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Life happens at the edges

Maria Górska-Piszek

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the edge-on profile of the slender spiral galaxy NGC 5775. Although the spiral is tilted away from us, with only a thin slither on view, such a perspective can be advantageous for astronomers because the regions above and below the galaxy’s disc can be seen much more clearly. For instance, astronomers have previously used the high inclination of this spiral to study the properties of the halo of hot gas that is visible when the galaxy is observed at X-ray wavelengths. The mechanism behind such haloes is unclear, but they are found around spirals that have a high star formation rate, like NGC 5775. Some astronomers think that hot gas from the disc is driven into the halo by supernova explosions, which is then returned to the disc as it cools — like a massive galactic fountain. Meanwhile, there is further disruption taking place in the disc of NGC 5775, as it is in the early stages of a galactic merger. Astronomers have observed bridges of hydrogen gas connecting this edge-on galaxy with a neighbouring face-on spiral (NGC 5774). But neither galaxy yet features a tidal tail — a disrupted stream of gas and stars that extends into space — which are commonplace in strongly interacting pairs, such as the Antennae Galaxies. NGC 5775 and 5774 are members of the Virgo Cluster and lie at a distance of about 85 million light-years. This colour picture was created from images taken using the Wide Field Channel of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through a red filter (F625W) were coloured blue and images through a filter that isolates the glow from hydrogen gas (F658N) have been coloured red. The exposure times were 2292 s and 6848 s, respectively, and the field of view is 3.2 arcminutes across.

When do you feel most alive? When going through your morning routine, or when trying something you’ve never done before?

When you’re so efficient at work that you could almost do it blindfolded, or when you have to experiment and fail a lot to figure your way?

When driving the same route to work and back every day, or when travelling in a foreign country, not sure where you’re going to end up in a minute?

When having the same conversations with the same people during a coffee break, or when talking to someone who challenges everything you ever held dear with humor and grace?

When watching another episode of the latest show with your partner, or when you start a new project together that pushes you both to the edge?

On the surface we all crave for stability. But life actually happens at the edges. As much as we like things to be smooth and effortless, it’s in these moments of surprise, confusion, curiosity, and discovery that we feel most alive. Learning new things is hard. Travelling is inconvenient. Meeting new people is awkward, especially if they challenge your most cherished beliefs. Starting a new project together with your partner may make you want to scream at each other.

Money solves most of these problems, to a degree. Instead of cooking, you can order delivery. Instead of cleaning, you can hire someone. I used to think that if I keep throwing money on all sorts of problems, I’ll live the rest of my life in pure bliss and joy. In fact, the opposite happened. Deprived of a worthy edge to push against, I found myself in meaninglessness and despair.

I couldn’t understand how I got into this situation. In theory I had everything I could dream of, and yet I was miserable. Now I see that I smoothed out all edges and possible inconveniences until the only one I had left was in my own head. Pure bliss and joy isn’t something that happens to humans in the long term. Deprived of challenges in the outside world, human mind will certainly come up with one.

This is great news actually. Instead of trying to remove all obstacles and achieve maximum comfort and stability, we can seek out challenges that are meaningful to us, that help us grow into the person we’d like to become. Once we accept that friction is inevitable and let go of the force, exploring the edge might become less like pushing against a wall, and more like surfing.

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