Getting through it.

As human beings, we can almost sense what others are feeling. Whether they are screaming internally or externally, we can feel their minds being filled with emotion, we can feel their hearts being filled with passion. When one experiences love and happiness, they express that feeling by speaking in joyously. When one experiences pain, they’ll howl out of grief, sadness, or anger. An extraterrestrial would look at us and automatically know that we cannot keep our emotions on a lock. If they observe closely enough, they’d hear the numerous “ ughs!” And the, “Oh my gosh’s!” that are embedded within our daily lives. The ongoing chatters, the people that are embroiled with their spouse or boss, the laughter of children whilst they’re playing, the late night highways that never fail to stay busy, it would appear without saying that calling this planet active is an understatement. We are an astonishing collection of interactive creatures that undoubtedly depend on communication. Beyond the houses, neighborhoods, cities, states, countries and continents lies the cosmos. Our conversations are lost in the sea of space. However, I find this fact to be quite humbling, which brings me to the photo that makes me jubilant.

Seeing the earth from a different perspective has conjured and interesting thought in my mind. I thought about how if someone where to be in a really loud crowd and in an instant with just the snap of a finger outside in space, ( let us pretend that space has no affect on this person) then it would be terrifyingly silent. No one talking, no distant chatters, no sneezes, cries, or laughter, just space. On the moon there is no atmosphere, so if you were to sit on it and watch the earth from it, you wouldn’t be able to hear a single thing. At that point, the planet would appear benignly quiet and serene. Whatever sounds or madness that is going on down there is totally undetectable from our companion; the moon. But of course if that person were to travel back to the earth they would again hear the sounds of life and nature. I thought, “how peaceful would it be to observe the earth being quiet from a different celestial body?” That exact thought allowed me to escape from everything that we are currently facing. From the outbreak to the violence, I was taken aback by this picture because it made me realize that even in times like this, it is possible to block out the chaos. Just imagine that same peaceful feeling that you would have sitting on the moon, right here on earth.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve adored Carl Sagan. He is one of the people who’ve inspired me to become an astrophysicist. An astronomer and humanitarian, Carl has given many the opportunity to understand and learn more about the universe in a way that is not complex. When I watched this video at an early age, I didn’t quite understand what he was saying. But as I got older, I understood what he meant perfectly well. Published by a channel who also shares the same admiration for Carl, this speech called “The pale blue dot” not only highlights our place in the universe, it highlights how important it is to appreciate each other. In the beginning Carl starts off by pointing out how small we appear in the photo. Throughout the video, he explains all of the aspects that make up humankind. All of our concepts, ideals, dreams, skills, mishaps, mistakes, and faults. He then goes on to say how vast space is, and how as of right now, the earth is the only planet that we have. During a massive crisis, there is a lot of panic. There are a lot of concerns, and even some thoughts of hopelessness. A lot of mournings, and cries. When I think about how massive the cosmos really is, it makes me come to a very powerful realization. We cannot give up hope, we are all that we have. No matter what crisis that is happening to humanity, we must push through it together. This video has reminded me of the hardships of that we’ve conquered over the decades, and encourages the human race to keep moving through these challenges. Watching this video has always helped me when I started to feel bleak, or sad. It lets me know how valuable our planet is, and how our thrive to survive cannot be defeated. The earth is much too precious to live on to give up hope, as a whole or individually.

Natgeo along with the discovery channel takes some of the most beautiful pictures. What I love about this page is its variation in their images. They could go from posting a picture of various stars scattered across the sky, to a baby panda interacting with a child. This page helps me escape from the world because I’m always finding an interesting and thought provoking picture that takes my attention from anything bad happening. In this picture, taken by nicholesobecki, a rainbow appears over the falls. I adore this for many reasons, but I mainly I love how it exposes one of the many wonders of our planet. When I first witnessed a rainbow as a child, I thought that it was mystical. Before I could even begin to understand the science behind it, I was already convinced that there really was a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow with a pot of gold. Getting older and realizing that wasn’t true was admittedly upsetting. However, seeing this photo being posted on this page made me understand how I can still obtain that concept. There is a leprechaun waiting at the end of the rainbow with everything in life. Even if the rainbow appears during the storm, once the storm is over you’ll see that beautifully colored spectrum more apparent than ever. The gold at the end of the rainbow represents each of our rewards after dealing with stressful times. That gold can be anything. A lesson learnt, money, humility, respect, a lover, successs, anything. As long as we get through the hard times together, we can all have that pot at the end of the rainbow.