According to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the most common elements in the human body in order of abundance are hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. In the universe, they are hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. Since helium is inert, we basically share the same ingredients as the cosmos—we are literally made of stardust.

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So it’s not just that we’re alive in the universe, the universe is alive within us. That realization is both scientific and spiritual.

When I look up at the sky, I don’t feel small. I feel as vast as the universe itself.