Issue No. 66

Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut, stood on the surface of the moon in 1971, gazing back at Earth. The sight was unlike anything he had ever seen. Our planet, a delicate blue orb, floated in the vast expanse of space, surrounded by the darkness of the cosmos. It was at that moment Mitchell experienced a profound cognitive shift, later described as the "Overview Effect." He felt an overwhelming sense of interconnectedness and unity, a deep realization of the planet's fragility, and the pettiness of human conflicts.

In one of his interviews in 1970s when asked what he felt seeing our planet from the Moon, he said these iconic words:

Most people travel out of the city or country to relax, have fun, or find themselves. However, I think the real reason we travel is to step out of our usual surroundings and gain a broader perspective. Like how Edgar saw our planet from the Moon, we travel to look at our lives from a different angle. When we travel, we often find clarity about what is happening in our lives. It allows us to see what we couldn't see before. This feeling of clarity is what we associate with travel, so we seek it every once in a while.

I’ve mentioned before that travel will not solve your internal problems. Some people think traveling will magically bring peace to their lives, solving issues at work, with family, or with a partner. It will not. What travel does is provide you with a cleaner, more organized space to work on your problems. Mindfulness can do the same, but travel is mindfulness in active mode. It’s similar to walking, running, or cycling. You literally move yourself in space. This has psychological and philosophical implications, making travel a good way to start fixing your life. It’s not going to fix it by itself, but it’s a good start.

Aside from traveling, we can also use our minds to see the bigger picture. It is difficult, I know, especially when you’re surrounded by the trivial. So, let me help you see it.

Take a look back five years ago. What do you remember doing? Maybe a few clear memories. You were probably in college or high school. What about ten years ago? What do you remember? It starts to get blurrier, right? But you still remember the feelings. What about fifteen or twenty years ago? The farther you look into the past, the less you see yourself as you are now. That’s how you’re going to feel in the future about who you are right now.

We often romanticize the past because we remember the strong emotions: either happiness or sadness. When combined, they are called nostalgia. We don’t remember what’s in-between. It’s known that our brains actually remove memories that do not matter to us anymore and events or emotions that are not strong enough do not cling to our neural pathways long enough. In time, we literally become a new person. This begs the question: what do we not remember? What memories have we lost in time? This line of thought often brings me to the realization that what I do right now will affect the future, but what my future self will remember is only a small percentage of what I think right now.

What you feel right now is not going to matter. It will pass, just like all the heartbreak, failed exams, betrayals, pain, and abandonment you’ve probably felt. Sometimes when we feel them again in the present, we tend to forget that there is a way out. We zoom into the details and forget that the world, bigger than us, exists. Take a step back and see the bigger picture. In 100 years, none of this will matter. You’re not going to remember me, and I’m not going to remember you. It all seems funny now why we are so fixated on the small details of our lives. It's no surprise because we are more isolated than ever in an era of communication and technology that’s supposed to bring us closer.

Take a look at developed countries like Japan and Korea. They have wealthy economies, but their people are isolated in small boxes. Many live in extremely small rooms called Goshiwons, and even computer cafes. They go to work, come back home, eat, take a shower, and do the same thing again for the next 40 years of their lives. I’ve seen their situations in documentaries and it pains me that in a world where we could cure so many diseases and end a pandemic, we cannot do something for the life of a precious human.

You may argue, “well, at least they have somewhere to go to”. We can compete with what situation is worse and we will find it. I know there are far more hideous human situations out there but it is not a competion. In fact, in some cases, poorer settlements are happier because they have formed a community. Suffering together is better than suffering alone.

If you want to kill someone slowly, you put them in isolated rooms like that. In prison, that’s called solitary confinement. It’s a punishment because it removes their perception of time. Their suffering is emphasized because they don’t know when it’s going to end. Isolation is one of the major reasons why people commit suicide. We did not evolve to be isolated. This is the first time in our history that more people are isolated than ever.

When life seems unbearable, and it will be, take a step back. Remember our place in the universe. We are living on a rock floating in the darkness. There’s nothing out there. You cannot even scream in space. Like it or not, we are here together. And there is beauty in that. Just think about it. Our species evolved over 5-7 million years from ape-like creatures found in Africa.

In our 7 million years of evolution, you and I exist in such a fleeting moment in time when we have the privilege to share it together. I could have existed 1000 years ago, or you could have existed 5,000 years into the future. Yet in the luckiest point in history, we live at the same time.

A century from now, new generations will walk this Earth, but right now, we are here, living in the same world. I am profoundly grateful for this experience—To have existed at the same period as you—no matter how brief it will be. This moment will never come again, and that makes it all the more profound and beautiful. We often get caught up in the minutiae of daily life, forgetting how extraordinary it is that our paths have crossed in this vast expanse of time and space. When that happens again, just take a step back and see the bigger picture.

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Until next week,