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Pale Blue Dot

“There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceit than this distant image of our tiny world.” This is a quote from an excerpt from a book by one of my favorite cosmologists, Carl Sagan, called Pale Blue Dot. It was inspired by an image taken by Voager 1 as it left our home planet. The image basically catches the Earth at the center of scattered light rays and appears as tiny as a point of light, most invisible to the naked eye.

It’s hard to really feel anything when first looking at the image because essentially, all it is, is a black square with a tiny speck on it. But then a moment passes, and the actuality that that speck is, in fact, the Earth – the only world known to humanity – sinks deeper. Then, it’s as if a cloud of enlightenment hovers over all worry and distress. Either that or, for some people, they lean towards a less hopeful outlook, like I immediately did when I first learned of the idea that Sagan explained.

There’s two ways to react when first faced with the life-altering realisation that in a photograph taken light years away, the Earth doesn’t even make up half of a pixel — meaning we, humans, are tinier than even a corner of a pixel. For some people, they take this idea and instantly think that their tininess makes them somehow unimportant or useless — that the world wouldn’t be any different if they didn’t exist, that nothing would change, and nothing truly matters. All that they work for from the moment they learn to take their first steps to the moment they first learn when to take a step back, and everything in between – none of it matters. All the relationships they made and every second of happiness they ever felt do not matter. To them, the human nature of cosmic insignificance means that absolutely nothing matters, including themselves.

It’s easy to think this way, and I definitely have in the past. Honestly, I still do at times. But I use those rare moments to remind myself that in a way, I am right. Truth be told, the Earth is tiny. More so, us. And nothing does matter, but that’s the beauty of it all. As humans, we’re challenged to give meaning to everything we do because nothing does matter, unless we choose to act on it. All our worries, anger, doubts, vanity, adversities, and conflicts only take up more space in this vast universe where we could be filling that void with worthy acts of peace, passion, art, kindness, gratitude, selflessness, and pure joy. The good thing is that we are given limited time on this planet — we have the choice to make the most of it.

Our planet is nothing but a pale blue dot in a great, ever-growing darkness. Whatever atomic life we have on it, for how ever long or short period of time, it’s up to us to understand the significance of our cosmic insignificance. It’s a matter of perspective, and how that perspective is turned into purpose. I refuse to let the universe out size mine.

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[alianalao]

Training Wheels

The sun lit up the street in front of our house, making it impossible for my older brother not to force my older cousin and I to ride our bikes outside with him. The wind blew faster than the training wheels on my purple bike. The further away the boys reached ahead of me, the more droplets of sweat would drip down the white towel hanging on the back of my t-shirt, trying as hard as my six-year old self control possibly pedal to catch up to them.

This is what a typical summer day looked like for me. Until one day, I heard a honk that could only have come from the palms of my father, followed by the sound of our gate opening. My dad drove his old white pick up truck into the garage when before I knew it, the only sound I could hear was that of a car running over a significantly smaller vehicle.

From that day on, I spent the rest of my summer with a single-pedal bike that had, to my utmost misfortune, no training wheels. While he boys were, what looked like from my point of view, millions of miles ahead of me, I was left with the struggle of having to maneuver my handicapped bicycle to function for at least a meter or so. Standing with one leg planted on the right pedal and the left leg kicking violently onto the pavement while trying to find my balance between kicks, I had conquered a strategy that turned my injured bicycle into something along the lines of a scooter with an impractical seat in the middle.

After weeks of getting a hang of my circus-like scooter of a bike, my dad surprised me with a new,, healthy bike and no lacking parts, except this one never had training wheels to begin with. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot and to my astonishment, it was as easy as riding a bike – literally. The skill and balance I gained from struggling with my broken bicycle was actually what taught me how to ride a bike with no training wheels, when the time finally came for it.

In hindsight, what seemed like a horrible situation in the beginning was actually necessary for the positive outcome in the end. Sometimes, you have to lose a pedal before you can learn how to ride a bike.

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Qingdao

Tall skyscrapers, beautiful parks on every corner, and white sand beaches bordering along the Yellow Sea – Qingdao was not at all what I had been imagining it to be like in my head. When I was first told that I’d be spending two weeks of training in a province in Shandong, China, my initial reaction was mostly skepticism. However, to my surprise, my doubts turned into a deep admiration for both the city’s culture and advancements.

My first real introduction to the city was car ride on the way to the gym, which was the most overwhelming moment. The wide roads gave way for people to clearly see the city in its rawest form – an alternative of routes between malls, buildings and palm-like trees, planted at a disturbingly equal distance from one another. The city had a balance between a fast-paced environment with trendy spots on every block and a laid back, nature- ridden vibe with a multitude of mountainous and beached locations for people to visit that are only minutes away from each other. The city’s diversity, along with its eminent devotion to cultural roots, felt so familiar and comforting.

I realised that the comfort and connection I felt in Qingdao was because of how similar it was to my home, Cebu — the places, the people, and the personality of the city in general. Aside from learning how great an impact a city can cultivate on the people who grew up in it, the biggest lesson I gained from this experience is how important it is to embark on new experiences, places, and people with an open mind and no expectations. That way, anything is possible.