Naked at the mirror
I search the night
Behind the skies
Vast and starless
I often throw my net
Into the cosmic void
And to my bewildered reminiscence
I always catch myself
Reflected in the universe’s eye
The Cosmic Self-Portrait
Isn’t it intriguing how our deepest self-reflection can feel like a journey into the cosmos? This piece beautifully captures the profound connection between our inner world and the vast universe around us.
The image of searching the night “behind the skies” reminds me of what the astronomer Carl Sagan meant when he said, “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” Our self-exploration is, in a sense, the universe exploring itself.
The act of throwing a net into the cosmic void echoes what the philosopher Alan Watts described: “You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.” Our attempts to understand ourselves and our place in the universe are deeply intertwined.
When the poem speaks of always catching oneself, it brings to mind Carl Jung’s concept of the Self. As he put it, “The Self is not only the centre, but also the whole circumference which embraces both conscious and unconscious; it is the centre of this totality, just as the ego is the centre of consciousness.”
The idea of being “reflected in the universe’s eye” is reminiscent of what the physicist Richard Feynman once said: “I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.” It captures the beautiful paradox of our existence – we are both infinitesimally small and cosmically significant.
So what does all this mean? Perhaps it’s about recognizing that our self-exploration is not separate from our exploration of the universe. It’s about understanding that when we look deeply into ourselves, we’re also looking into the vast cosmos that created us.
Remember, every moment of self-reflection is also a moment of cosmic connection. As the poet Rumi said, “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
Next time you find yourself in a moment of deep introspection, consider: How does your inner world reflect the universe around you? Because in the end, isn’t that what makes our existence so awe-inspiring? This constant interplay between the personal and the universal, this dance between the infinitesimal and the infinite, all contained within our own being.