Anybody ever experience a fleeting moment of clarity where they feel like they see the "big picture"?

[G]

This is kind of hard to explain, but bear with me.

I occasionally experience these thoughts (sometimes after seeing something particularly uplifting or inspiring, sometimes completely out of the blue) where I suddenly think I see the "big picture", the whole world -

Everything that is wrong with it- from the obvious poverty and differences in standards of living, the unnecessary violence, to the nonsense that those of us lucky enough to live in developed world experience - facebook, twitter and the fascination with pop-culture (I am not exempt from indulging in these things by any means - but still see how they are not good things in many ways)

But I also see the magic of it all - its beauty (apart from the scenic landscapes), the existence of things such as music and other art forms, the diversity of life and human cultures, all we've managed to learn so far and what other mysteries and intricacies we've yet to discover and unravel.

I see my place in it all - which is not that bad by all means - I like to think I'm generally a nice person, working a job doing something that I enjoy (sometimes), but might not agree with the overall principles of the company (all the time), with a loving family.

But then this momentary clarity is gone and I fall back into the same routine - the general work, eat/sleep itinerary - where I don't really find the time to muse about the nature of existence.

I do find comfort in the idea that us and everything else is made up of elements from exploding stars - and that we are the result of the universe trying to understand itself.

Sometimes I feel like I should be trying to do something a little more important, although I'm not sure what should be. Then, suddenly the impetus is gone and I fall back into the old routine.

I just wonder sometimes if anybody else thinks this way occasionally or do they think all the time, like the way I think 95% of the time - about the immediate concerns - and aren't really aware/don't think about the larger picture. I realise we would get very little done if we spent our days pondering like this...

I suppose the question would be if people ever find themselves thinking this way and have identified it as a distinctly different way of thinking to the way they usually would? ... And if so, how to keep thinking this way and not be consumed by more immediate and sometimes frivolous thoughts regarding the day to day goings-on?

[Godwin]

Yup

[blisteringlogic]

Sincerly, my best two answers is to watch the movie The Man From Earth, and to research Lucid Dreaming. That's the best I can do. Good Luck.

[David]

You're a genius. Take an IQ test, if you score 140 or over you are a genius, or gifted, or whatever you are comfy coining yourself.

I'm sure you will, you write very clearly and full of invention and what you have is vision. All geniuses have vision. Don't be afraid, take a test, find out about yourself. And read as much as you can about the type of person you are when you're done.

[Jordan]

The way people think differs from person to person, however I do completely understand what you are describing.

I sometimes picture the whole world and imagine a series of events that are plausible yet could solve many of the worlds problems, I like to set them to work in my imagination and try to play them out as realistically as possible to see what would happen. This often happens when I begin to think of poverty or bullying, I try to think of ways they could be stopped and how that could effect other things.

A lot of the time however I go into a state of deep thought on menial subjects and decide why people might think in such a way about it or why they might be offended. I recently had a discussion with a man about some of the 'Fandoms' in the world and how he was in one which was relatively similar to one I was quite involved in, yet he was offended by mine and simply wished that it didn't exist. I kept asking reasons as to why he though this and he kept stating differences which I then pointed out weren't differences at all but actually similarities and he just tried to change the subject which I kept proving wrong each time he tried to say what was bad about mine.
Sometimes I fail to see why people will stonewall against certain facts if it goes against their opinion, even when they are clearly against that persons moral views etc.
People have different opinions, it's what makes the world goes around, but when somebody is unwilling to accept an others, why try to superimpose there own?

I'm not really sure how I keep form thinking in the same 'small' way that a lot of people do, I am almost certain though that it is simply to due with how the human brain works and how each persons psyche developed differently form the next, causing them to think and act in different ways.

I hope this is what you were looking for in an answer, if not: Sorry I wasted your time.
But anyway, I hope this helps.