The Overview Perspective

There's a wonderful video circulating via Upworthy.com that highlights the transformative effect on astronauts who have looked back to see Earth from space. They call it the "overview perspective", an experience of total unity and oneness. It's worth a watch: Some Strange Things are Happening to Astronauts Returning to Earth

In the video, George Mitchell says that when he looked back and saw the Earth he was awed, and although as a scientist he'd known the facts of our origins for years, he realized for the first time that "we are all stardust". Others share how seeing Earth in her beauty and fragility revealed to them the simple yet profound and life-changing truth that we're all in it together.

The overview perspective is a next step out from my previous reflections on the size of Mt. Rainier relative to my problems. We live in an era where we have seen an image of our home planet from afar. We know that Earth is a self-sustaining spaceship, covered in a thin layer of atmosphere that supports life. It's "all for one and one for all", or else we don't make it.

Now that we know we are interdependent, will we act on this knowledge? How will the image of Earth floating in space change us?