As above so below

We are living in promising times of scientific discovery and civil innovation. Harnessing the inexhaustible power of the sun through nuclear fusion, for instance, opens a doorway for a cleaner planet as well as improvement in the efficiency and capability of humanity in all aspects. As modern science supports, the material that comprises our bodies is traceable to the birth of the stars. And every moving part in the cosmic highway, from torrential weather to a mere neurological impulse, reverberates from the inception of the entire universe. The Hermetica, texts as old as the calendar states “As above so below, as within, so without, as the universe so the soul”. It's not too farfetched to consider it intuitive. What I gather is that like the limitless resource that created the planets, our spirits can also run on a renewable resource. Such a foundation is what we find in the examples of strong, achieving individuals that push boundaries of human capability, such as astronauts.

You may not have heard of the Nasa astronaut who recently returned to earth, Christina Koch (pronounced like cook). To even acquire such a title as an astronaut is a task within itself. From what I've feverishly researched, it requires intensive training and outstanding levels of resilience, academic excellence and leadership. A zealous pursuit. My lack of self-assurance, in tandem with other factors of discouragement, inhibited me from pursuing that early dream. A launch into space a rocket ship was limited to my imagination and a cardboard box. I settled for getting through life with a job I could enjoy which didn’t present too much of a challenge. It seemed like a no brainer. Yet as I took the first small steps toward that career, I found myself with a looming lack of drive. A feeling I thought I had to settle for - “as adults do.” Still interested in the affairs of space explorations, I came across Christina Koch, whose story inspired me to change my outlook on life entirely.

Koch was born in Grand Rapids Michigan, and raised in Jacksonville North Carolina population 70,000. She too dreamed to walk among the stars as a child. After attaining two bachelor degrees from North Carolina State University in electrical engineering and another in physics, the graduate then received a masters degree in the former. Her path evolved to a career under several facilities in scientific research, including NASA, and the astute engineer eventually graduated from their Academy at the GFSC center. Koch was selected to train as an astronaut in 2013 and completed her training in 2015. On March 14th 2019, the now official interstellar voyager operated in her first mission, launching to the international space station on the Soyuz MS 12 rocket, working on improving various systems on the platform. Changes in certain schedules caused her assignment to extend immensely. Though things are opt to change by nature of the field, such a reassignment was unprecedented, especially for a first time astronaut.

Koch broke the record for longest duration spent in space for a woman, surpassing Peggy Whitson with a whopping 328 days. I imagined the cosmic castaway had to have dealt with an incomparable level of stress. The fears of all the disastrous possibilities must have been invasive. However I misperceive, as I discovered through a news interview that she was excited for the opportunity to push boundaries for mankind, readily determined to put her training for contingency into action. Astronauts are trained to deal with hostile environments and prepare for the unexpected. She returned to Earth February 6th 2020 and remains on active status. Seeing her post the images of her return on her instagram page filled me with hot blooded inspiration. The kind that drives one to revisit and unfold their entire inner workings...to divulge how to most efficiently profit from that burning resource and make it renewable.

We are all made of “star stuff”. The stars called out to me as if the molecules that pieced me together were homesick. My interest in the affairs of humans in space was sparked like many, as a young child even before grade school. My older siblings, invoking wonder like that of fairy tales, spoke of how these unspeakably massive celestial bodies suspended in a vast open sea of nothingness. How the tiny lit polka dots of the night were in actuality akin to the great yellow sun that provides us with our essentials of living. Beyond the blue pigment in the sky that I once thought of as the end of the world was more accurately in fact where it began ... And these tales were a reality. Enough food for thought to leave a taste of mystery and wonder as I laid at nights attempting to make sense of it all. Perhaps even as a child I found it intuitive that to know the stars more intimately, is to more intimately know yourself.

As I matured, so did my understanding of nature. New concepts baffled my mind and perpetuated my curiosity. Nuclear Fusion, the rocket equation, time dilation and black holes. Unfortunately, as a youth I lacked direction, and growing up in the hood of East Oakland California, I was starved of generally positive examples, particularly in African American men. Surely there are the greats such as George Washington Carver, Benjamin Banneker, and W.E.B. Du Bois-- but they lived in the textbooks, I was more quick to use immediate examples to set parameters on my potential. This was combated by my mother, another woman that inspires, always encouraging me to carve my own path to academic success. In grade school I did very well in science and mathematics. But ultimately as I grew older additional adversities such as: poverty, social and familial dysfunction, impatience and doubt with California's education system tore down the Astronaut dream. Back then, I gave fault to these external conditions, I hadn't yet the clarity to see that I consciously allowed them to sabotage my ambitious desires. It was a limitation of the mind.

I did poorly in high school, and sort of fell into an alternative passion in music performance. I seemed to have a natural talent for the piano and my mother, being a performing musician herself, knew a network of musicians. I began to craft a career playing shows, recording and tutoring. It’s not a bad rep, I enjoy the lifestyle and I see no issue with it all in all. Planning to rack up money for music school, I worked a day job in San Francisco. I could see multiple routes to success and made fair strides, I was even getting ready to join a new band and go on tour. However I was not effective. I lacked impetus, which showed when I was presented with great challenges. I pushed these away, missing out on opportunities for growth, following the same ‘path of least resistance’ mentality that brought me there in the first place. One day, while working as security at a high-end restaurant my boss introduced me to a special guest. It was Mark Kelly, identical twin to Scott Kelley, both famously known as US Navy Captains and former Astronauts . I was so mystified, I don't even remember the conversation we had. I shook his hand, and received his words of encouragement. He told me to look into NASA’s current candidates and mentioned Koch. With that, my life was suddenly catapulted into another direction.

Christina Koch was the catalyst that re-ignited a long extinguished flame within me. She spoke to the little boy inside me, a part of myself I thought I had lost. The glimmer in my eye that shined with curiosity and wonder remains after all. Not only did she begin to lift the veils of my limitations, she reminded me of my burning passion for the pursuit of science. As she so simply put in an interview: “The unifying theme has been discovery on the frontiers”. I take every bit of this quote as a mantra. I find myself now enlisted in the United States Air Force. I’m in a career field I wouldn't have figured I had the aptitude for, on a direct course to my dream becoming a reality. I am being more challenged now than I have ever before. The road ahead climbs even steeper-- I find this preferable to the path of least resistance; as it continually demands a stronger resolve than that of yesterday’s. Had I this growth mentality in my youth, I realize I may have more hastily and effectively reached my goals. With that said I hope to become an inspiration for the children out there like this heroine has undoubtedly done for the many young boys and girls that look out to the night sky. I await the chance to meet and show my thanks to her.

A woman embodying service, courage, resilience, curiosity and achievement-

Koch’s gravity defying resolve is one that I aspire to exemplify.