The overview effect/:
is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts and cosmonauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from orbit or from the lunar surface.
As a little girl I did dream of space. I dreamed of many things, but I did dream of being an astronaut. I remember the movie SPACE CAMP (i still own it) and fantasized about going there. Seriously the only summer camp that really appealed to me. I went to Cape Canaveral in Florida and got to buy freeze dried ice cream from the space store. We missed the launch because of weather but just being there, alligators lining the road, was a magical thing to me.
I don’t know, I think as we age we can lose touch with all things that are somewhat… abstract, out of minds eye until reason, be it big or small shifts our attention and propels us to see things, really see them. Out of sight, out of mind. Actually clarification, TRY to actually see them. Because in truth it doesn’t matter if you do or you don’t but if you TRY you will get the same benefits. As the stars should have it, I married a man as passionate about space as I was. It ignited an interest, rekindled the flame.
We watched this video some time ago, and since, I’ve re watched many times. You may know why if you put in the 20 minutes to watch. It is spectacular. It explains this phenomenon that often happens to astronauts when they see earth for the first time as they circle from above our atmosphere. It is described as a cognitive shit in awareness, and when you hear them speak, it is breathtaking. So, these men and women who risk so much for science and our mankind get gifted this opportunity. A gift from our world to them. So what can we do with this if we don’t launch ourselves up there? Well, I guess learn. Be aware, be “mindfull” (dont worry, we will be getting into the m word down the road) Do you take time at any point in each day to actually try and fathom that we are these tiny, minuscule specs of star dust just moving around a spinning orb suspended in the middle of an infinite galaxy? Yeah, don’t worry, i don’t either… most of the time. But when I do, when I do, it is spectacular.
So I post this under movement, well, because it is a shift in mind space. As we all know too well, our minds space can be just as infinite a galaxy of its own. It’s also a shift in global perspective. Something we are in some ways on the precipice of and at times so incredibly far away from. So recently I started to challenge myself with an experiment. When I run, I am gifted the opportunity to go before the sun comes up and just as the moon goes to sleep and I get to see the earth move, and while I run and pant, and sweat, and push, I realize, I realize I am running on this stunning green, blue, water filled globe that is running with me. Always my company. Only protected by a thin lair of atmosphere separating us and this ecosystem from the rest of the stars. So I move, and I smile, I say good morning to the creatures I encounter and I breathe, breath in that oxygen and imagine myself and what i look like from the stars running. Running for my life, my love, passion, goals, future and this makes me happy. I am not running the world down, I am running aside it. It is my own overview effect. the grass that grows, the wind pushing my back, the crown that flies overhead.
Maybe you’ll use this as you will, be it on a run, a walk, sitting at your deck or just right NOW, or not at all. What does a little ol’ me talking about space have to do with you? well, I guess it’s all just a matter of perspective.
Do you take time at any point in each day to actually try and fathom that we are these tiny, minuscule specs of star dust moving around a spinning orb suspended in the middle of an infinite galaxy? Yeah, dont worry, i don’t either… most of the time. But when I do, when I do it is spectacular.
