“A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That’s where we live. That’s home. We, humans, are one species, and this is our world. It is our responsibility to cherish it. Of all the worlds in our solar system, the only one, so far as we know, graced by life.”— Traveller’s Tales, Carl Edward Sagan.
When astronauts have the opportunity to travel to space, where only a few have been, they are able to gain a profound perspective of our planet, the solar system, the galaxy and the ‘infinite universe’ that surrounds everything.
Many astronauts have commented on how space will change you and because of that incredible perspective, you are able to see Earth like only a few lucky astronauts have. At that moment, astronauts experience a ‘cosmic consciousness’ while others have claimed to have had a spiritual awakening, coming to understand that our planet is more than just a rock floating in space. You come to realize that the planet is alive and that eventually and unexpectedly we are all intimately interconnected not only with each other, but with our environment on Earth and space.
It is said that our ancient ancestors understood this mysterious connection thousands of years ago when they studied the stars. In today’s accelerated lifestyles, a global consciousness and awakening is something much needed. Our world would drastically change if we could experience that feeling again.
I firmly believe that if each and every one of us on Earth had the opportunity to travel into space and observe our planet for only a matter of minutes our lives would change forever.
Not only because of how our planet looks like from space (imagine that beauty), but because up there, beyond Earth, things that matter on the surface of our planet become unimportant. Our busy lifestyles, work, problems and everything else would become something secondary.
After all, we are a species destined for the stars because we are all made of star dust.
And as the great Carl Segan said: A new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed. We are one planet. One of the great revelations of the age of space exploration is the image of the earth finite and lonely, somehow vulnerable, bearing the entire human species through the oceans of space and time. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
This incredible video posted below demonstrates of what occurs to astronauts when they arrive back to Earth from Space. The video created by planetary collective –a group composed of filmmakers, visual media creatives, and thinkers who work with cosmologists, ecologists, and philosophers—explores some of the most important questions in regards of our planet.
Among the many astronauts featured in the video is Edgar Mithcell, one of the Apollo 14 astronauts who perhaps understands better than anyone that mysterious connection between Earth, our moon, and space in general.
Sit back and enjoy over 19 minutes of a video that will show you another perspective of Earth, and perhaps help you in your journey in becoming consciously aware.
Video Here: https://vimeo.com/55073825
Planetary Collective: planetarycollective.com/
Overview Microsite: overviewthemovie.com/
Human Suits (original score): humansuits.com/
For more information:
The Overview Institute: overviewinstitute.org/
Fragile Oasis: fragileoasis.org/
