It can get noisy and chaotic in the world ometimes its hard to 

get a sense of a situation when you are bogged down in the chaos

of life. To find, peace, clarity and perspective you need to rise

above all the noise - literally. You need to look down upon the

earth as the stars do and see all things from afar; by looking down

upon our planet you will develop an altered state of consciousness

that many astronauts have experienced.

 

When astronauts look upon the earth from space, for the first time,

something extraordinary happens to them. They experience an

intense emotional event an achieve a particular state of mental

clarity. It is known as the Overview Effect; seeing our planet from

space, that blue and green marble against a field of black, they

suddenly get an understanding of the 'big picture' and they

develop a shift in consciousness. 

 

This is how Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell describes it: 

 

 

"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty."

 

...

 

"On the return trip home, gazing through 240,000 miles of space towards the stars and the planet from which I had come, I suddenly experience the universe as intelligent, loving, harmonious"

 

 

Thousands of years beforehand, Marcus Aurelius, and many others, instructed us to view the world from above; to see everything from afar, how our problems and worries just melt away when viewed from above, how insignificant and futile arguments between nations become. When you can see the entire human lot before your very eyes, nothing will ever be the same again. 

 

Carl Sagans, ‘Pale Blue dot’ speech highlights this concept like no other. It is too long to put here, but I highly advise you search for it on youtube or Google. 

​

An exercise to get you started 

 

Think about this:

 

Look upon the earth as the stars do. Gaze down upon the spectacle of humanity. 

The civilisations that have risen and fallen. 

The seasons coming and going. 

Every individual with hopes, dreams, worries and fears. 

Seeing it all from afar. Seeing it all as one. 

 

All the countries and kingdoms, the cities and states. 

All the wars, the poverty, the riches. 

The funerals, the births. The beauty and horror of it all. 

Look at the entire human lot from above. See your place amongst it all. 

 

 

Quotes to inspire

 

‘How beautifully Plato put it. Whenever you want to talk about people, it’s best to take a bird’s-eye view and see everything all at once. Of gatherings, armies, farms, weddings and divorces, births and deaths, noisy courtrooms or silent spaces, every foreign people, holidays, memorials, markets. All blended together and arranged in a pairing of opposites.’  - Marucs Aurelius.

 

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. - Marcus Aurelius.