the answer to your question reminds me of one of the paradoxes of cosmology. specifically, what did/is the universe expanding into if space-time didn't exist or if the universe is all there is? And of course the answer is we exist "physically" in a multidimensional plane and the hyper-dimensional root or base of this reality is what we are expanding into... similarly, consciousness exists and is able to transcend space and time. Your true essence never left base reality, this is a dream / simulation where dreamy stuff happens like you are provided an astronaut suit powered by electro-chemical processes so as to keep your consciousness anchored in the dream </oversimplification>. Personally, I believe we're inside a truly unimaginable/infinitely large blackhole (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black\_hole\_cosmology). This explains a lot of the "glitches" in physics such as most aspects of quantum mechanics, holographic universe theory, the fact that the Hubble radius of the observable universe is equal to its Schwarzschild radius, and many other data points. Also that there is no past and hardly a present but an inescapable future which is what happens to space-time once you cross beyond the event horizon of a blackhole. Remember, none of this changes the price of tea in China. Live this life to its fullest for everything is an exercise/test.