I have always been scared of starry skies, especially out in the country side where the night skies are so full of stars. I look up there at that incomprehensible amount of little shining lights and suddenly feel insignificant. All I am is this one little human being. Just one of those shining orbs could fit billions of me. What does that even mean? All I know is that they are really big and I am really small. My actions seem meaningless knowing that they will never touch those lights. I could change the world, find a cure for cancer, end hunger or unemployment and nothing outside our atmosphere would be affected. When I’m lying there, looking up, nothing seems to matter.

City lights might be the only thing to reach those stars. But ironically, those blinding lights seem to scare the stars away. The same country sky that humbles with its splatter paint masterpiece of celestial beings is painted a monotone inky black in the city. Without the stars to make me feel small again, I, and everything around me, become more prominent. Everything is happening at once; the constant buzz of life fills my ears. Little things that should not matter take center stage. My grades, what I’m wearing that day, how big my house is, they all take on a disproportionate importance. Without those little gleaming dots to bring me down to earth, it’s truly a stressful life.

A life of either insignificance or feeling too important, can be wasted. Ruining the short amount of time that I have on this Earth with these stresses is not worth it. I must find the middle ground. I believe I have found this place in my summer camp in Virginia. Nestled in the mountains, I leave the stress of the bright, busy city behind me as I join some of my closest friends for four precious weeks every year. It is a place where I can see the vast stars every night while surrounded by a few people who I love. I feel small, but through the eyes of my friends, I am significant and I find comfort. It’s that balance that makes life truly meaningful to me. Many of my happiest moments have been in that camp. Perhaps this is a clue to what life is all about for me.