Being human

This week, like everyone else, I watched the astronauts. And there was something weird, something I couldn’t put my finger on for a while. I felt an absence, with every news item I saw about these 4 incredible people in a little rocket box far, far away from earth. Then I realised what it was. It was the absence of dread.

And not only that, it was joy. This weird light feeling, it was joy from the news! Just an absolute antidote to god knows how many years of doom and stress and the constant idiocy of dullards battering our ears and brains. Just lightness! And celebration! Intelligence and achievement and a cute fluffy moon floating around in the background along with a jar of Nutella. I forgot that news could be good. Along with millions, it opened my eyes to hope again.

And wow, being a human. Awe! Joy! Adventures! All these things we can feel and create and make for others. Imagination and problem solving, peace and collaboration and things in common. All things that are dampened by constant negativity of news cycles. We end up feeling that everything is bad, all the time. Because everything we hear is bad, all the time. Imagine if the news was based on hope? Imagine going to the moon all the time! Imagine the joy of the NASA/Hail Mary crossover. Amaze amaze amaze!

Watching these amazing people, not just in the little space rocket box thing but at the controls, in NASA, people loving what they do and working hard at it, for the love of it. I felt this weird lightness, an inspiration and a realisation. I work hard at what I do and guess what, I’m not bad at it. This week I sat and actually believed I was pretty cool, actually. Research, finding stuff out no-one has found out before? Being endlessly curious, just like humans are supposed to be. Expanding into that curiosity and letting it fill every little cell in your body. We can do so much. We collaborate and cooperate and build together. And we feel joy and sadness and regret and grief and awe and something inexplicable about being conscious and not even knowing what that really is. All on this little planet, all together.

What if this was the news. Well I think it will be my news. What have we found out this week? How were we amazed? What took our breath away? What made us cry, what made us draw a breath in wonder, what made us stop and pause and be in absolute wonder of the joy of being human?

Let’s make this the normal. It’s time.