The documentary resonated strongly with me in a number of ways. The astronaut’s perspective of Earth, someone outside looking in at this beautiful planet, is incredibly beautiful. As is the notion in and of itself that we are organisms part of a larger system and universe. I find this to be comforting in a way and something we perhaps forget. Also, that space travel changed our collective awareness and thinking about humanity, serving as a unifying force, is something I’d never considered before. I found this to be very interesting, that there was an identify shift to think of humans as one species. I grew up with this notion in mind and with it being my reality, thinking of humans as one species, but overtime we’re taught to move away from this, with races and geopolitical boundaries coming into the mix. The idea that astronauts viewing the Earth from outside itself is, on a more fundamental level, the Earth looking back at itself, is also incredibly interesting to me. Since we are the Earth, in this sense you could view this as the triggering of the Earth’s awareness of its own existence. A focus on this perspective is perhaps the only way to deal with the damage we’ve already done from the isolationist attitudes that pervade our society and personal lives.
