su-gi-lá-non

It all started with the Artemis II mission which my best friend constantly shares updates on social media. From then on, my mind is grasping and looking for things that has something to do with space. Funnily, Project Hail Mary was released a month before that (I just realized this now, by the way) and for some reason I need more of stories of humanity’s connection with the world outside our living planet.

The idea of space and astronomy is one of life’s niche topics that I somehow find fascinating. I was maybe twelve years old when I saw someone online bought a telescope and I remember thinking, “I thought astronauts and NASA are the only one’s allowed to buy one,” and from that day on, I know that space is something I would want to know more of, if only I was given enough talent and skill to understand mathematics. I, for one, am not fond of mathematics and to think that numbers has always have to do something with science still makes me regret that I didn’t give myself time and effort to learn about quadratic formulas or geometry.

But then again, life is sometimes funny because the next thing I know, I am here trying to make sense of every x and y in Andrew Weir’s novel. (Coming from a person who has a bachelor’s degree in English, everything written in that work of art that is somehow related to math is revolutionary and I didn’t even realize there are actually errors in the writing. What a good day to be a fiction reader, I guess.)

What I am trying to say is that art and science (STEM!) aren’t two separate entities. In fact, they are two peas in pod. Astronauts are trained to take high resolution images of the moon and writers and editors are creating stories about space and the possibilities of it. It made me realize how much of space is a fragment of human exploration that somehow became the universal truth. We never been to space, but through humans sent there, with so much curiosity and willingness, we get to understand the twinkling abyss just as how we know the feel of sand on our feet.

Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. -Interstellar (2014)

My time fixating about astronomy has shifted my perspective about life. It has humbled me in so many ways, I get to appreciate every waking day from now on. All of these will be distant memories once I get back to work a month or so from now. Looking back, I already had a plan laid out before entering my undisturbed summer vacation that I get to do several things (crochet, learn Korean, bake) but somehow, it made me go back to my roots which is simply to read, write, learn, (and yap) about things and concepts that catches the attention of my teeny weeny curious brain.