… but within? Within are unwritten galaxies, trapped beneath a fear of failure. Stories and fragments flow through veins, desperate to break through the surface.

I love to write.

I need to write.

Writing is how I scatter my stars, how I leave that trail of light behind me.

Perhaps the art of being remarkable is simply releasing those stars, letting them loose into the world? Sylvia Plath believed that everything was writable, as long as we had the strength, the courage to let them go – no matter how dim they seem.

And so, I write – without fear, without trepidation, imperfections and all – scatter them, watch them burn across the sky. We will find our way.

Writing is where joy resides. Where I craft my own constellations. Where I chase fleeting moments of brilliance that make me feel alive.

Creation is miraculous, to pluck something significant from a nebulous swirl of thought, to retrieve it from the darkness, polishing it until it shines.

But what lingers as we fade? As our days slip through the skies like meteor trails through the ether?

We are all stars, burning brightly for a time, our days slipping away like meteor trails through the night. What remains? What lingers after we fade?

George Carlin understood that, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

We were never meant to be permanent. Immortality is a myth.

What we can do is leave behind a trail of light, a pathway of stars that others can follow – however dim – providing a map for those who come after we depart.

You are remarkable, remember that. We are all remarkable, simply for being who we are. Let your light mark your passage through life, through time, through the universe. The only thing we must leave behind is the fear of fading, for even the faintest flicker still lights the way.

Illustrated journal -

This month, I am taking part in Jillian Hess’ quote a day endeavour. Here are my quotes from this week -

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”

Napoleon Hill

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Professor Stephen Hawking