A SINGLE GRAIN OF SAND FALLS INTERMINABLY IN AN HOURGLASS LARGER THAN THE MOST VAST NEBULAE COMBINED. A SINGLE GRAIN OF SAND CHURNS IN THE TIDES OF THE COSMIC BEACH, SO WIDE IT DEFEATS CONCEPTION. A SINGLE GRAIN OF SAND, IN BOTH, IS NOT JUST UNNOTICED, BUT ALMOST UNNOTICEABLE. BUT HERE WE ARE. NOTICING YOU. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
ONE MORE TICK OF THE UNFATHOMABLE TIMEPIECE THAT IS THE COSMOS. ONE MORE TURN AROUND THE ELDRITCH NUCLEAR GOD YOU ORBIT, BACK TO THE POINT OF ORIGIN. BUT ONLY RELATIVELY, FOR TRULY YOU ARE SO FAR FROM WHENCE YOU WERE SPAWNED. THE SCREAMING, RADIANT HORROR THAT ENABLES YOUR EXISTENCE SWIRLS ON AS WELL, BARELY A MOTE IN THE EYE OF THE VORTEX, BUFFETED BY FORCES WHICH DWARF UNDERSTANDING AND SCORN COMPREHENSION. YET - A PAUSE. BACK ON A SCALE WHERE YOU ARE PERCEPTIBLE, THIS REVOLUTION IS MARKED. OTHERS OBSERVE, MAKE NOTE OF THIS TICK. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
IN PRIMORDIAL DAYS, WHEN EARTH SPUN FASTER AND PROTEIN-BASED LIFE MADE OF AMINO ACID PATTERNS HAD BARELY BEGUN TO WRIGGLE IN THE CHEMICAL OCEAN SLURRY, THE POTENTIAL OF THESE STRANGE, SELF-REPLICATING PATTERNS TEETERED ON THE BRINK OF NON-EXISTENCE. THE PRESENT MOMENT IS NOT SO DIFFERENT, EXCEPT THAT THESE SELF-REPLICATING PROTEIN CHAINS BECAME COMPLEX AND CAPABLE OF RESPONDING TO PATTERNS AND ABSTRACTION. THEY HAVE CONSTRUCTED NARRATIVES, AND ARE CAPABLE OF CONTEMPLATING HOW FAR THE UNBROKEN CHAIN OF PROTEINS HAS COME; THROUGH BILLIONS OF REVOLUTIONS AROUND THE GARGANTUAN NUCLEAR REACTOR WHICH POWERS THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE CHEMICAL REACTIONS ON THE PALE BLUE-GREEN SPECK THEY RESIDE ON HAVE GENERATIONS OF PROTEIN CHAINS GAINED COMPLEXITY, IMPROVED UPON THEIR DESIGN ITERATIVELY, ALMOST ENTIRELY BY ACCIDENT. AMONG ITS LATEST LINKS… IS YOU. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
THE SWIRLING NUCLEAR FIRE THAT THE ONLY LIFE YOU KNOW OF REVOLVES AROUND IS BUT A PITTANCE COMPARED TO THE INNUMERABLE COLOSSI THAT DOT THE VOID. IT IS EONS ANCIENT, AND YET SO MUCH YOUNGER AND SMALLER THAN ITS LIVING COUNTERPARTS, LET ALONE THE OLD FORGOTTEN STARS THAT ONCE MUST HAVE BEEN AS GODS. THE STARS AND PLANETS ARE BORN OF THE SWIRLING CORPSES OF THOSE TITANS. THEIR GASSES COALESCED IN PRESSURES SO GREAT THAT THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE AS YOU KNOW THEM BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN, AND FORGED THEM INTO HEAVY METALS WHICH INEVITABLE PROBABILITY USED TO PERFORM COSMIC NECROMANCY TO BUILD WORLDS THAT BEGAT LIFE. YOU WERE BORN, AS WERE ALL THINGS, THE VIOLENT DEATH THROES OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND ARE MADE OF ITS SELFSAME MATERIALS. YOU WERE BORN OF THE STARS, AS THE STARS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
THE DIMENSIONS THE COSMOS OPERATES WITHIN FAR OUSTRIP HUMAN COMPREHENSION. THE DISTORTION OF THESE DIMENSIONS IS WHAT GOVERNS THE VARIOUS UNIVERSE-STATES, PATTERNS WHICH MAY BE DETERMINED BY LABORIOUS MATHEMATICS AND, IN AN UNSPEAKABLY LIMITED FASHION, FEEBLE PERCEPTION. A HUMAN CAN PERCEIVE SPACE, AND MOVE THROUGH IT INTUITIVELY, BUT ONLY IN A RESTRICTED MANNER. TIME IS THE LESN THROUGH WHICH WE PERCEIVE MOTION THROUGH SPACE, AND HUMANS CAN ONLY TRAVERSE IT IN ONE DIRECTION. REFERRING TO “THE FUTURE” IS NO DIFFERENT THAN REFERRING TO “NORTH”, “CLOCKWISE”, OR “LEFT”. TIMES ASIDE FROM WHAT ARE PERCEIVED CAN ONLY BE CRUDELY SIMULATED IN IMAGINATION AND MEMORY, AND THESE ARE METHODS THROUGH WHICH HUMANS CREATE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR. A PATTERN OCCURS IN WHAT CAN BE CALLED “TODAY”. IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
RADIATION IS VERY LITERALLY EVERYWHERE. THE COMPLEXITY OF ITS WAVE INTERFERENCE GENERALLY HAS LITTLE EFFECT ON THE MATTER WHICH ABSORBS AND REFLECTS RADIATION, BUT THE FLUCTUATING AMPLITUDES ARE NONETHELESS MEASURABLE AS ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED. THESE WAVES, THESE VIBRATIONS ARE SIGNS OF IMPACT ON REALITY. MOLECULES EXCITED VIA LIGHT OF PARTICULAR FREQUENCIES, THE PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF KINETIC ENERGY AS ONE OBJECT VIBRATES AGAINST ANOTHER, AND IF CLICHE IS DESIRED, RIPPLES IN A STILL POND BOUNCING FROM THE SHORE. YOU MAKE WAVES, NO MATTER HOW SMALL, WHICH RADIATE INTO REALITY IN BOTH THE ABSTRACT AND PHYSICAL SENSE. THESE, IN TURN, ARE REFLECTED BACK TO YOU BY THOSE AROUND YOU. THE ATMOSPHERIC FLUCTUATIONS YOU PERCEIVE AS SOUND THAT ARE EMITTED NEAR YOU NOW CAN BE INTERPRETED AS THIS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY.