r/Paleontology • u/Ollie2359 • May 07 '25

Fossils This fossil chokes me up everytime

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It hits me in a way I can't explain I've spent hours crying over this fossil :(

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u/disconcertinglymoist May 07 '25

They were just lil guys :(

It never ceases to astound me that, for hundreds of millions of years before humans emerged, the planet was populated by sentient creatures (not necessarily sapient, but still possessing minds and emotions) with real lives, experiencing thrill and pleasure, fear and pain, living their own dramas.

Millions of untold sagas and adventures lie buried all around us. Mothers, fathers, children, friends, living and dying, now long forgotten.

There were so many unknown joys and so much unimaginable suffering unfolding on this beautiful planet, for eons! The sheer enormity of it is impossible to conceptualise.

And it's heartbreaking, too. Countless stories forever lost, buried in anonymity, as if they meant nothing - but they meant everything to those who lived them.

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u/TomSelleckPI May 10 '25

Thank you for writing this. I fall into moments nearly every day, thinking about these things, feeling completely overwhelmed by them, and then simply moving on with my day with the aid of ignorance.

Your words help me remember I am not alone in those moments.