We all come into existence as a single cell, smaller than a speck of dust. Much smaller. Divide. Multiply. Add and subtract. Matter changes hands, atoms flow in and out, molecules pivot, protein stitch together, mitochondria send out their oxidation dictates; we begin as a microscopic electrical swamp. The lungs the brain the heart. Forty weeks later, six trillion cells get crushed in the vise of our mother’s birth canal and we howl. Then the world starts in on us.

From “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr

This snippet spells out a compelling description of the beginning of our life. So simple and so complex. “We begin as a microscopic electrical swamp …. Forty weeks later, six trillion cells get crushed in the vise of our mother’s birth canal and we howl. The world starts in on us. ” Our simplicity and complexity never finish.  We are simple human beings who harbor complex minds. Otherwise, each of us would not be different from the rest. But are we different? We share more common traits than distinct attributes that set us apart.  In the end, all of us and none of us are replaceable.  This incongruity is the miracle of life.