Over the Easter holiday, people all over the world powered on their TVs to watch Artemis II launch through space on its way to orbit the far side of the moon. We cheered during their launch and anxiously awaited their safe return. I have never been particularly fixated on outer space, even though my elementary school classmates wanted to be astronauts when they grew up. But I found myself turning on the live stream incessantly. When the astronauts were sleeping, my dad and I watched bits of the old Apollo movies. We walked outside the night the vessel reached the moon, just to close our eyes and imagine what it would be like to be up there, so close to the shape we’ve looked up at our whole lives. 

For a while, I couldn’t pinpoint what caused this hyper fixation within me. I began to understand exactly what was taking place when the astronauts started to express emotions similar to what I was feeling. 

From space, the Earth is one thing. We are one humanity, one people, one civilization. Different cultures, countries, religions and beliefs do not matter. We are one whole. From Earth, this is not apparent. We see differences. Conflict is everywhere. Chaos ensues. It wasn’t space, rocket science or the moon I was fixating on, but rather the realization of how we are all one people.  

This new perspective is shifting the way I think. 

The four astronauts manning the vessel had people all over the world uniting behind them. It wasn’t merely because of the massive mission they were completing, but rather the way they handled themselves through it. They shared personal stories about their awe, the community they had found in one another and the raw emotion they were experiencing. They were so human.  

The astronauts reminded us that in a universe of darkness, we have been blessed with our beautiful Earth. It sustains us with all that we need. It is an oasis amidst a backdrop of darkness. Somehow, we ended up here, and we are all here together.  

The astronauts reminded me to cherish the Earth and to remember we are one people. Their mission provided me with a broadened perspective that I will carry with me moving forward. Perspective really is everything. Fixating on little conflicts and things that go wrong can seem like a huge deal, but the perspective this mission shared was a reminder that we can let the little things blow over to focus on the bigger picture. If you have yet to hear from the experiences of the Artemis II team, I encourage you to listen to what they have to say.