How the universe changed everything I thought I knew

Before we jump in…

Conscious people learn deeply. Shortform helps with that.

I love finding genuinely useful habits that raise my consciousness daily. Reading widely helps me feel more connected.

Shortform isn’t just book summaries—it’s a shortcut to effective learning. With chapter-by-chapter guides, deep insights, and interactive exercises, it helps me quickly understand and apply the best ideas from any book to real life.

If you want access to thousands of book guides for the price of a book a month, join Shortform today.

Untethered Mind readers get a free trial of unlimited access and an extra 20% discount on the annual memberships when you click here: shortform.com/untetheredmind

Enjoy!

—

Back to the article:

Years ago, in the quiet of my living room, I watched, spellbound, as Brian Cox guided viewers through the cosmos in his characteristic chocolate tones.

As he showed us galaxies spinning like jewels in the darkness, I began to feel a change.

Every point of light in those high-definition images wasn't just a star but an entire galaxy.

Billions of stars, each with their own worlds, stories, sunrises and sunsets.

Then, it showed our tiny planet. A little green dot suspended in the vast blackness of space.

As the camera pulled back, revealing galaxy after galaxy, something inside me dissolved.

Not just the day's worries but my entire concept of who I was and what life meant.

In all this unfathomable vastness, instead of feeling insignificant, I felt the opposite.

Here we are – conscious, aware, able to contemplate our own existence. Star stuff that became aware of itself.

We're not our thoughts (stress). We're something else entirely (optimism).

The universe isn't just out there. It's in here. In every atom, in the breath you're taking right now, in the awareness reading these words.

You're not separate from this cosmic dance. You are it, experiencing itself.

Those anxious thoughts about deadlines, about rejections and desired status, about all the should-haves and could-haves... they become temporary crackles in a vast field of awareness.

This understanding led me down a path of studying consciousness, exploring various philosophies written on dusty parchments, and developing tools to help myself and others see beyond their limited self-concepts.

Because once you glimpse this larger truth, you can't unsee it.

Returning to Earth after these reflections, everything looks different.

The world becomes both more real and more dreamlike.

More serious and yet more playful. More significant and more transient.

I realised I could choose to see it how I wanted to see it.

Witnessing the beauty of the cosmos opened my understanding to something timeless:

We are far more than we imagine ourselves to be.

This epiphany eventually led me to create the Untethered Mind course. It's a step-by-step program that helps you break free from limited thinking and access an empowering perspective that positively affects every aspect of your life.

Learn more about Untethered Mind here.

Yours,

Alex

And, if you’d like to support me and gain access to hundreds of locked articles like this one, you’ll want to become a paying subscriber here on Substack for less than the price of a couple of large coffees each month: