Aliens And A New Planet

"If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on." 
--Sheryl Sandberg

I read The Mind Unleashed , The Story of Stuff  and The Collective Evolution daily. Not for any other reason but to think differently.

The Alternative news and stories have dedicated quite a bit of time recently to UFOs, Aliens and spaceships and the American Governments complicity in covering up any knowledge. This goes beyond the insanity that is Area 51 and has been a great mind bending experience. Recently there is talk about a new planet beyond Pluto that is going to be the next planet. Pluto you really are like the girl we broke up with but now we drive slowly by your house every night. You are being told to get lost but every new space discovery uses you as a reference. Hang in there little buddy.

During the last couple of weeks I would slip bits of "space related information" into conversations I was having. More times than not it took the conversation into amazing directions about UFOs, Extra Terrestrial beings, Space Travel, Black holes and of course freaking Star Trek and Star Wars. I also find a way to ask the question "if an alien life form asked you to climb into their ship no questions asked, would you"? Sadly most people immediately say no, then justify their position with "well I do not want to get probed", I would not know how long I would be gone", F**k that, that would be stupid" and any other random response.

 

 I love this opening scene of the movie Contact. Its a great reminder of perspective.

How is it, that we are so solidified in our routines and fears that the possibility for immediate space travel is met with a No?  I get that we all have families, kids or grand kids, friends, jobs, bills, and Hockey Night in Canada but what would it take to break your fears?
 This week Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be on the same side of the sun at the same time, here is nice story and video on the Guardian Website. This weekend is also the Full Moon rising so camping on El Hoyo is going to be pretty special.

Humans have been broadcasting radio waves into deep space for about a hundred years now, since the days of Marconi. That, of course, means there is an ever-expanding bubble announcing Humanity's presence to anyone listening in the Milky Way. This bubble is astronomically large (literally), and currently spans approximately 200 light years. But how big is this, really, compared to the size of the Galaxy in which we live (which is, itself, just one of countless billions of galaxies in the observable universe)?  It's not the black square; it's the little blue dot at the center of that zoomed-in square.

Why all this talk? I have been sitting on top of Volcanoes in amazement and wonder all week. Last night we had a lava show on Momotobo while camping on El Hoyo (pics later). I have been staring at the views knowing these volcanoes have been here for tens of thousands of years. Then at night the starts are so numerous and brilliant you can not help but wonder..and so I do.

We travel around our continents seeing the wonders and sometimes horrors of nature, history and mankind. We talk our photos, share our stories and relish in our new experiences. What if those experiences were boundless?

That is what I have been thinking about all week. Boundless experiences and using space to keep things in and out of perspective grants me the freedom to let my imagination run wild. Sit on a volcano and watch a lava flow, powerful. Have someone offer you a free seat on a rocket ship, boundless.

And with those thoughts I return to Earth and wish David Bowie safe travels.