Black holes have always fascinated me.  Science fiction portrays them as gateways to other universes, dimensions, etc.  And while that’s impossible (or so they say 😉 ), it’s still a cool concept – using a point in space to travel extreme distances and arrive in strange new worlds.  Officially, black holes are points of matter so dense that their extreme gravity doesn’t even let light escape.  Is there a force in the universe powerful enough to counter the effects of such tremendous pull?

What if metaphorically, your light has slipped past the event horizon?  You are too close to break free.  There’s no point in fighting it.  You are stretched into the tiniest of particles as the gravity rips your matter apart. From a body, to organs, to tissues, to cells, to molecules and atoms.  Your atoms don’t even stand a chance.  They are ripped into their components:  electrons, neutrons, protons.  Do they also disintegrate into  even smaller particles?  And all of it in an instant.  Poof.  You’re gone.

Have the last few weeks or month felt like this to you?  Maybe it happens to you in the summertime, when sunshine and warm weather have you daydreaming about cocktails on the beach.  (Um, unless you’re in the southern hemisphere, where it is summertime.  In that case, double whammy!)  Whatever it is, something sometime is going to pull the energy and enthusiasm right out of your proverbial mind/body, rip you into your component parts and scatter you to the wind.  (Mixing metaphors, I know).  (Does the period go inside or outside the parentheses?  Anyone?)

What if, (still speaking metaphorically) you reach the center of the black hole, the singularity, and instead of being destroyed, antigravity pushes you out the other side?  The force is equal to that which pulled you in.  Your atoms coalesce, cells join into tissues and organs, your body reforms. You’re alive!  Best of all, your mind is clearer and more focused than ever before.  You are ready to get to work with discipline and determination.  If that is true, then taking a break from the normal routine has been beneficial.  Even though the time off may not have been productive, it has served a purpose.  Yes, other responsibilities may have stretched you thin.  But it’s over.  You made it out the other side.  So long black hole.  Until the next time you get too close.

*Please don’t take this for a scientifically accurate article.  Nothing can survive a black hole.  Not even Maximillian Schell.  

From “The Black Hole”  1979, starring, you guessed it, Maximillian Schell.