Pale blue dot.
That’s all we are. That’s all we have. We are a pale blue dot inside of a space that no one can fully comprehend. We don’t understand that we are a mere skiff of life in an enormous expanse. Our race so easily smears each other’s blood around this small, insignificant piece of cosmos that we inhabit,
and for what?
Power?
Wealth?
What?
There is so much deep seated hatred and feverish urges to segregate ourselves. To classify ourselves as different from each other. How many words are there which do this very thing? Some we accept without question, they are common place. Others are extensively derogatory and offensive. All of the words do their job.
They separate us.
The one I loathe the most is race. What is race? I have always believed I was part of the human race. I am built the same way as any other human. If I take a breath of air, can they too? If I feel the wind on my face can they as well? If you took our skin, underneath would we look the same? Would we both bleed? Would we both hurt?
And on this planet we inhabit, what are we doing with our time and our energy? Polluting our waters? Destroying our land? Killing each other in the name of our deity? Or would it be just in the name of our country? We have deceived ourselves into believing that we have such a large importance. That we are the light and dark of life itself. Well, our race needs to take a step back from our enormously central position we seem to have taken. To quote Carl Sagan, “there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”
Yet, underneath this pure and uncontrollable selfishness that humans seem to have, there are rays of light. Cultures that have ways to celebrate their achievements and their successes. Episodes of compassion and love. Efforts to help slow or reverse possible damage that has been done. There are moments for us when we show that we can be constructive with the lives that we have and the things that we share this pale blue dot with. We can be better at life. No one is perfect but we can definitely learn how to work on it.
Because this is our one, our only, pale blue dot.
Please take a second to watch this video.