It may be helpful for you to feel small. Senior news correspondent Richard Fisher looks at the advantages of embracing vastness.

He was at the foot of Yr Wyddfa, around a week after the passing of his father. He was overwhelmed with emotion that day as he came to terms with his mortality. However, at that very moment, he found it cathartic—almost satisfying—to let his mind wander upward into the sky and realize how small he was. When we come upon something enormously greater than ourselves, we may experience a range of feelings, including awe, amazement, and humility. It’s easy to overlook the fact that there is still a vast universe outside because so much of our lives are conducted on a smartphone screen that is a little larger than our hands.

Psychologist Frank Keil claims that when faced with the unknown, wonder stimulates creativity and inquiry. It prompts inquiries into who we are, including “how, what, where, when, and what if.” That cannot be taken away from us as people since it is one of our strongest drives.