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Friday, December 26, 2014

Speed

We do not even realize that since the Earth's creation we have been spinning, wobbling and traveling at incredible speeds towards an unknown destination in a kind of cosmic merry-go-round on a spaceship called "Mother Earth".



























Therefore, why are we not sick of dizziness? Why do we feel that we are at rest when we sit or lie down? Why do we feel still when we are in quiet meditation or sleeping at night, when in fact we are continuously spinning and traveling at incredible speeds through the universe?


Copyright © Edvard Munch, "The Scream" from: https://manifoldheightsartshow.wordpress.com/artists/edvard-munch/



First Speed

We are at this very moment spinning with the Earth as she rotates around its axis. When we face the sun, we feel awakened by the warm solar rays embracing us. When we face darkness, we feel dormant while we are bathed by the mysterious moonlight and stars. We are doing all this while the Earth spins at more than 1,000 miles/hr (1,670 kilometers/hr) at the Equator!




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Second Speed

In order to experience the four seasons of a year, we Earthlings are rotating at an inclined angle around the sun. When our hemisphere is tilted away from the sun we experience the coldness of winter and when we are tilted toward the sun we enjoy the radiance of summer. This happens while Earth moves around the Sun at 67,062 miles per hour (107,300 kilometers per hour)!



Copyright © 2014 theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com










Third Speed

Then, our Earth and the entire planetary system - from Mercury to Uranus -  and with our Sun as the center, rotates around the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of about 446,000 Miles per hour (718,000 kilometers per hour)!

Our Solar System is also moving upwards within our Milky Way galaxy at approximately 15,000 mph (24,000 kph), and at the same time outward toward the constellation Hercules at about 43,000 mph (69,000 kph)!




Copyright © 2014 NASA- John Lombert










Four Speed

Our Milky Way Galaxy is a giant pinwheel. This pinwheel -with us in one tiny spot of one of its arms- is hurtling through space at about 1,340,000 mph (2,144,000 kph)! 



Copyright ©2014 NASA.gov.





There we go! When we think we are at rest, we are wrong. We are right now on our tiny blue spaceship moving at almost 2 million miles per hour!




Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "Flying with Earth", Mixed media.



Infinite Speed?

The Milky Way -according to what science has been able to see and measure in the Cosmos so far- is just one tiny pinwheel among billions of others, inside a universe spinning and racing towards what some call the Great Attractor. Imagination is bliss!




Copyright © 2014 Nancy Barra, "Viajando en un rayo de luz", Pastel on La Carte Pastel paper, 12" by 15.3/4" de:Nancy Barra Contemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo



According to astronomers we are accelerating, traveling at faster and faster speeds. Maybe at one point of our journey, we could be even traveling on a light beam, just like Albert Einstein imagined himself riding when he thought about his theory of relativity. It is a nice thought to become a light ray, a spark of light crossing infinity, where time and space lose meaning.



Are we just experiencing all these speeds in a very slow motion so we can enjoy the ride and appreciate all the beauty that Earth is surrounding us with? Wise people say that they only know that they do not know anything. Perhaps only our imagination can approach some kind of understanding of what it is all about. Maybe our imagination and heart are the key to understanding it all. 



Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "La Pachamama de Elqui", Oil on canvas, 33.3/4" x 23.1/2" from:Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.




I do not know if this lady of the night is harvesting stars or seeding the sky with new stars in the mountains of the Elqui Valley of Chile. I do not know either if the water came from the depth of the mountains of just directly from the sky. I just see the woman as the spirit of a kind and generous person who feels at peace in nature. It reminds me of the Pachamama, which is the name that indigenous people in South America have given to Mother Earth. 


Copyright ©2014 Nancy Barra, "La Pachamama", acrylic on canvas, 16" x 12" from: Nancy BarraContemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.









We can imagine Pachamama cradling all of us in her loving arms during the night, while we travel with her toward infinity. We are her scared, ungrateful and, at times violent, cruel and incredibly stubborn children. I do not know why she insists on loving us but Pachamama has faith in us. She sees our potential for goodness. We can imagine ourselves in her cosmic arms, feeling loved and protected and we can finally immerse ourselves in our nightly dreams. It is such a comforting thought!...especially, when we realize how incredibly fast are we traveling right now towards, who knows where!

                      Happy Holidays to all!


                                     and 


            a New Year 2015 full of Peace and Love!