Pssst! You! Yeah, you... are a passenger on a planet... on a blue-green planet that's orbiting a golden star. Now, I don't know how you feel about this, but ever since I realized that I'm a passenger on this spinning, orbiting, and traveling vehicle, I've had more fun than I did when I thought the Earth was "down here" and the sky was "up there." In fact, every cell in my body can feel that the sun has been under us for more time every day since autumn and will be this way until spring. So, winter is when we naturally go deep inside ourselves. In fact, by this latter half of winter, I'm so introspective that I feel I'm actually going down, down, down inside the very atoms that my body is made of.

Let's you and I take a moment now to go down, down, down inside the atoms that our bodies are made of, where we find that deep, innermost level of reality: the sub-atomic realm. Here we meet up with the elfin beings that our human senses perceive as solid matter: the electrons, protons, neutrons, muons, gluons, quarks and other impish little sub-atomic particles that have been astounding - and humbling - our finest physicists for almost a century.

How motion is perceived as matter is frustratingly difficult for our scientists to understand because this sub-atomic activity is going on under the radar of normal human awareness. (And the key word here is NORMAL human awareness.)

If you think you can ignore this sub-atomic weirdness because it's so tiny, then you might want to remember this: electricity is the movement, or flow, of electrons. And one third of our nation's economy depends on technology that's based on sub-atomic activity. So... let's you and I take a moment to think like an electron: an electron absorbs energy from its surroundings and grows excited. When its excitement reaches a critical, threshold level, it disappears from one place and instantly re-appears at another place - without passing through the space in between!

NO electron can be made to remain - or even temporarily exist - between orbits. Yes, folks, electrons are quantum-leapers who don't care a bit about in-between states! So, if you're an electron, you experience only instant transitions; continuity doesn't exist in your world. And... since you and I are made of electrons, continuity doesn't really exist in our world, either.

If you're wondering how this could be, you'll have to linger longer in the sub-atomic realm. (Of course, by doing this you expose yourself to the possibility that you, too, will become a master of quantum-leaping!)

And right now, in late-winter, when we're naturally thinking deeply, is the time for this. As you do this, I hope you enjoy the lack of continuity and all of the spontaneity that you find down there inside yourself.

This is Harriet Witt, your guide for this little ride on our passenger planet.


If you have any questions, drop Harriet an email: harriet@passengerplanet.com


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