A High 5 For Sagan

I recently read Brocca's Brain by Carl Sagan. I have also been watching (on the internet) the 1980's series Cosmos that featured Sagan as narrator. What can I say? It's been a bit of a Sagan-fest for me lately. And its AWESOME! Not only was he an ambassador of scientific and critical thinking, but he also wore the most incredible outfits! After two episodes of Cosmos I guarantee you will be asking yourself why you don't wear more turtle neck shirts, and why you don't own a tan sports coat! It's epic. I literally love every ensemble he donned for the entire series. I was joking with my little brother that if I dress up for Halloween this coming year I am torn between whether I want to be Carl or Aaron Rodgers. Anyway....
The thing I have come to realize about Sagan, the thing that sets him apart to me (besides his maroon turtle neck and white shoe combo) is his ability to express himself, not only aptly, but poetically, and I'd argue exquisitely. He is able to not only convey facts and reality, but also a well placed sense of incredulity and awe at our own existence. Through his choice of words, Carl Sagan makes this world, the regular one you and I currently reside in, seem as magical as the factitious (and totally rad) one in Lord of the Rings.  Much of what he says I've read  about elsewhere but when he voices it, the information undergoes a metamorphosis inside my brain, and my body reacts to the chemical stimuli and I get goosebumps. If I really believed I had a "soul" I'd say he was speaking to it directly.
It seems to me (from my experience) that sometimes scientists (i.e. myself) get so caught up in the "nuts and bolts" of their given study they loose a bit of the amazing-ness of whatever their chosen field is. I think Sagan had the unique (and envious) ability to understand the small things without ever loosing sight of the bigger picture. And more importantly for you and I, he had the ability to express it to those of us who either aren't scientifically inclined, or are too analytical to remember that we are still human beings.
Many people believe in a deity, and I tried to as well way back when. I didn't get very far with that personally, but in a way I understand why so many people have been drawn to it. It's hard to turn away from the incredible notion that you were created specifically by God (or whomever). But you read/ listen to Sagan and holy sh*t! He reminds you that while it's unlikely that God exists, your life is still pretty freaking awesome because every atom in your body used to reside in a star, a sun, another world a maybe a billion, trillion miles away from where you are sitting right now. Maybe there is no God, but the elements that make up you, your brain, or your eyeballs reading this right now were at one time particles exploding off the surface of suns, in all corners of the universe, and finally (and randomly) they settled here on Earth. All the parts of you ( before they were you) were expelled to interstellar space and floated slowly through the void of space for millions, of years. And then through the myriad of evolutionary experiments and much biological recycling here on earth, here we are. Can this story, one of stellar birth, really be any less awe inspiring than one that begins in the mind of God? I don't think so. And that's why I love Carl Sagan and his blazer.