actinium, aluminum, americium, antimony, argon, arsenic, astatine, barium, berkelium, beryllium. bismuth, bohrium, boron, bromine, cadmium, calcium, californium, carbon, cerium, cesium, chlorine, chromium, cobalt, copernicium copper, curium, darmstadtium, dubnium, dysprosium, einsteinium, element 113, element 115, element 117, element 118, erbium, europium, fermium, flerovium, fluorine, francium, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, gold, hafnium, hassium, helium, holmium, hydrogen, indium, iodine, iridium, iron, krypton, lanthanum, lawrencium lead, lithium, livermorium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, meitnerium, mendelevium, mercury, molybdenum, neodymium, neon, neptunium, nickel, niobium, nitrogen, nobelium, osmium, oxygen. palladium, phosphorus, platinum, plutonium, polonium, potassium, praseodymium, promethi um, protactinium, radium, radon, rhenium, rhodium, roentgenium rubidium, ruthenium, rutherfordium, samarium, scandium, seaborgium,selenium, silicon, silver, sodium, strontium, sulfur, tantalum, technetium, tellurium, terbium, thallium, thorium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, xenon, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, zirconium.
There you have it – the list above is everything that exists in our world. Everything you touch, see, feel, wear, meet, or eat is made up of combinations of elements on that list. There is nothing else. There never will be anything else. There will always be the exact same amount of everything listed above. It does not get destroyed nor made. It only changes form based on it relationship with other items on the list. Living organisms are primarily made of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. And each of these important elements cycle through the Earth system. The things that we are made of will eventually return to the earth to become a part of something else.
The periodic table represents both the limits and the boundless possibilities of our world. These elements are finite, yet our creativity has no bounds. From splitting uranium to power cities to engineering silicon for microchips, humanity’s ability to work with this palette of elements has shaped the modern world.
This understanding gives us a humbling perspective: we are temporary arrangements of eternal matter. The calcium in our bones, the oxygen we breathe, and the carbon in our cells have existed for billions of years and will continue to exist long after we’re gone. We are both fleeting and eternal—part of an unbroken (block) chain of existence. The physical part of us truly has eternal life.
Why is this important?
When we realize that the atoms in our bodies have been part of countless other forms throughout history—rocks, rivers, plants, and even other people—it reminds us that we are deeply connected to the world around us. Our existence is not separate from nature but a part of its ongoing story. So as we have a familial relationship with other humans during our lifetime, we also have an elemental relationship with every physical object on earth. We are the earth, we were born from the earth, we will once again become the earth.
If everything is made of the same elements, how we treat those elements matters. Polluting water, depleting soil nutrients, or emitting harmful chemicals isn’t just damaging the environment; it’s altering the very building blocks of life. Recognizing this should inspire us to tread carefully and steward these finite resources wisely.
So the thought for the day – treat yourself with respect. Treat your neighbor with respect. Treat the earth with respect.
I love Pink Floyd’s Eclipse. The lyrics describe this interconnectedness of “everything under the sun” and our inability to see it because “the sun is eclipsed by the moon” which represents the lunacy of everyday life.
All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel
And all that you loved
And all that you hate
All you distrust
All you save
And all that you give
And all that you deal
And all that you buy, beg, borrow or steal
And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
And all that you say
And all that you eat
And everyone you meet
And all that you slight
And everyone you fight
And all that is now
And all that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.