By Marjorie Young

As someone who watches the news on a regular basis, it is truly a challenge not to be overwhelmed with the negative: murder, terrorism, plagues, scandal, inept or self-serving politicians, all endlessly on exhibit. It therefore came as a very welcome break in the non-stop gloom to learn of the landing of a space probe on a comet some three hundred ten MILLION miles from earth! What a staggering feat for the scientists and engineers of the European Union, as well as humanity in general. The ‘Rosetta’ spacecraft had been giving chase to the comet, known rather prosaically as ‘67P’, for ten years, yet was able to score a bulls-eye, setting down right on target. This is a first…if you discount the previous mission led by Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck in the hit film ‘Armageddon!’

I found myself simply overjoyed; reveling in this mind-boggling tour de force by the inhabitants of earth. Yet we are of the very same clan that also delights in chopping off opponent’s heads or slaughtering rare and precious fellow creatures into extinction.

We earthlings are indeed a peculiar lot, capable of both fabulous, uplifting achievements, while possessing the urge to destroy one another along with the beautiful planet we live on. We write poetry and soaring symphonies, strive to unravel the mysteries of medicine, science, and the human mind, while simultaneously engaging with gusto in the darkest of deeds. What an unfathomable conundrum.

Of course, one easy ‘explanation’ is that some people are ‘good’ while others are ‘bad.’ Some are ‘brilliant’ while others unable to open their mind to unfamiliar concepts. But there is a truth beyond this. It is too simple to separate ourselves from the sinister element of humanity. Mark Twain declared “Each of us is a moon who has a dark side he never shows to anyone.” Among Bob Dylan’s countless memorable lyrics we find ‘if my thought dreams could be seen, they’d probably put my head in a guillotine.’ Thankfully, most of us manage to keep this ‘other side’ more-or-less under wraps, setting savagery aside to produce something worthwhile with our energies.

Whenever I hear of a mass murderer, I always imagine him as a helpless infant, then a toddler. What caused that innocent to morph into something grotesque. Was it inborn? Did neglect or abuse create the transformation? We always have a choice, and this I will continue to believe. We are, none of us, ‘doomed.’
But if we revel in the achievements of the gifted and the brilliant, we must also share in the doings of those bringers of destruction. We are part of the whole. Until we challenge ourselves to comprehend humanity in its totality with the equal enthusiasm we put into tackling time and space, the darkness will continue to give the light a real run for its money. But I will continue to savor every instance of dazzling accomplishment that comes my way. So I’ll give thanks to that comet, along with those who got us there, for shining so brilliantly for us all!

Marjorie is available for readings at the Ballard Sunday Market, her Ballard home, or by phone.
Please email her at: myballardpsychic@gmail.com
See her fantasy/adventure series: www.theboywithgoldeneyes.com
Follow her on twitter: @psychicmargie